I had a critical perspectives prof who literally orgasmed over St. Elsewhere. It was the media student's dream. Aside from being well-written and acted, episodes are chock full of inter-textual jokes and references.

I wish I could reconstruct his explanation of how one episode, about the recurring amnesiac played by Oliver Clark (Joe Carruthers in Ernest Saves Christmas), involved no less than six inter-related layers of reality, which encompassed shows from The Mary Tyler Moore Show to I Dream of Jeannie.