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ER (TV series)

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ER
File:ERTitleCard.jpg
ER title card.
Created byMichael Crichton
StarringGoran Visnjic*
Maura Tierney
Mekhi Phifer
Parminder Nagra
John Stamos
Linda Cardellini
Scott Grimes
*not currently credited
Opening themeJames Newton Howard
(1994–2006)
Martin Davich
(2006–Present)
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons14
No. of episodes293
Production
Camera setupSingle
Running time61 minutes (including commercials)
46 minutes (without commercials)
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseSeptember 19, 1994 –
present

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

Series run

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

ER is NBC's second longest-running drama (after Law & Order), with 14 seasons, making it the longest American primetime medical drama of all time.[1]. It premiered on September 19, 1994 and has been shown on Thursday nights at 10:00 throughout its entire run. However www.tvseriesfinale.com has reported that ER will likely end this upcoming season. [2]

History and production

The novel ER was originally slated to be a movie, directed by Steven Spielberg. However, during the early stages of pre-production, Spielberg asked Michael Crichton what his current project was. Crichton said he was working on a novel about dinosaurs and DNA. Spielberg subsequently dropped what he was doing to film this project, which became Jurassic Park. Afterwards, he returned to ER and helped develop the show, serving as a producer on season one and offering advice (he insisted on Julianna Margulies becoming a regular, for example). It was also through Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment that John Wells was contacted to be the show's executive producer.

Due to a lack of time and money to build a set, the pilot episode of ER was filmed in the former Linda Vista Community Hospital in Los Angeles, an old facility that ceased operating as a medical center in 1990.[3] A set modelled after that hospital 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" train platforms.

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.

Episodes

Main article: List of ER episodes

ER has had many memorable episodes, and is particularly 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. The actors performed the show again three hours later so that the West Coast airing would be live as well. This episode received Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Directing and Outstanding Lighting Direction (Electronic), and won the Emmy for Outstanding Technical Direction/Camera/Video for a Series.

Most episodes center on the ER, with almost all scenes at the hospital. There are however often at least one scene showing the goings-on of the ER staff outside the hospital. Also, there is a tradition to feature one or a few episodes each season almost completely out of the ER, for example an episode in which Carol Hathaway is drawn in to a hostage drama in a grocery store, and one in which Mark Greene and Doug Ross go on a road trip to claim the body of Dr Ross' recently deceased father.

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 as Guest Star / Supporting Actor
Season Episode Season Episode
CURRENT (sorted by first appearance)
Maura Tierney 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
Scott Grimes Dr. Archie Morris 12– 246– 10–11 204–206, 208–209, 212, 215–217, 220–222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 236, 238–239, 241–242, 244–245
Linda Cardellini Nurse Samantha Taggart 10– 206–
John Stamos Dr. Tony Gates 13– 269– 12 252–253
PAST (sorted by last appearance)
Shane West Dr. Ray Barnett 11–13 224–290
Laura Innes Dr. Kerry Weaver 3–13 48–280 2 26–29, 31, 34–35, 38, 40, 43–47
Sharif Atkins Dr. Michael Gallant 8–10 172–219 8, 11–12 164–166, 168–170, 239–240, 253–254, 257, 266
Noah Wyle Dr. John Carter 1–11 1–245 12 259–260, 264–265
Sherry Stringfield Dr. Susan Lewis 1–3, 8–12 1–55, 161–246
Ming-Na Dr. Jing-Mei Chen 6–11 123–232 1 13–17, 19–21
Alex Kingston Dr. Elizabeth Corday 4–11 70–227
Paul McCrane Dr. Robert Romano 6–10 114–209 4, 5 74–75, 77–81, 84–90, 93, 95–96, 100–101, 103–107, 109–113
Anthony Edwards Dr. Mark Greene 1–8 1–179
Michael Michele Dr. Cleo Finch 6–8 114–167, 178
Eriq La Salle Dr. Peter Benton 1–8 1–167, 172, 178
Erik Palladino Dr. Dave Malucci 6–8 120–161 6 115–119
Julianna Margulies Nurse Carol Hathaway 1–6 2–134 1 1
George Clooney Dr. Doug Ross 1–5 1–106 6 134
Kellie Martin Med student Lucy Knight 5–6 92–127
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
File:ER-Cast-season 7-8.jpg
Season 8 main cast

Main cast departures

Sherry Stringfield's first departure on the show was 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 City, Iowa, after having been denied tenure at County.

After playing Dr. Anna Del Amico for 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 medical 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 HIV-positive baby.

Kellie Martin, who played medical 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 psychiatry department could arrive in 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," an episode after 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, Reese, 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. Unusually, Anthony Edwards was credited in the following episode "Lockdown".

Paul McCrane's character, Dr. Robert Romano, whose arm had been severed just above the elbow by a helicopter's tail rotor in the Season 9 premiere "Chaos Theory," was killed in the Season 10 episode "Freefall" 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 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 withdrew that claim.[4]

Ming-Na left in Season 11 when her character, Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen, quit the ER in the episode "Twas the Night" in order to take care of her ailing father, whom she later mercy killed. This was the second time her character left County General; in Season 1, medical 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." His character, Dr. John Carter, had decided to reunite in Africa with his girlfriend Kem Likasu (portrayed by Thandie Newton). During Season 12, Wyle returned as Carter and made guest appearances in four episodes: "Quintessence of Dust," "Darfur," "No Place to Hide," and "There Are No Angels Here." He is reported to make further guest appearances in series 14 by David Zabel who claims "He'll be in Chicago in the ER, interacting with all our people," and not running around in Africa. His return is so that his character can check out the Joshua-Carter centre.

Laura Innes left midway through Season 13, in the episode "A House Divided," when a reluctant Kovač was forced by budget cuts to fire her character, Dr. Kerry Weaver. After bracing for a battle to keep her position, and in spite of the fact that Kovač realized he must find a way to keep her on staff, Weaver ultimately decided to resign from County and accept a job offer from a television station in Miami, Florida.

Shane West also left at the end of the 13th season after his character, Ray Barnett lost both his legs and returned to Baton Rouge with his mother to recuperate. His character may return during the 14th season. West's final appearance as a main cast member was in "The Honeymoon is Over."

Goran Visnjic is expected to leave the main cast at an indeterminate time during the 14th season. At present, his character, Dr. Luka Kovač is in his native Croatia to be with his father, who required surgery for cancer followed by an extended recuperation. As the new season opened, the character remained active through dialogue and discussion of the status of his stay in Croatia, and Visnjic will begin appearing onscreen with the fifth episode of the season, winding up his story in Croatia before Kovac returns to Chicago and the ER shortly thereafter.

Notable guest stars

Memorable appearances on the show have included:

Guest stars whose performances won them Emmys are:

Guest stars whose performances earned them Emmy nominations include:

Supporting cast

Main article: List of supporting characters in ER (TV series)

Lack of Asian diversity

According to the 2002 census, there are 8.6% physicians are Asian Americans, only 2.4% physicians are African American. [5] Even though ER started in 1994, no lead Asian male actors has ever been featured. The one and only Asian female doctor was an actress Ming-na, which did not last long comparing with the many different Caucasian male and female actors who have appeared on this show. This certainly does not reflect the actual physician population in the US.

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[6] 28.9 [citation needed]
2nd September 21, 1995 May 16, 1996 1995-1996 1[6] 32.0 [citation needed]
3rd September 26, 1996 May 15, 1997 1996-1997 1[6] 30.8 [citation needed]
4th September 25, 1997 May 14, 1998 1997-1998 2[6] 30.2 [citation needed]
5th September 24, 1998 May 20, 1999 1998-1999 1[7] 25.4[7]
6th September 30, 1999 May 18, 2000 1999-2000 4[6] 25.0[8]
7th October 12, 2000 May 17, 2001 2000-2001 2[9] 22.4[9]
8th September 27, 2001 May 16, 2002 2001-2002 3[10] 22.1[10]
9th September 26, 2002 May 15, 2003 2002-2003 4[11] 20.0[11]
10th September 25, 2003 May 13, 2004 2003-2004 8[12] 19.5[12]
11th September 23, 2004 May 19, 2005 2004-2005 16[13] 15.5[13]
12th September 22, 2005 May 18, 2006 2005-2006 30[14] 12.3[14]
13th September 21, 2006 May 17, 2007 2006-2007 31[15] 11.5[15]
14th September 27, 2007 2007-2008

Awards and nominations

ER won the George Foster Peabody Award in 1995. In addition, the series has earned 123 Emmy Award nominations, making it the most Emmy-nominated show in history.[16] 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.[17]

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 Actress in a Drama Series—Sally Field (2001)
  • 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 (1996-1999) 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- Alex Kingston (2002)
  • 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 Actor in a Drama Series- Paul McCrane (2001)
  • 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)
  • Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series-Forest Whitaker (2007)
  • Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series—James Woods (2006)
  • Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series—Red Buttons (2005)
  • Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series—Bob Newhart (2004)
  • Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series—Don Cheadle (2003)
  • Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series—Sally Field (2003)

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 Actor in a TV Series-Drama—George Clooney (1996-98) 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 UK Region 2* DVD Release Date of AUS Region 4 DVD Release
The Complete First Season (1994-1995) August 26, 2003 February 23, 2004 April 28, 2004
The Complete Second Season (1995-1996) April 27, 2004 July 26, 2004 July 15, 2004
The Complete Third Season (1996-1997) April 26, 2005 January 31, 2005 December 16, 2004
The Complete Fourth Season (1997-1998) December 20, 2005 May 16, 2005 April 27, 2005
The Complete Fifth Season (1998-1999) July 11, 2006 October 24, 2005 November 15, 2005
The Complete Sixth Season (1999-2000) December 19, 2006[18] April 3, 2006 May 5, 2006
The Complete Seventh Season (2000-2001) May 15, 2007 September 18, 2006 October 3, 2006
The Complete Eighth Season (2001-2002) January 22, 2008[19] July 16, 2007[20] September 6, 2007
The Complete Ninth Season (2002-2003) Not yet released October 29, 2007[21] October 31, 2007
The Complete Tenth Season (2003-2004) Not yet released Not yet released Not yet released
The Complete Eleventh Season (2004-2005) Not yet released Not yet released Not yet released
The Complete Twelfth Season (2005-2006) Not yet released Not yet released Not yet released
The Complete Thirteenth Season (2006-2007) Not yet released Not yet released Not yet released
The Complete Fourteenth Season (2007-2008) Not yet released Not yet released Not yet released

The first six DVD box sets of ER are unusual 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. All "Previously on ER" segments are removed from each episode. The DVD's are boxes containing 4 discs (either 4 (seasons 1 and 2), with episodes on both sides of the disc, the fourth disc containing all special features) or 6 discs ((seasons 3-up), special features and episodes on one side of each disc only).

The first six seasons of the series have also been released in Hong Kong and other markets. Other Region 2 markets have different release dates. In Germany, Season 9 was released on 7 September 2007. amazon.de

Other Merchandise

A soundtrack and a video game have been released.

NBC's ER message board

The message board [3] doesn't like anyone to voice their "negative" opinions on that site, every "negative" messages are forced to be put into the special subject named as "Negative opinions spoken here."

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/CA6083/#
  4. ^ http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271%7C88645%7C1%7C,00.html
  5. ^ Total U.S. Physicians by Race / Ethnicity (2002)
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b "TV Winners & Losers: Numbers Racket A Final Tally Of The Season's Show (from Nielsen Media Research)". Entertainment Weekly. June 4, 1999.
  8. ^ Quotenmeter.de: US-Jahrescharts 1999/2000, access on October 23, 2006
  9. ^ a b Armstrong, Mark (May 25, 2001). "Outback in Front: CBS Wins Season". E! Online.
  10. ^ a b "How did your favorite show rate?". USA Today. May 28, 2002.
  11. ^ a b Ryan, Joal (May 22, 2003). "TV Season Wraps; 'CSI' Rules". E! Online. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
  12. ^ a b Ryan, Joal (May 27, 2004). ""Idol" Rules TV Season". E! Online. Retrieved 2006-10-14.
  13. ^ a b "2004-05 Final audience and ratings figures". Hollywood Reporter. May 27, 2005.
  14. ^ a b "2005-06 primetime wrap". Hollywood Reporter. May 26, 2006.
  15. ^ a b "Hollywood Reporter: 2006-07 primetime wrap". May 25 2007. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |source= ignored (help)
  16. ^ 2005-2006 Facts and Figures from the Emmy Awards. Retrieved July 22, 2006.
  17. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108757/awards
  18. ^ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=6278
  19. ^ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/ER-Season-8-Press%20Release/8145
  20. ^ http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/3350001/E_R_Season_8/Product.html
  21. ^ http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/3438579/-/Product.html

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to ER.
Preceded by Emmy - Outstanding Drama Series
1996 		Succeeded by
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