It’s Maura Tierney’s last episode of ER tonight, PopWatchers — as good a sign as any that NBC’s medical marvel is drawing to an end, since it’s kind of hard to imagine giving a rip about that show without her on it. Of course, a lot of us first fell in love with Tierney thanks to NewsRadio, but the fact that you guys voted her the Best Actress in a Drama in this year’s inaugural EWwys means she doth gots mad skillz, yo. And I’d like to take a moment here to honor them, because I’ve been ranting about her underrated awesomeness in TV meetings for what seems like forever, and this is my last shot.
A brief character recap: 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 an 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.
But see, it’s not hard to suffer through season after season of an increasingly hysterical television program. (People on soaps do it all the time.) What is hard is finding a way to ground even the most ludicrous storyline in an identifiable place, and to keep an audience deeply connected with your character despite all the reprehensible things the writers are making her do (like sleep with Stanley Tucci). With her immense compassion, subtlety, and earthy bull-whip power as an actress, Tierney has succeeded in turning Abby into that rarest of all TV entities: someone I consider a friend, and who I will actually miss. Maybe that makes me crazy, but I don’t think I’m alone. And though I’m prone to exaggeration, I also don’t think saying "ER would not have lasted this long without Maura Tierney" is any kind of overstatement.
So now I open the floor to you, PopWatchers, to share your favorite Abby moments in the comments and discuss how you’d like to see her go out. Tierney says she begged the writers to kill the girl off, but in the wake of Mekhi Phifer’s somewhat ignoble passing in the premiere — that dude deserved better — I think we can all agree we’d like to see Abby walk out the doors under her own steam, no?
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After recently seeing Maura Tierney on Broadway, I can attest that she’s a fantastic, incredible actress. I loved her on “Newsradio” but really got to see her slapstick side in “Liar Liar.” My favorite Abby episode was the one with James Woods that was told in reverse-order flashbacks. Abby has been such a great character and I will be sad to see her go. I only hope that she and Luka and Joe can walk off into the sunset without any more horrible things happening to that family.
Tierney definitely helped save the show in the past few years, and I understand her need to move on to other projects. Hopefully, Scott Grimes (in my opinion, the best of the show) will close out ‘ER’ with the respect and humor his character has shown in the past few seasons.
I haven’t watched this show in years, but I do love Maura Tierney. I always wanted Abby and Carter to stay together. ER did devolve into catastrophe of the week, but I saw a promo for Grey’s Anatomy about a flood, so I guess that is what folks want from their hospital dramas.
I just loved Abby’s scenes with Neela. I think the two of them worked so well together. They weren’t quite Dr. Green and Dr. Ross, but they were a great pair.
Just a reminder for Whitney “got back together with Luka for the most part”…Abby and Luka were married a few seasons ago so they were more than “for the most part”. Just sayin’
Reminder for JudyD – she means got back together with Luca for the most part – after she slept with Tucci and got out of rehab.
Absolutely Love Maura Tierney – think she is amazing. Because of her I forgot there even was a Dr. Carter or Dr. Green or Dr. Ross. She stole the show!
As someone who has watched ER for 14 years, I miss really miss Abby. She’s kind of the last connection to the old original cast. Maura Tierney really should have gotten more recognition as an actress…..She played Abby so tough and strong 90% of the time, but allowed Abbby’s vulnerability to peek through the remaining 10%. I would have loved a longer Abby-Luka “happy” period, but this is ER and NOBODY stays happy in ER for more than half a season. Bye Abby!
I havent watched this show is a few years….every since i got into Greys and i figured one medical drama at a time was enough for me….anyways, can anyone tell me what happened to Mekhi Phifer’s character this season? Abby was a great character and it was great to see her evolve from a guest spot almost ten years ago to becoming a central character in the story!
Abby is the glue that binds ER.
I think her character did make you forget Dr’s Ross&Green&Carter&Lewis departures. She allowed the human face of being a doctor to be shown by being oh so vunerable in her interactions with co-workers, lovers, and patients. Godspeed Abby.
I agreee completely with everything you said. It will be weird to have Thursday nights without Abby. She seems like a totally real individual.
a tear, for Abby.
- izi
I couldn’t agree more. Abby has been the reason to keep watching ER for all of these years. Maura has done a consistently great job at being both tough and vulnerable. I’m glad they’re not killing her off and instead allowing her to hopefully walk off into the sunset with Luka and little Joe. Her best eps were always the ones with Sally Field.
***PRATT SPOILER ALERT***
Jdaniels, Pratt died from injuries sustained in the ambulance bombing in last season’s finale (it’s mentioned in the article above). It was actually a REALLY good episode…
ABBEY IS THE GLUE THAT HELD ER TOGETHER OVER THE PAST YEARS AS THE OTHER SOLID CHARACTERS DEPARTED. SOME OF US FEEL A BOND WITH ABBEY AS WE HAVE GONE THROUGH HER DEMANDING LIFE, WITH HER. ABBEY & LUKA HAVE HAD THEIR STRUGGLES & SHOULD BE REWARDED NOW. LET ABBEY, LUKA & JOEY LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER! JUST AS WE WOULD LIKE IT TO BE IN REAL LIFE, LET US PRETEND.
She definitely will be missed. It’s going to feel weird not watching her every Thursday but she had a great run. My favorite Abby-centric episode has to be NICU. She was great on it.
Also I agree with Patty, I wished she had stayed with Carter but at least she got a happy ending. Sorta.
I don’t know if I’ll be able to watch this show without Maura Tierney. She is simply amazing – a sadly underrated actress who deserves an Emmy and not just an EWwy (no offense, of course).
I always felt that Abby and Carter should have stayed together. I cringed when he didn’t ask her to marry her and then they fell apart. Loved the scenes with her and Sally Field. Maybe she could be another “surprise” offspring on Brothers & Sisters???
Thanks for this column. Maura Tierney is one of the best actresses out there. If she came on the show when it was still critically hot, she would have a housefull of emmys. I agree that she can be credited with keeping the show alive for this long. She was always able to rise above her material and kept Abby a real character. I hope she is back on TV soon.
Maura Tierny was like the glue from the old ER to the newer ER. She’s been the engine keeping it moving and was the last reason to watch it.
I still wish they had let Abby and Carter end up together. They were a good couple. After all time Carter spent pining for her, I thought the way they ended them was stupid. And I thought Luka and Abby were a terrible match.
Has there ever been a character that could sigh more convincingly? Tierney has the ability to make you believe that she’s just a lady at work. She’s just so non-over the top. I loved the scenes she did when she switched from nurse to doctor and how the other nurses were mad at her. She played that season so well.
It’s about time Abby’s character has been so annoying for quite awhile and if there was an arguement for retroactive abortion it could made for the ALWAYS whinning and crying Joe….
I agree with everyone who has stated that Abby is the glue that has held this creaking ship together for the past several seasons. I applaud her for staying on during the ridiculous plot twists of the past two years. The episode where Luka surprised her with a wedding is my favorite (since I left the show.)
I already only fast-forward through the show on DVR, so I have no reason to watch after tonight. I’ve been waiting for Maura to leave so I could ditch the show altogether. I wish they hadn’t stuck Abby back with Luka, because that ruins a lot for me, but she’s probably my favorite TV character ever.
I stopped watching ER shortly after Noah Wyle’s Carter left as a series regular, and Tierney’s Abby was the one part I missed to this day. I will definitely tune in for her swan song, no matter how it goes down.
OK, so here is how much I LOVE Maura Tierney and the character she played on ER – I named my second daughter Abby SPECIFICALLY because of her…yep, that’s love, my friends…
She is an AMAZING actress – have loved her since Newsradio, have seen “Scotland, PA” about 100 times, knew THE SECOND she popped up as Carol Hathaway’s OB nurse that they were going to use her again…boy, was I glad they did THAT…have loved every relationship trial, alchohol addiction trial, family-issue trial, etc. that Abby has gone through. Maura Tierney says more with her eyes and her smile than any other actress on television…should have been given an Emmy long ago…
Although I will miss her terribly, she is jumping off the ER/Titanic waaaay before it sinks, and that’s a good thing…and I look forward to whatever she does next. Thank you for the many years of television magic, Maura. You are loved.
I love Abby but your Abby Bio is not right. She didn’t fall in love with Luka and then get pregnant. They did it one night and she got pregnant and the writers just stuck them together. They haven’t done much with her since. !@#$% I will really miss her and the days I used to wonder what was gonna happen to her, like with Carter or with her mom.
I love Abby Lockhart. I’ll miss her. I hope she has a good exit–a rare thing on this show. Also, you’re right; Mekhi Phifer deserved much better!
One of the best (funniest) ER moments was when Abby and Neela are on the El and some snobby girls wearing killer stilletos look down on our girl docs. Of course, Snobby girl A hurts her ankle walking in those heels. Nice girl Neela stops to help while Abby tries to walk on. Neela informs her she may have broken her ankle and the girl argues she wants a second opinion and boy, does Abby give it to her! “Your ankle may be broken and you’re a b*tch”. Love it! Love Abby! Love Maura!
I loved Abby because she was such an imperfect character. She could be such a b**ch sometimes but you understood where she came from and Maura made her so likeable. I loved her with Luka. They are both such wounded souls and they worked hard to love each other. I was disappointed about the affair etc. but I hope she and Luka and Joe will have a happy ending-they deserve it. I wish that she hadn’t checked out so early in the season, just like Mekhi, her presence will be missed in all the remaining shows. Here is hoping Maura will do more good work that will showcase her talent.
Maura Tierney is by far the most underrated actress in primetime, and it’s criminal that she didn’t get an Emmy for her work last season. Losing Abby this early in the year makes me glad this is the final season because it just won’t be worth watching without the brilliance of Maura.