as the body count rises
After last night’s episode of E.R., they had the usual “Next week, on an all-new E.R.” promo. Lurid and graphic as always, but this one made reference to “…as the body count rises…” which I thought was rather off-message for E.R. Do we watch it for the same reasons we watch a horror movie? For gross-out catharsis? Or is it for weepy stomach-hurting misery catharsis? If the latter, then a reference to the “body count” seems very inappropriate.