ODD COUPLE

The profusion of guns and hostages in the ER has always been problematic for "ER." But the show truly lost its melodramatic urgency and viability in its seventh season after pairing up Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards, right) and Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston, left). The romantic duo had absolutely no spark. It was as if the writers were throwing Greene and Corday together because they didn't know what else to do with them. File under: How to dull two sharp characters with one plotline. Soon after, all the original characters began to leave, and "ER" became a shadow of its former self.