ER 

The lives, loves and losses of the doctors and nurses of Chicago's County General Hospital.

Creator:

Michael Crichton

Stars:

Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Julianna Margulies

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 155 wins & 364 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Noah Wyle	...	John Carter 254 episodes, 1994-2009
Laura Innes	...	Kerry Weaver 250 episodes, 1995-2009
Laura Cerón	...	Nurse Chuny Marquez 219 episodes, 1995-2009
Deezer D	...	Nurse Malik McGrath 190 episodes, 1994-2009
Maura Tierney	...	Abby Lockhart 189 episodes, 1999-2009
Goran Visnjic	...	Luka Kovac 185 episodes, 1999-2008
Yvette Freeman	...	Nurse Haleh Adams 184 episodes, 1994-2009
Anthony Edwards	...	Mark Greene 182 episodes, 1994-2008
Eriq La Salle	...	Peter Benton / ... 173 episodes, 1994-2009
Emily Wagner	...	Doris Pickman 168 episodes, 1994-2009
Alex Kingston	...	Elizabeth Corday 160 episodes, 1997-2009
Lyn Alicia Henderson	...	Pamela Olbes 149 episodes, 1995-2009
Sherry Stringfield	...	Susan Lewis 142 episodes, 1994-2009
Abraham Benrubi	...	Jerry Markovic 137 episodes, 1994-2009
Mekhi Phifer	...	Gregory Pratt 136 episodes, 2002-2009
Julianna Margulies	...	Carol Hathaway 136 episodes, 1994-2009
Parminder Nagra	...	Neela Rasgotra 129 episodes, 2003-2009
Troy Evans	...	Frank Martin / ... 129 episodes, 1994-2009
Lily Mariye	...	Nurse Lily Jarvik 127 episodes, 1994-2009
Linda Cardellini	...	Samantha Taggart 126 episodes, 2003-2009
Paul McCrane	...	Robert Romano 126 episodes, 1997-2008
Ming-Na Wen	...	Jing-Mei Chen 118 episodes, 1995-2004
Montae Russell	...	Dwight Zadro 117 episodes, 1995-2009
Ellen Crawford	...	Nurse Lydia Wright 113 episodes, 1994-2009
Conni Marie Brazelton	...	Nurse Connie Oligario 113 episodes, 1994-2003
Scott Grimes	...	Archie Morris 112 episodes, 2003-2009
George Clooney	...	Doug Ross 109 episodes, 1994-2009
Gloria Reuben	...	Jeanie Boulet 103 episodes, 1995-2008

Storyline

Michael Crichton has created a medical drama that chronicles life and death in a Chicago hospital emergency room. Each episode tells the tale of another day in the ER, from the exciting to the mundane, and the joyous to the heart-rending. Frenetic pacing, interwoven plot lines, and emotional rollercoastering is used to attempt to accurately depict the stressful environment found there. This show even portrays the plight of medical students in their quest to become physicians.

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Plot Keywords:

hospital | emergency room | sleeping | medical care | medical doctor | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

NBC Warner Bros.

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 September 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Emergency Room

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Constant c Productions, John Wells Productions, Amblin Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

44 min 60 min 55 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Because the show could make only a couple of location shoots in Chicago each year, the exterior scenes would often have to be filmed in advance of the rest of the episode's shoot back in Los Angeles. Sometimes a scene for an episode would have to be shot before it was even written. A famous example of this is the final scene in "Love's Labor Lost," when Dr. Greene cries on the El Train. Director Mimi Leder could only give Anthony Edwards a brief description of what was to occur and told him to "find it," "it" being the sadness Greene was experiencing.

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Goofs

On at least four occasions during the series characters refer to LVN's (licensed vocational nurses). Only Texas and California use that designation. Other states, including Illinois, designate this level of nursing Practice as LPN (licensed practical nurse).

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Quotes

Abby Lockhart: In what possible universe would I say "Let's polka?"

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Alternate Versions

All episodes before "The Visit" (airdate: 16 November 2000) were shot and broadcast in the standard television aspect ratio of 1.33:1. All subsequent episodes are done in the HDTV ratio of 1.78:1. However, the DVD collection has reformatted versions of all the early season episodes in 1.78:1. They went back to the original negatives and "matted" off the top and bottom parts of the screen, but gained visuals on the left ands right sides that were never seen before .

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Connections

Referenced in Thanks for Sharing (2012)

User Reviews

Best Drama on Television.

I started watching ER on Thursdays in 1995 after my basketball practices. Already at its second season, I had heard a lot of good from the show, but never bothered to see what it was all about. I was exhausted, relaxing on the couch after a good workout and a cooling shower, flipping channels, something I rarely ever do, when my attention was grabbed by the intensity of the scene that was been played out before me. Something to do with Eriq Lasalle's character (Dr. Benton) and his mom or sister, I vaguely remember. Then the emergency room complications, the tension. Blood. Hospital. This must be that doctors show, ER, I thought. Let me see what this fuss is all about, I said to myself, intended to watch at least the end of that show… But it was already too late!! I was already hooked. The next week, I found myself driving back faster from my basketball practice to make sure to catch the show again.

Seven years later, I'm still watching (or taping) it every week. Why? Because it's the best drama show on TV, hands down, no contest. I thought at first I was biased because I studied physiology and am pretty versed in the technical jargon and medical realities they face on the show. I have a great interest in medicine and even considered a career in that path at one point in my life. However, the more I watched the show, the more I realized that it's not about the physical traumas, but about the human traumas. The admittedly romanticized, but no less relevant, reality of a profession that deals with life and death day after day, night after night. This is what makes it compelling. This is what makes it of greater scope and deeper emotions.

An ER doctor never gets enough sleep, never gets to go home. Is facing critical situations one after the other. Must make life-altering decisions daily. And yes, also has to cope with his personal life. Relationships, achievements and short-comings.

The setting aside, ER is a show that can boast about serious talent in the writing, directing, acting, casting, cinematography, editing, sound and even the pretty realistic make-up-F/X departments. And I'm talking about top-notch rendition, year after year. Just look at the list of Emmy and Golden Globe nominations over the years. What should also be kept in mind is the genuine appreciation by the public, as demonstrated for example by the People's Choice Award for Favorite Television Dramatic Series for eight years straight.

Created by writing mogul Michael Crichton, this show has passed a host of extremely talented actors that went on to 'bigger and better things', while still keeping the quality and the excitement of interesting and captivating stories told by equally apt newcomers. The style of the show is unique. The humour is witty and often sarcastic (see the purposely unlikable, sharp-tongued Paul Crane's Dr. Robert Romano). The tension is handled impeccably. The death of main characters truly riveting, sad and heartfelt (no question some of the best shows). The personal stories of the nurses and doctors and their work interactions with each other is worthy of a soap opera, but handled with a honest hard look at the twists and turn of life and personal interplay. The directing is smart, thorough. The long continuous takes (with great cinematography work) enables us to feel right in the action and switch from a tense situation to the other. What can you ask more of a TV show?

I enjoy ER and give my hats off to everyone involved with the show. Back in 1994, they re-invented the TV drama genre, upping the level of writing, acting and directing. This challenged the competition at the time and started giving us altogether better drama shows (for the most part). In its ninth season, ER is still the best; it hasn't lost any steam yet. Yes, there has been a lot of changes (actors-characters), but the essence (writers, directors, producers) of what makes the show great is still there and still strong.

When it comes down to it, the daily stress and life-affecting decisions at County General Hospital coupled with the hectic work environment is a place I want to vicariously live in every week. Because, with all the pain and hardness, we understand that these doctors like to help people, but they also love the RUSH.