ER season 15
| ER (season 15) | |
|---|---|
| Season 15 | |
 DVD box set | |
| No. of episodes | 22 |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 25, 2008 – April 2, 2009 |
| Season chronology | |
The fifteenth and final season of the American fictional drama television series ER premiered on September 25, 2008 and concluded on April 2, 2009, in a two-hour episode preceded by a one-hour retrospective special. The final season consists of 22 episodes.
Plot
The final season opens up revealing Gregory Pratt is the victim of the ambulance explosion. Despite the rallying efforts of his workplace colleagues, he succumbs to his injuries and dies. The season introduces Dr Cate Banfield as new ER chief, a woman with a seemingly mysterious past with County General. Abby and Kovac leave for a new life in Boston, Brenner must deal with issues surrounding his childhood, Sam and Gates relationship suffers a setback while Neela is forced to make some tough decisions, both personal and professional.
To mark the end of the series and draw closure, several former cast members make a return to the show. Greene appears in a flashback episode that explores Banfield's history with County General while Carter returns to work at County although, unbeknownst to his colleagues, he is in desperate need of a kidney transplant while the likes of Benton, Ross, Lewis, Hathaway, Corday, Weaver and Barnett all make surprise returns.
Cast
Main cast
- Goran Visnjic[1] as Dr. Luka Kovač - Resigned1
- Maura Tierney as Dr. Abby Lockhart - Fourth Year Resident
- Mekhi Phifer as Dr. Greg Pratt - Attending Physician
- Parminder Nagra as Dr. Neela Rasgotra - Third Year Surgical Resident
- John Stamos as Dr. Tony Gates - Third Year Resident
- Linda Cardellini as Nurse Samantha Taggart
- Scott Grimes as Dr. Archie Morris - Attending Physician
- David Lyons as Dr. Simon Brenner - Attending Physician
- Angela Bassett as Dr. Catherine Banfield - Chief of Emergency Medicine
Special appearances
The final season included special appearances by departed regular and recurring cast members:
- Anthony Edwards as Dr. Mark Greene - Episode "Heal Thyself"
- George Clooney as Dr. Doug Ross - Episode "Old Times"
- Julianna Margulies as Nurse Carol Hathaway - Episode "Old Times"
- Laura Innes as Dr. Kerry Weaver - Episodes "Heal Thyself", "And in the End..."
- Alex Kingston as Dr. Elizabeth Corday - Episodes "Dream Runner", "And in the End..."
- Eriq La Salle as Dr. Peter Benton - Episodes "Old Times", "And in the End..."
- Paul McCrane as Dr. Robert Romano - Episode "Heal Thyself"
- Sherry Stringfield as Dr. Susan Lewis - Episode "And in the End..."
- Shane West as Dr. Ray Barnett - Episodes "Haunted", "Shifting Equilibrium", "I Feel Good"
- Noah Wyle as Dr. John Carter - Episodes "The Beginning of the End", "T-Minus-6", "What We Do", "Old Times", "And in the End..."
- Returning recurring characters
- Abraham Benrubi as Jerry Markovic - Multiple episodes
- Ellen Crawford as Nurse Lydia Wright - Episode "And in The End..."
- Hallee Hirsh as Rachel Greene - Episode "And in the End..."
- William H. Macy as Dr. David Morgenstern - Episode "A Long, Strange Trip"
- Thandie Newton as Makemba "Kem" Likasu - Episode "And in the End..."
- Matthew Watkins as Reese Benton - Episode "And in the End..."
Supporting cast
- Doctors and Medical Students
- Amy Aquino as Dr. Janet Coburn - Chief of Obstetrics
- John Aylward as Dr. Donald Anspaugh - Chief of Staff
- Leland Orser as Dr. Lucien Dubenko - Chief of Surgery
- J. P. Manoux as Dr. Dustin Crenshaw - Surgical Attending Physician
- Gina Ravera as Dr. Bettina DeJesús - Radiologist
- Michael Buchman Silver as Dr. Paul Meyers - Psychiatrist
- Shiri Appleby as Dr. Daria Wade - ER Intern
- Julian Morris as Dr. Andrew Wade - Surgical Intern
- Victor Rasuk as Dr. Ryan Sánchez - ER Intern
- Emily Rose as Dr. Tracy Martin - ER Intern
- Sam Jones III as Chaz Pratt - First Year Medical Student/Part Time EMT
- Alexis Bledel as Dr. Julia Wise - ER Intern
- Gil McKinney as Dr. Paul Grady - Second Year ER Resident
- Bresha Webb as Laverne St. John - ER Intern
- Julia Jones as Kaya Montoya - ER Intern
- Nurses
- Deezer D as Nurse Malik McGrath
- Laura Cerón as Nurse Chuny Márquez
- Yvette Freeman as Nurse Haleh Adams
- Lily Mariye as Nurse Lily Jarvik
- Dinah Lenney as Nurse Shirley
- Angel Laketa Moore as Nurse Dawn Archer
- Staff and Paramedics
- Abraham Benrubi as Desk Clerk Jerry Markovic
- Troy Evans as Desk Clerk Frank Martin
- Emily Wagner as Paramedic Doris Pickman
- Monté Russell as Paramedic Dwight Zadro
- Lyn Alicia Henderson as Paramedic Pamela Olbes
- Brian Lester as Paramedic Brian Dumar
- Family
- Courtney B. Vance as Russell Banfield, Catherine Banfield's husband
- Amy Madigan as Mary Taggart, Samantha Taggart's mother
- Shannon Woodward as Kelly Taggart, Samantha Taggart's sister
- Dominic Janes as Alex Taggart. Samantha Taggart's son
Notable guest stars
Production
Crew
- Christopher Chulack - Executive Producer
- Michael Crichton - Creator/Executive Producer
- John Wells - Executive Producer
- David Zabel - Executive Producer
- Joe Sachs - Executive Producer
- Janine Sherman Barrois - Executive Producer
- Lisa Zwerling - Co-Executive Producer
- Tommy Burns - Producer
- Wendy Spence Rosato - Producer
- Charles M. Lagola - Production Designer
- Arthur Albert - Director of Photography
- Martin Davich - Music
- Randy Jon Morgan, A.C.E. - Editor
- Mimi Leder, a frequent director during ER's first two seasons, returned as a director for the episode "A Long, Strange Trip".
- Rod Holcomb, the director of the 1994 pilot episode as well as several other early episodes, returned to direct two episodes in this season, among them the series finale.
Episodes
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 310 | 1 | "Life After Death" | Christopher Misiano | Joe Sachs | September 25, 2008 |
| 311 | 2 | "Another Thursday at County" | Paul McCrane | Lisa Zwerling | October 9, 2008 |
| 312 | 3 | "The Book of Abby" | Christopher Chulack | David Zabel | October 16, 2008 |
| 313 | 4 | "Parental Guidance" | John Gallagher | Janine Sherman Barrois | October 23, 2008 |
| 314 | 5 | "Haunted" | Christopher Chulack | Karen Maser | October 30, 2008 |
| 315 | 6 | "Oh, Brother" | Stephen Cragg | Virgil Williams | November 6, 2008 |
| 316 | 7 | "Heal Thyself" | David Zabel | David Zabel | November 13, 2008 |
| 317 | 8 | "Age of Innocence" | Paul McCrane | Janine Sherman Barrois | November 20, 2008 |
| 318 | 9 | "Let it Snow" | Charles Haid | Joe Sachs | December 4, 2008 |
| 319 | 10 | "The High Holiday" | Lesli Linka Glatter | Shannon Goss | December 11, 2008 |
| 320 | 11 | "Separation Anxiety" | Terence Nightingall | Virgil Williams | January 8, 2009 |
| 321 | 12 | "Dream Runner" | Andrew Bernstein | Lisa Zwerling | January 15, 2009 |
| 322 | 13 | "Love Is a Battlefield" | Richard Thorpe | Karen Maser | January 22, 2009 |
| 323 | 14 | "A Long, Strange Trip" | Mimi Leder | Joe Sachs | February 5, 2009 |
| 324 | 15 | "The Family Man" | Eriq La Salle | Andrew Fash | February 12, 2009 |
| 325 | 16 | "The Beginning of the End" | Jonathan Kaplan | David Zabel and Lisa Zwerling | February 19, 2009 |
| 326 | 17 | "T-Minus-6" | Rod Holcomb | David Zabel and Lisa Zwerling | February 26, 2009 |
| 327 | 18 | "What We Do" | David Zabel | David Zabel | March 5, 2009 |
| 328 | 19 | "Old Times" | John Wells | John Wells | March 12, 2009 |
| 329 | 20 | "Shifting Equilibrium" | Andrew Bernstein | Lisa Zwerling | March 19, 2009 |
| 330 | 21 | "I Feel Good"[2] | Stephen Cragg | Joe Sachs | March 26, 2009 |
| 331 | 22 | "And in the End..."[3] | Rod Holcomb | John Wells | April 2, 2009 |
TV Ratings
References
- ^ http://www.nbc.com/ER/cast/
- ^ James Brown's song "I Feel Good" is performed during the episode.
- ^ Cf. the lyric "And in the end ..." from the Beatles' song "The End", the last song on their last recorded album, Abbey Road.