Maura Tierney's Dr. Abby Lockhart quietly left County General last night, as she and her husband Luka departed for a fresh start in Boston. Here's a clip of her farewell scene, which is characteristically low-key:

EW's PopWatch blog has a very funny run-down of her character's time on the series (read her Wikipedia entry for a more thorough overview):

Abby Lockhart was born from a one-ep guest spot as Carol Hathaway's OB nurse way back in 1999. She then entered med school, helped John Carter through his weird post-stabbing-of-Lucy addiction to pills, went back to nursing after her deadbeat ex stole her money, dealt with her bipolar brother and way more bipolar mom (Sally Field!), eventually got her medical degree, struggled with alcoholism, dated Luka Kovac, dated Carter, dated this sort of Paul Rudd-lookin' med student named Jake, fell in love with Luka, got pregnant, had his baby, nearly died in childbirth, struggled with alcoholism again, slept with Stanley Tucci, got back together with Luka for the most part, and recently survived a mob-related ambulance bombing. And that's leaving out the majority of the weekly attacks, storms, helicopter crashes, hijackings, kidnappings, run-ins with Forest Whitaker, and assorted other catastrophes she's endured over the past nine years. There really isn't room on the internets for all of it.

Abby was pretty well-liked by the other characters over the years, and by the audience. She was also one of prickly Dr. Kerry Weaver's only friends at County General, proving that Abby really could get along with just about everyone, and usually did. (Abby's closest friend the last few seasons was Dr. Neela Rasgostra — another reason I liked Abby.)

Here's a short pictorial of Dr. Abby Lockhart's different looks through the years. … continue reading

So you're watching a scary movie, and the expendable female character, who is probably blonde, is about to die. You know this because of (a) the Psycho-esque shrieking music, (b) the food, either in the microwave or stove, that is beginning to burn, or (c) it is starting to rain outside, and said female is trying to escape from her car but cannot hold onto her keys. The correct answer? Any or all of the above.

Ah, movie and TV clichés. We all know the things that happen only in the movies or on TV. If you've ever lived in a large city, you know that the Sex and the City girls had to be wearing some sort of taxi-attracting pheromone. That is, unless they were in danger, or having a bad day, or needing rescue by a man, in which case no cab would be available. Then they would have to walk, most likely in the rain.

This month, TVsquad.com and its readers have been tracking some favorite clichés. The lists made me chuckle enough that I thought I should share. Here are some of my favorites and my nominations.

Here's one that's bugged me for a while: “In bedroom scenes, men have sheets that reach their waist, but women have L-shaped sheets that come up to their chests.” No kidding! This is especially true on American TV. Heaven forbid we have a wardrobe malfunction and expose the country's children to the evils of the female body. (I know, some of this has to do with actresses who won't do nude or charge for it. But still. Double standard.) … continue reading

The TV Guide blog reports that sometime next season, Maura Tierney will be leaving her long stint as nurse-turned-doctor Abby Lockhart on the workhorse medical drama ER.

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Although Tierney asked the writers to kill off her character, that doesn't appear likely to happen if she and onscreen mate Goran Visnjic are going to jointly exit the show. But whatever she does, I will be thoroughly charmed — I always am.