ER (TV series)
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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
ER is NBC's second longest-running drama (after Law & Order), and, with 14 seasons, is the longest-running American primetime medical drama of all time.[http://www.erheadquarters.com/news/11/after11years_033105.htm]. ER premiered on September 19, 1994 and has been aired on Thursday nights at 10:00 for its entire run. Before the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike it was widely speculated that the fourteenth season of ER would be its last. However producer John Wells has indicated he plans to negotiate a fifteenth season with NBC, given only 13 scripts of the 22 ordered are complete, which potentially ends the season with several incomplete stories. http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-erpossible15thseason,0,4594680.story?track=rss On November 28, NBC announced it would air a new mid-season replacement series in ER's timeslot, Lipstick Jungle, when ER runs out of original episodes due to the Writer's Strike.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.http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/CA6083/# A set modelled after Los Angeles County General Hospital's emergency room 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 "L" 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.ER is unique in that the series was filmed in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen from the start, even though it did not air in widescreen until the seventh season when it began appearing in the 1080i HD format where NBC was being broadcast digitally. Since the beginning of the seventh season, it has appeared in letterbox format when in standard definition. As a result, every DVD box set shows the widescreen versions of the episodes, even the first six seasons that were not originally broadcast in widescreen. The episodes also appear in 1080i widescreen when rerun on TNT HD, though the first six seasons still show in fullscreen on the normal TNT network. Only the live episode "Ambush" at the beginning of the fourth season, and the opening credits for the first six seasons, are in standard 4:3 aspect.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.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. She returned in season 14 for one episode with her HIV positive child. 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.http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271%7C88645%7C1%7C,00.html 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 season 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. Visnjic returned to the role briefly in the fifth episode of the season, and appeared in a few more episodes as well. Luka's father had recently passed away and now he's back in Croatia for the funeral. Visnjic did not appear on the January 3, 2008 episode, and no mention of his return has been brought up.Notable guest stars
Memorable appearances on the show have included:Supporting cast
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.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.2005-2006 Facts and Figures from the Emmy Awards. Retrieved July 22, 2006. 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 1995 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.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108757/awardsThe following is a partial list of major awards and nominations received by the show, its cast, and crew.Awards
Emmy AwardsNominations
Emmy AwardsDVD releases
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. Similarly, Season 10 will be released to the German market on 7 December 2007. amazon.deOther media
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