St. Elsewhere

St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series broadcast on NBC from 1982 to 1988, set at the fictional, underfunded St. Eligius teaching hospital in Boston and following a large ensemble cast of doctors, residents and staff through interconnected storylines that mixed drama with dark, often absurdist humor. Never a major ratings success during its run, it was praised by critics for its writing and ensemble structure and became widely influential on later ensemble dramas, and its widely discussed final episode implies that the entire series existed within the imagination of an autistic child. It is regarded by television historians as one of the most structurally and tonally influential American drama series of the 1980s.