The roll-out of ER DVDs continues with the July 6 release of ER: The Complete Thirteenth Season (originally airing on NBC in 2006-7). ER had long fallen off my radar by the time season 13 rolled around. The original principal cast is gone, with only Laura Innes (Kerry Weaver) remaining from the early days and she leaves in episode 13, "A House Divided." What used to be a well-oiled show with innovative ideas now creaks along under its own weight and there is a serious been there, done that (lack of) quality to most of the episodes.

Season thirteen begins by dealing with the repercussions of the season twelve finale's shoot-out. Because of the trauma, Abby (Maura Tierney) and Luka's baby is born two and a half month's early driving their endlessly boring story for the first part of the season. Luka (Goran Visnjic) is also involved in dry administrative drama that doesn't suit him. Sam (Linda Cardellini), after escaping from her ex, Steve, goes back and shoots him as he sleeps. Frustratingly, the consequences of that weren't fully explored and Sam doesn't have enough to do the rest of the season. John Stamos is added as a regular, reprising his role of Tony Gates, who is now an intern. Obviously intended to be the next lead, much time is spent on Tony, and while Stamos is good in the role, I just don't love the character. The Neela-Tony-Ray triangle is snooze-worthy and Shane West must have been thrilled to be written out at the end of the season, even if Ray had to lose his legs to do it.

The strong cast does the best they can, but organic character development seems to have been thrown out the window by now and each character has become close to a caricature. Fortunately there are some excellent guest stars to provide interest. Forest Whitaker plays a carpenter suing Luka for a stroke he suffered when Luka treated him for pneumonia and brings the role depth and gravitas. Sally Field is back and as good as ever as Abby's mom and Sean Young is surprisingly good as a patient with an altered mental state in "Crisis of Conscience." Stanley Tucci is fabulous as the new Chief of Emergency Medicine in the season finale and I wish he had been brought in much sooner. John Mahoney is my favorite of the heavy-hitter guest stars, though, as the partner of a dying patient in "Somebody to Love," the only episode to emotionally resonate with me.

As we expect from ER, the video quality and production values are outstanding. The audio is clear but flat with little surround action.  Unfortunately, as we also expect from ER DVD sets, there are no bonus features, though there are deleted scenes (labeled "Outpatient Outtakes"). Despite the bare bones nature of this set, serious fans will want to add season thirteen to their collections while more casual viewers should go for a rental. For those who only watched for the original characters and stories, this is a miss because the newer characters are simply not as compelling and too many of the plots feel recycled or overplayed. While it's true that even bad ER is better than much of what airs on network television, ER: The Complete Thirteenth Season is an example of a show not only in decline but as a shadow of its former self and it was a chore for me to slog through.