10 TV Episodes That Broke All The Rules
5. Dr. Carter, I Presume? - ER
The Season 3 premiere of hospital drama ER drops the bombshell that physician assistant Jeanie Boulet is HIV positive.
Boulet, who had been portrayed by Gloria Reuben since the show's first season, is floored by the revelation, especially as she realises that she got the disease from her husband.
In 1996, the year this episode aired, HIV on TV was a death sentence. Yes the disease was still deadly in real life, but 1996 was actually the first year to see a decline in deaths from the virus in America. However, this did not reflect on the small screen.
This is why it is so remarkable that Jeanie never succumbs to her illness throughout the entirety of ER. She is shown receiving treatment and suffers setbacks, but she lives.
Not only does she survive, but she uses her experiences with HIV to help others. She adopts a HIV-positive child and, after leaving the hospital, she runs a clinic helping young people who have also have the virus.
Jeanie's diagnosis on ER and her subsequent storylines were utterly unheard of at the time, but they undoubtedly helped shape the way the disease was perceived by the general public.