Created by novelist Michael Crichton and reportedly based on his own experiences as a medical student, the NBC hospital drama ER debuted September 19, 1994, directly opposite the similar CBS endeavor Chicago Hope. Though many critics thought that Chicago Hope had a better chance for survival than ER, the NBC series scored a surprise hit -- and over a decade later it was still firmly imbedded in the network's Thursday-night schedule, while Chicago Hope had long since vanished. Set largely in the emergency room of Chicago's fictional County General Hospital, ER focused on the professional and personal trials and tribulations of the unit's staff, with several subplots and story arcs weaving in and out of each hour-long episode. The regular cast for the first season consisted of Anthony Edwards as Dr. Mark Greene, George Clooney as Dr. Doug Ross, Sherry Stringfield as Dr. Susan Lewis, Eriq La Salle as Dr. Peter Benton, Julianna Margulies as Head Nurse Carol Hathaway, and Noah Wyle as med student (and later doctor) John Carter. Of these actors, only Sherry Stringfield and Noah Wyle would still be on the series as it entered its second decade on the air -- and of these two, only Wyle had been on the show throughout its entire run (Stringfield retired from the series in season three, but returned five years later).
Later principals, in order of their appearance, included Laura Innes as Dr. Kerry Weaver, Alex Kingston as Dr. Elizabeth Corday, Paul McCrane as Dr. Robert Romano, Kellie Martin as med student Lucy Knight, Erik Palladino as Dr. Dave Malucci, Goran Visnjic as Dr. Luka Kovac, Ming-Na as Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen (a recurring character in season one who returned as a regular in season six), Maura Tierney as Nurse (and later Dr.) Abby Lockhart, Michael Michele as Dr. Cleo Finch, Sharif Atkins as Dr. Michael Gallant, Mekhi Phifer as Dr. Gregory Pratt, and Parminder Nagra as med student (and later doctor) Neela Rasgotra. Many of these characters' lives were intertwined romantically, while some of the characters were bitter enemies; all were uniformly fascinating. And just as in "real life," there was nothing predictable about the exits of certain characters: some departed with tragic abruptness (Lucy Knight, Robert Romano), others simply bade farewell and moved on with their lives (Doug Ross, Carol Hathaway, Peter Benton); but no "goodbye" was as poignant and moving as the lingering illness and death of Mark Greene throughout the length and breadth of season eight. Though the plot emphasis was on the continuing characters, a number of prominent guest stars made memorable appearances during the series' decade-plus run. Alan Alda, Sally Field, and Bob Newhart were but three of the A-list entertainers who passed in and out of the doors of Chicago County. The winner of innumerable industry awards, ER has also earned a niche in media history as the most expensive dramatic series in TV history, reaching this particular plateau with its 13-million-dollar-per-episode average budget during the 1998-1999 season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Credit
Michael Crichton - Executive Producer, Steven Spielberg - Executive Producer, John Wells - Executive Producer, Christopher Chulack - Executive Producer, Lydia Woodward - Executive Producer, Carol Flint - Executive Producer, Neal Baer - Executive Producer, Jack Orman - Executive Producer, James Newton Howard - Composer (Music Score), Michael Crichton - Show Creator
ER: Season 01 ER: Season 02 ER: Season 03 ER: Season 04 ER: Season 05 ER: Season 06 ER: Season 07 ER: Season 08 ER: Season 09 ER: Season 10 ER: 'Twas the Night ER: 9 1/2 Hours ER: A Bloody Mess ER: A Boy Falling Out of the Sky ER: A Hole in the Heart ER: A Hopeless Wound ER: A Little Help from My Friends ER: A Miracle Happens Here ER: A River in Egypt ER: A Saint in the City ER: A Shift in the Night ER: A Shot in the Dark ER: A Simple Twist of Fate ER: A Thousand Cranes ER: A Walk in the Woods ER: Abby Road ER: All in the Family ER: Alone in the Crowd ER: Ambush ER: An Intern's Guide to the Galaxy ER: And Baby Makes Two ER: Another Perfect Day ER: April Showers ER: Ask Me No Questions, I'll Tell You No Lies ER: Baby Shower ER: Back in the World ER: Be Patient ER: Be Still My Heart ER: Benton Backwards ER: Beyond Repair ER: Blizzard ER: Blood Sugar Sex Magic ER: Brothers and Sisters ER: Bygones ER: Calling Dr. Hathaway ER: Carter est Amoureux ER: Carter's Choice ER: Chaos Theory ER: Chicago Heat ER: Choosing Joi ER: Damage Is Done ER: Damaged ER: Day For Knight ER: Day One ER: Days Like This ER: Dead Again ER: Dead of Winter ER: Do One, Teach One, Kill One ER: Do You See What I See? ER: Don't Ask, Don't Tell ER: Double Blind ER: Dr. Carter, I Presume ER: ER Confidential ER: Everything Old is New Again ER: Exodus ER: Faith ER: Family Matters ER: Family Practice ER: Fathers and Sons ER: Fear ER: Fear of Commitment ER: Fear of Flying ER: February Fifth, 1995 ER: Fevers of Unknown Origin ER: Finders Keepers ER: Fire in the Belly ER: First Snowfall ER: Flight of Fancy ER: Foreign Affairs ER: Fortune's Fools ER: Four Corners ER: Freak Show ER: Friendly Fire ER: Full Moon, Saturday Night ER: Getting to Know You ER: Ghosts ER: Going Home ER: Good Luck, Ruth Johnson ER: Good Touch, Bad Touch ER: Great Expectations ER: Greene With Envy ER: Ground Zero ER: Gut Reaction ER: Happy New Year ER: Hazed and Confused ER: Hell and High Water ER: Here and There ER: Hindsight ER: Hit and Run ER: Home ER: Homecoming ER: Homeless for the Holidays ER: House of Cards ER: How the Finch Stole Christmas ER: Humpty Dumpty ER: I'll Be Home for Christmas ER: If I Should Fall from Grace ER: Insurrection ER: Into That Good Night ER: It's All in Your Head ER: It's Not Easy Being Greene ER: John Carter, M.D. ER: Just as I Am ER: Kisangani ER: Last Call ER: Last Rites ER: Leave it to Weaver ER: Let the Games Begin ER: Lockdown ER: Long Day's Journey ER: Loose Ends ER: Love Among the Ruins ER: Love's Labor Lost ER: Luck of the Draw ER: Make a Wish ER: Make of Two Hearts ER: Mars Attacks ER: Masquerade ER: Match Made in Heaven ER: May Day ER: Men Plan, God Laughs ER: Middle of Nowhere ER: Middleman ER: Motherhood ER: My Brother's Keeper ER: Never Say Never ER: Next of Kin ER: Night-Shift ER: No Brain, No Gain ER: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished ER: No Strings Attached ER: Nobody Doesn't Like Amanda Lee ER: Obstruction of Justice ER: Of Past Regret and Future Fear ER: On the Beach ER: One Can Only Hope ER: One for the Road ER: One More For the Road ER: Only Connect ER: Orion in the Sky ER: Partly Cloudy, Chance of Rain ER: Piece of Mind ER: Pilot ER: Point of Origin ER: Post Mortem ER: Power ER: Quo Vadis? ER: Rampage ER: Random Acts ER: Refusal of Care ER: Rescue Me ER: Responsible Parties ER: Rites of Spring ER: Rock, Paper, Scissors ER: Ruby Redux ER: Sailing Away ER: Sand and Water ER: Secrets and Lies ER: Shades of Gray ER: Sharp Relief ER: Sins of the Fathers ER: Skin ER: Sleepless in Chicago ER: Something New ER: Split Second ER: Start All Over Again ER: Sticks and Stones ER: Stuck on You ER: Such Sweet Sorrow ER: Suffer the Little Children ER: Summer Run ER: Supplies and Demands ER: Surrender ER: Survival of the Fittest ER: Take These Broken Wings ER: Tell Me Where It Hurts ER: The Advocate ER: The Birthday Party ER: The Crossing ER: The Dance We Do ER: The Domino Heart ER: The Fastest Year ER: The Gift ER: The Good Fight ER: The Greatest of Gifts ER: The Healers ER: The Letter ER: The Long Way Around ER: The Longer You Stay ER: The Match Game ER: The Miracle Worker ER: The Peace of Wild Things ER: The Providers ER: The Right Thing ER: The Secret Sharer ER: The Show Must Go On ER: The Storm, Part 1 ER: The Storm, Part 2 ER: The Visit ER: They Treat Horses, Don't They? ER: Things Change ER: Think Warm Thoughts ER: Thy Will Be Done ER: Time of Death ER: Tribes ER: True Lies ER: Truth & Consequences ER: Try Carter ER: Under Control ER: Union Station ER: Vanishing Act ER: Viable Options ER: Walk Like a Man ER: Welcome Back, Carter! ER: What Life? ER: When Night Meets Day ER: When the Bough Breaks ER: Where the Heart Is ER: White Guy, Dark Hair ER: Whose Appy Now? ER: Witch Hunt ER: You Are Here ER: You Bet Your Life
ER is an Americanmedical dramaseries created by the late novelistMichael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 1994 to April 2009. It is set primarily in the emergency room of fictional County General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television Production, Inc. The show ran for 15 seasons, becoming the longest-running medical drama in American primetime television history. It won 23 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series (1996), and received 123 Emmy nominations, the most of any television show in history.
In addition to the main cast, ER featured a large number of recurring supporting cast not billed as starring, but frequently playing notable roles in many episodes during their tenures. The most common of these roles were those of desk clerks, nurses, and occasionally doctors not part of the main cast. In addition, ER featured a significant roster of guest stars, most frequently portraying the many patients required for each episode. Many notable celebrities guest starred on the show.
Production
Development
In 1974, author Michael Crichton wrote a screenplay based on his own experiences as a medical resident in a busy hospital emergency room.[1] The screenplay went nowhere, and Crichton focused on other topics. In 1990, he published the novel Jurassic Park, and in 1993 began a collaboration with director Steven Spielberg on the film adaptation of that.[2] The Crichton-Spielberg team then returned to ER but decided to film the story as a two-hour pilot for a television series rather than as a feature film.[3] Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment provided John Wells as the show's executive producer. The script used to shoot the pilot was virtually unchanged from what Crichton had written in 1974. The only substantive changes made by the producers in 1994 made the Susan Lewis character a woman and the Peter Benton character an African-American, and shortened the running time by about 20 minutes in order for the pilot to air in a two-hour block on network TV.[4] 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.[5] A set modeled after Los Angeles County General Hospital's emergency room was built soon afterwards 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.[6]
Steven Spielberg left the show after one year in a producer's chair, but he made one critical decision with lasting effects: the Carol Hathaway character, who died at the end of the original script for the pilot episode, was retained. Having created the series Michael Crichton was credited as an executive producer throughout its run. John Wells was the series other initial executive producer and served as show runner for the initial seasons. Wells was one of the shows most prolific writers and also became a regular director in later years. Lydia Woodward was a part of the first season production team and became an executive producer for the third season. She took over as show runner for the sixth season while Wells focused on the development of Third Watch. She left her executive producer position at the end of the sixth season but continued to write episodes throughout the series' run.
Woodward was replaced as show runner by Jack Orman. Orman was recruited as a writer-producer for the series in its fourth season after a successful stint working on JAG. He was promoted quickly and became executive producer and show runner for the seventh season. He held this role for three seasons before leaving the series at the end of the ninth season. He was a frequent writer and also directed three episodes of the show. David Zabel served as the series' head writer and executive producer in its later seasons. He initially joined the crew for the eighth season and became an executive for the twelfth season. Zabel was the series most frequent writer and contributed to 41 episodes. He also made his directing debut on the series. Christopher Chulack was the series' most frequent director and also worked as a producer on all 15 seasons. He became an executive producer with the fourth season but occasionally scaled back his involvement in later years to focus on new projects while continuing to serve as a consulting producer for ER. Other executive producers include writers Carol Flint, Neal Baer, R. Scott Gemmill, Dee Johnson, Joe Sachs, and Janine Sherman Barrois. The series crew were recognized with awards for writing, directing, producing, film editing, sound editing, casting, and music.
Broadcasting
ER premiered on September 19, 1994 from 9:00-11:00 p.m. (EDT) and moved into the 10:00 p.m Thursday night timeslot three days later, where it remained for all fifteen seasons. ER is NBC's second longest-running drama (after Law & Order), and, the longest-running American primetime medical drama of all time.[7] On April 2, 2008, NBC announced that the series would return for its 15th, concluding season.[8] It was originally scheduled to run for 19 episodes before retiring with a two-hour series finale to be broadcast on March 12, 2009,[9][10] but NBC announced in January 2009 that it would extend ER by an additional three episodes to a full 22 episode order as part of a deal to launch a new series by John Wells.[11] ER's final episode aired on April 2, 2009 for a two-hour episode preceded by a one-hour retrospective special episode.[12]
Among the memorable episodes of ER is 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, but usually include at least one scene outside of the hospital. In addition, most seasons included at least one storyline located completely outside of the ER, often outside of Chicago. One early such instance involved a road trip near Las Vegas, Nevada (Drs. Ross and Greene). Season Eight included a storyline in Hawaii (Drs. Greene and Corday); seasons Nine and Ten included storylines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Drs. Kovac and Carter); and Season Twelve included a storyline set in the Darfur region of Sudan (Drs. Pratt and Carter, with Noah Wyle appearing as a guest star in the season following his departure from the show).
Format
ER was filmed in 1.78:1 widescreen from the start, even though it was not broadcast in widescreen until the seventh season when it began appearing in the 1080i HD format where NBC was being broadcast digitally.[citation needed] Since the sixth episode of Season 7, it has appeared in letterbox format when in standard definition. As a result, the U.S. DVD box set shows the widescreen versions of the episodes, including those episodes originally broadcast in 1.33:1 (full frame) format. The episodes also appear in 1080i widescreen when rerun on TNT HD, though the first six seasons still run in full frame 1.33:1 on the digital 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 ratio.
Impact
Ratings
American 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 and Pacific time zones.
The series has been nominated for 375 industry awards and has won 116. ER won the George Foster Peabody Award in 1995. In addition, the series has received 123 Emmy Award nominations, making it the most Emmy-nominated show in history.[26] The series has won 22 Emmy Awards. 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.[27]
Distribution
Home video
Warner Home Video has released ER on DVD in Regions 1, 2, and 4. Seasons 1-11 have been released in R1, Seasons 1-15 in R2, and Seasons 1-13 in R4.
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.
Other media
ER soundtrack released in 1996 with various compositions from seasons 1 and 2 episodes by Martin Davich and James Newton Howard.
ER video game for Windows XP and 2000 released in 2005 where the player takes control of a character in the series and treats patients.
References
^Jacobs, Jason (2003). Body Trauma TV: The New Hospital Dramas (illustrated ed.). British Film Institute. pp. 24. ISBN0851708803.
