ER (TV series)

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See E/R for the similarly titled 1980s sitcom.
ER
File:ERTitleCard.jpg
Created byMichael Crichton
StarringGoran Višnjić
Maura Tierney
Mekhi Phifer
Parminder Nagra
John Stamos
Linda Cardellini
Shane West
Scott Grimes
and
Laura Innes
Opening themeJames Newton Howard
Country of originUSA
No. of episodes271
Production
Camera setupSingle
Running time60 minutes (including commercials) 45 minutes (without commercials)
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseSeptember 19, 1994 –
Present

ER is a long-running serial medical drama created by novelist Michael Crichton and set primarily in the emergency room of fictional County General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. It is produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Television in association with Warner Bros. Television Production, Inc.

Broadcasters

Main article: ER (TV series) broadcasters

Executive producers

Series run

File:Carter benton.jpg
Drs. Benton and Carter perform surgery

ER is NBC's second longest running drama (after Law & Order), and has been renewed for the 2007-2008 season, the show's 14th.

Episodes

Main article: List of ER episodes

ER is notable for broadcasting a live episode, "Ambush," in 1997, with the NBC camera crew disguised as a PBS crew making a documentary film in the hospital. Even more unusual, the actors performed the show again three hours later so that the West Coast airing would be live as well.

Other particularly notable episodes include "Love's Labor Lost" (1995), "Hell and High Water" (1995), "The Long Way Around" (1997), "Random Acts" (1997), "Exodus" (1998), "All in the Family" (2000), "The Crossing" (2001), "On the Beach" (2002), "Lockdown" (2002), "The Lost" (2003), "Freefall" (2003), "Time of Death" (2004), "Alone in a Crowd" (2005),"Body and Soul" (2006) and "21 Guns" (2006)

Cast

Main cast

The original cast of relatively unknown actors consisted of Anthony Edwards as Dr. Mark Greene, George Clooney as Dr. Doug Ross, Sherry Stringfield as Dr. Susan Lewis, Noah Wyle as medical student John Carter, and Eriq La Salle as Dr. Peter Benton. Julianna Margulies guest starred in the pilot as nurse Carol Hathaway and then became part of the regular cast.

Actor Role Appearance as Star Appearances as Guest Star / Supporting Actor
Seasons Episodes Seasons Episodes
CURRENT
Goran Višnjić Dr. Luka Kovač 6– 114–
Maura Tierney Nurse/Dr. Abby Lockhart 6– 125– 6 121
Mekhi Phifer Dr. Gregory Pratt 9– 180– 8 175–177, 179
Parminder Nagra Dr. Neela Rasgotra 10– 204– 10 202
John Stamos Paramedic/Dr. Tony Gates 13– 269– 12 252–253
Linda Cardellini Nurse Samantha Taggart 10– 206–
Shane West Dr. Ray Barnett 11– 224–
Scott Grimes Dr. Archie Morris 12– 246– 10–11 204–245 (25 episodes)
Laura Innes Dr. Kerry Weaver 3– 48– 2 26–29, 31, 34–35, 38, 40, 43–47
PAST
Anthony Edwards Dr. Mark Greene 1–8 1–179
Noah Wyle Med student/Dr. John Carter 1–11 1–245 12 259–260, 264–265
George Clooney Dr. Doug Ross 1–5 1–106 6 134
Eriq La Salle Dr. Peter Benton 1–8 1–167, 172, 178
Julianna Margulies Nurse Carol Hathaway 1–6 2–134 1 1
Sherry Stringfield Dr. Susan Lewis 1–3, 8–12 1–55, 161–246
Gloria Reuben PA Jeanie Boulet 2–6 31–119 1, 2 14–17, 20–28
Maria Bello Dr. Anna Del Amico 4 70–91 3 67–69
Alex Kingston Dr. Elizabeth Corday 4–11 70–227
Kellie Martin Med student Lucy Knight 5–6 92–127
Ming-Na Med student/Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen 6–11 123–232 1 13–17, 19–21
Paul McCrane Dr. Robert Romano 6–10 114–209 4, 5 74–113 (29 episodes)
Michael Michele Dr. Cleo Finch 6–8 114–167, 178
Erik Palladino Dr. Dave Malucci 6–8 120–161 6 115–119
Sharif Atkins Dr. Michael Gallant 8–10 172–219 8, 11, 12 164–266 (12 episodes)

Main cast departures

Template:Spoiler

The show has remained very popular despite the departure of not only its entire original cast, but many of the actors who subsequently joined the series.

The first such departure was that of Sherry Stringfield in 1996, when her character, Dr. Susan Lewis, transferred her residency to Phoenix, Arizona, in the Season 3 episode "Union Station." In 2001, Stringfield returned to the series, reprising her role of Dr. Lewis, in the Season 8 episode "Never Say Never." She departed again in the Season 12 premiere, "Canon City." This second departure was not depicted, but rather mentioned by character Dr. Kerry Weaver four episodes later in "Wake Up," when she explains that Susan accepted a tenure position at a hospital in Iowa after having been passed over for one at County.

After playing Dr. Anna Del Amico for just one season, Maria Bello was simply not a part of the ensemble cast when Season 5 began. Like Susan Lewis's second exit, her character's departure was mentioned but not depicted; in the season premiere, "Day for Knight," Carter explains to new med student Lucy Knight that the locker she is inheriting used to belong to Anna Del Amico, who is working in a pediatric ER back in Philadelphia, where she has family and a boyfriend.

George Clooney left the show in 1999, in the Season 5 episode "The Storm, Part 2," when his character, Dr. Doug Ross, quit before being fired by County for his involvement in a patient's death. Clooney made a brief reappearance in the Season 6 episode "Such Sweet Sorrow" when his character reunited with Carol Hathaway.

Gloria Reuben departed early in Season 6, in the episode "The Peace of Wild Things," when her character, PA Jeanie Boulet, decided to become a stay-at-home mom and care for her newly adopted baby.

Kellie Martin, who played med student Lucy Knight, left the series midway through Season 6 in the episode "All In The Family," when her character was killed by a patient suffering from an undiagnosed case of schizophrenia; his psychotic break occurred before a backed-up psych department could come down to the ER for a consult.

Julianna Margulies left the show at the end of Season 6, in the episode "Such Sweet Sorrow," when her character, nurse Carol Hathaway, decided on the spur of the moment to go to Seattle, Washington, and reunite with Doug Ross, her true love and the father of her twin daughters.

Erik Palladino departed early in Season 8, in the same episode that Sherry Stringfield returned in, "Never Say Never," when his character, Dr. Dave Malucci, was fired for improper conduct.

Eriq La Salle's character, Dr. Peter Benton, departed in the Season 8 episode "I'll Be Home For Christmas" in order to spend more time with his son, Reece, and his girlfriend, former fellow ER doctor Cleo Finch, portrayed by Michael Michele, who also left the show in the same episode.

Anthony Edwards's character, Dr. Mark Greene, died of a brain tumor in Season 8's penultimate episode, "On The Beach." Both Eriq La Salle and Michael Michele made brief cameo appearances in that episode when their characters, Peter Benton and Cleo Finch, were shown in attendance at Mark's funeral.

In the Season 10 episode "Freefall," Paul McCrane's character, Dr. Robert Romano, was killed when a helicopter that was taking off from the hospital roof was buffeted by strong winds, causing it to crash on the roof and plummet over the side of the building; it fell into a crowded ambulance bay and landed squarely on Romano.

Sharif Atkins left the series twice; once in the Season 10 episode "Where There's Smoke," when his character, Dr. Michael Gallant, revealed that the Army was sending him to Iraq, and more definitively in the Season 12 episode "The Gallant Hero and The Tragic Victor," when we find out that he was killed by a roadside bomb while serving a second tour.

Alex Kingston's character, Dr. Elizabeth Corday, left the series in the Season 11 episode "Fear" after getting in trouble for performing an illegal organ donation procedure; rather than being summarily fired, County offered her a demotion to a non-tenured position, but she turned it down and opted to return to England instead. In an interview with Britain's Radio Times magazine, Kingston spoke of being written off the show due to her age, a statement that sparked some controversy. She later qualified that claim.[1]

Ming-Na left in Season 11 as well, when her character, Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen, quit in the episode "Twas the Night" in order to look after her ailing father. This was the second time her character left County General; in Season 1, med student "Deb" Chen recurred in an eight episode story arc which concluded (apparently not permanently) with her quitting medical school after deciding she was better suited to research than to applied medicine.

Noah Wyle left in the Season 11 finale, "The Show Must Go On," when his character, Dr. John Carter, decided to reunite with his girlfriend Kem Likasu (portrayed by Thandie Newton) in Africa. Wyle was the last of the original cast members to depart, though he made four guest appearances in Season 12 and will also do so in Season 13.

Notable guest stars

Main article: Notable guest stars of ER (TV series)

Several guest stars have made memorable appearances on the show, including Kirsten Dunst in 1996–97 (as a troubled teenager), Ewan McGregor in 1997 (as a convenience store gunman), Rebecca De Mornay in 1999 (as a breast cancer survivor), Ed Asner in 2003 (as a thieving clinician), Cynthia Nixon in 2005 (as a stroke victim), and James Woods in 2006 (as Dr. Nate Lennox, an ALS-stricken biochemistry professor).

Guest stars whose performances garnered them Emmy nominations include George Clooney's real-life aunt Rosemary Clooney in 1995, Alan Alda in 2000 (for playing Dr. Gabe Lawrence, an aging, Alzheimer's-stricken doctor and one-time teacher of Kerry Weaver), Mary McDonnell in 2002 (for playing Eleanor Carter, the mother of Dr. Carter), Don Cheadle in 2003 (for playing Paul Nathan, a medical student with Parkinson's Disease), and Bob Newhart in 2004 (for playing Ben Hollander, an architect losing his sight). Sally Field (playing Maggie Wyczenski, Abby Lockhart's mother) and Ray Liotta (playing a regret-ridden, dying alcoholic) won Emmys in 2001 and 2005, respectively, for their portrayals.

Supporting cast

The following actors have played supporting roles for three or more seasons:

Trivia

  • The pilot episode of ER was filmed in an old, abandoned hospital due to a lack of time and money to build a set. One was built soon after at the Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California, although the show makes extensive use of location shoots in Chicago, most notably the city's famous "El" trains.
  • Michael Crichton wrote the script that became the pilot episode of the show in the early 1970s. It was based on some of his experiences working in an ER. By the time the pilot episode was shot and aired in 1994, it had been 20 years since it was written. On his commentary track, included on the first season DVD set, Crichton says that the script used to shoot the pilot was virtually unchanged from what he had written 20 years earlier. Dr. Lewis was written as a male character, and though producers decided Lewis should be a woman, that change didn't require an adjustment of her dialogue. The producers also decided Dr. Benton would be African-American, though he wasn't written that way. The original script had to be shortened by about 20 minutes in order to air in a two-hour block on network TV.
  • The show's setting, County General Hospital, is loosely based on the former Cook County Hospital on West Harrison Street in Chicago.
  • Julianna Margulies's character, nurse Carol Hathaway, was originally supposed to be in the pilot episode of the series only (she was scripted to commit suicide), but test audiences responded so positively to her that the producers asked Margulies to continue on the show. Carol Hathaway survived her suicide attempt and was written into the series, and Margulies remained a regular cast member for six seasons.
  • Maria Bello, who played Dr. Anna Del Amico, was only set to guest star on the last three episodes of Season 3, but the show's producers were so impressed by her they decided to keep her on as a regular. She spent the least amount of time as a cast member on the series.
  • John Wells cast Parminder Nagra after being a fan of her hit film Bend It Like Beckham.
  • As of the time he left, Noah Wyle had been the longest running character of the series; however, Laura Innes's character, Dr. Kerry Weaver, will become the longest running character if Innes continues on ER through Season 13. Noah Wyle is the longest lasting original cast member.
  • Quentin Tarantino directed the Season 1 episode "Motherhood."
  • Several episodes of ER have been directed by cast members:
    • Anthony Edwards—"Take These Broken Wings" (1996), "Of Past Regret and Future Fear" (1998), "Family Matters" (2000), and "Fear of Commitment" (2001)
    • Laura Innes—"Power" (1999), "Be Still My Heart" (2000), "Sailing Away" (2001), "If I Should Fall From Grace" (2001), "A Hopeless Wound" (2002), "NICU" (2004), "Nobody's Baby" (2005), "The Human Shield" (2005), and "Strange Bedfellows" (2006).
    • Paul McCrane—"Next of Kin" (2002), "The Student" (2004), "Damaged" (2004), "Ruby Redux" (2005), and "Body and Soul" (2006)
  • The Season 8 episode "On the Beach," which follows Mark Greene's last weeks in life, is notable for its use of profanity in an episode of a TV show aired on an American broadcast network. Greene says "shit" after collapsing while trying to get out of bed, realizing that his brain tumor has finally defeated him. The same expletive was muttered by Peter Benton in Season 2, when he sprains his hand punching a man in the parking lot, and in Season 5, when he is the victim of a racist attack, although in both cases it is barely audible and does not appear on subtitles.
  • In the Season 1 episode of Friends titled "The One with Two Parts, Part 2," George Clooney and Noah Wyle guest starred as emergency room doctors, although not as their ER characters; Clooney played Dr. Michael Mitchell and Wyle played Dr. Jeffrey Rosen.
  • Three cast members from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation have either appeared on or have been recurring cast members of the series: Jorja Fox, George Eads, and Marg Helgenberger. Also, CSI: Miami cast member Khandi Alexander portrayed a recurring character on ER. Alexander also appeared with ER regular Maura Tierney on the sitcom NewsRadio. However, on ER they never shared any scenes together.
  • The series exists in the same television universe as NBC's Third Watch (1999–2005) and, by extension, Medical Investigation (2005). Dr. Lewis's storyline in the Season 8 episode "Brothers and Sisters" was part of a crossover between ER and Third Watch. The storyline began on ER's Thursday broadcast and continued the following Monday on the Third Watch episode "Unleashed."
  • George Clooney was also a star of the sitcom E/R.
  • Warner Brothers, the studio which produces ER for NBC, kept George Clooney's cameo in "Such Sweet Sorrow" a secret from NBC, which promoted the episode as Carol Hathaway's goodbye with no mention of Doug Ross's appearance. In fact, the original episode of "Such Sweet Sorrow" that Warner Brothers sent to NBC ended right after the scene where we see Hathaway on the plane to Seattle. At the eleventh hour, Warner Brothers messengered an "edited" version of the episode to NBC headquarters in New York for broadcast, and NBC had no time to preview it prior to airing it on the east coast. It turned out to be the extended episode that included Clooney's cameo. NBC was miffed that it was kept in the dark, as it lost valuable advertisement revenue it could have generated had they aired promos announcing the return of George Clooney. Clooney cited the fans of the show for his reason as to why he agreed to make the cameo (he wanted Hathaway and Ross's characters to get back together, as most fans always had hoped for). Clooney reportedily asked to be paid only scale for the cameo. The portion of the episode involving Clooney was filmed on location at the Perfect Storm movie set which Clooney was filming at the time.[citation needed].
  • From 1994-2006 (seasons 1-12), the show's opening credits were 50 seconds long and featured James Newton Howard's emmy-nominated theme music. This opening remained essentially the same (except for cast changes) until 2006 (season 13), when the theme music was cut and a new title card was introduced. The new opening is now 5 seconds long. Producers say that this change was necessary because the previous opening was so long that it took time away from their ability to develop the show's plot.
  • Anthony Edwards's character Mark Greene had a daughter named Rachel who made recurring appearances on the series. On another NBC show, Friends, one of the main characters was also named Rachel Green.

U.S. Television Ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of ER on NBC.

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps. All times mentioned in this section were in the Eastern & Pacific time zones.

Season Season Premiere Season Finale TV Season Viewer
Rank (#) 		Viewers
(in millions)
1st September 19, 1994 May 18, 1995 1994-1995 2[2] 28.9[3]
2nd September 21, 1995 May 16, 1996 1995-1996 1[2] 32.0[3]
3rd September 26, 1996 May 15, 1997 1996-1997 1[2] 30.8[3]
4th September 25, 1997 May 14, 1998 1997-1998 2[2] 30.2[3]
5th September 24, 1998 May 20, 1999 1998-1999 1[4] 25.4[4]
6th September 30, 1999 May 18, 2000 1999-2000 4[2] 25.0[5]
7th October 12, 2000 May 17, 2001 2000-2001 2[6] 22.4[6]
8th September 27, 2001 May 16, 2002 2001-2002 3[7] 22.1[7]
9th September 26, 2002 May 15, 2003 2002-2003 7[8] 20.0[8]
10th September 25, 2003 May 13, 2004 2003-2004 8[9] 19.5[9]
11th September 23, 2004 May 19, 2005 2004-2005 16[10] 15.5Cite error: The <ref> tag name cannot be a simple integer (see the help page).
12th September 22, 2005 May 18, 2006 2005-2006 30[11] 12.3[11]
13th September 21, 2006 2007 2006-2007 ??? ???

Awards and nominations

ER won the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award in 1995. In addition, the series has earned 117 Emmy Award nominations, tying the series with Cheers for the most nominations for a single series,[12] as well as 22 Emmy Awards (at least one every year up to and including 2005, except for 2004). It also won the People's Choice Award for "Favorite Television Dramatic Series" every year from 1997 to 2002. Over the years, it has been nominated for and/or won numerous other awards, including Screen Actors Guild Awards, Image Awards, GLAAD Media Awards, and Golden Globe Awards, among others.[13]

The following is a partial list of major awards and nominations received by the show, its cast, and crew.

Awards

Emmy Awards

  • Outstanding Drama Series (1996)
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series—Julianna Margulies (1995)
  • Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing for a Drama Series—Mimi Leder for episode "Love's Labor Lost" (1995)
  • Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series—Ray Liotta (2005)

Golden Globe Awards

Screen Actors Guild Awards

  • Best Performance by a Cast in a Drama Series (1996-99) 4 wins
  • Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series—Julianna Margulies (1998-99) 2 wins
  • Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series—Anthony Edwards (1996, 1998) 2 wins

Nominations

Emmy Awards

  • Outstanding Drama Series (1995, 1997-2001) 6 nominations
  • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series—Anthony Edwards (1995-98) 4 nominations
  • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series—George Clooney (1995-96) 2 nominations
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series—Julianna Margulies (1997-2000) 4 nominations
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series—Sherry Stringfield (1995-97) 3 nominations
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series—Noah Wyle (1995-99) 5 nominations
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series—Eriq La Salle (1995, 1997-98) 3 nominations
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series—Maura Tierney (2001)
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series—Laura Innes (1997-98) 2 nominations
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series—Gloria Reuben (1997-98) 2 nominations
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series—Julianna Margulies (1996)

Golden Globe Awards

  • Best TV Series-Drama (1995-2001) 7 nominations
  • Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series-Drama—Anthony Edwards (1996-97, 1999) 3 nominations
  • Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series-Drama—Julianna Margulies (1999-2000) 3 nominations
  • Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series-Drama—Sherry Stringfield (1996-97) 2 nominations
  • Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a TV Series—Noah Wyle (1997-99) 3 nominations
  • Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a TV Series—Eriq La Salle (1998)
  • Best Performance by a Supporting Actress in a TV Series—Gloria Reuben (1998)
  • Best Performance by a Supporting Actress in a TV Series—Julianna Margulies (1996)
  • Best Performance by a Supporting Actress in a TV Series—CCH Pounder (1997)

Screen Actors Guild Awards

  • Best Performance by a Cast in a Drama Series (1995, 1998, 2000-01) 4 nominations
  • Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series—Sally Field (2001)
  • Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series—Julianna Margulies (1996)
  • Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series—Anthony Edwards (1997, 1999, 2001) 3 nominations
  • Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series—George Clooney (1996-97) 2 nominations

DVD releases

Season Date of Region 1 DVD Release Date of Region 2 DVD Release[14]
The Complete First Season (1994-1995) August 26, 2003 February 23, 2004
The Complete Second Season (1995-1996) April 27, 2004 July 26, 2004
The Complete Third Season (1996-1997) April 26, 2005 January 31, 2005
The Complete Fourth Season (1997-1998) December 20, 2005 May 16, 2005
The Complete Fifth Season (1998-1999) July 11, 2006 October 24, 2005
The Complete Sixth Season (1999-2000) December 19, 2006 [15] April 3, 2006
The Complete Seventh Season (2000-2001) Not yet released September 18, 2006
The Complete Eighth Season (2001-2002) Not yet released Not yet released


The DVD box sets are ususual in the fact that they are all in anamorphic widescreen even though these episodes were broadcast in a standard 4:3 format. Only the live episode Ambush is not in the widescreen format.

The first five seasons of the series have also been released in Canada, Hong Kong, and other markets.

References

  1. ^ http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271%7C88645%7C1%7C,00.html
  2. ^ a b c d e A Dramatic Achievement (Variety Magazine) – Maynard, Kevin: While cast revolves, auds stay involved (from Mai 2003), access on October 23, 2006
  3. ^ a b c d Sick of Nielsen Talk Yet?
  4. ^ a b "TV Winners & Losers: Numbers Racket A Final Tally Of The Season's Show (from Nielsen Media Research)". Entertainment Weekly. June 4, 1999.
  5. ^ Quotenmeter.de: US-Jahrescharts 1999/2000, access on October 23, 2006
  6. ^ a b Armstrong, Mark (May 25, 2001). "Outback in Front: CBS Wins Season". E! Online.
  7. ^ a b "How did your favorite show rate?". USA Today. May 28, 2002.
  8. ^ a b Ryan, Joal (May 22, 2003). "TV Season Wraps; 'CSI' Rules". E! Online. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
  9. ^ a b Ryan, Joal (May 27, 2004). ""Idol" Rules TV Season". E! Online. Retrieved 2006-10-14.
  10. ^ "2004-05 Final audience and ratings figures". Hollywood Reporter. May 27, 2005.
  11. ^ a b "2005-06 primetime wrap". Hollywood Reporter. May 26, 2006.
  12. ^ 2005-2006 Facts and Figures from the Emmy Awards. Retrieved July 22, 2006.
  13. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108757/awards
  14. ^ http://www.sendit.com/video/promotion/er
  15. ^ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=6278
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