ER (TV series)
"ER" is a medical drama television series created by Michael Crichton, which premiered on NBC on September 22, 1994. Set in the trauma center of County General Hospital in Chicago, the series shifts focus from patients to the intense lives of emergency personnel, including doctors, nurses, and support staff. With its dynamic storytelling, "ER" explores the personal and professional challenges faced by its main characters, such as Dr. Doug Ross, played by George Clooney, and nurse Carol Hathaway, portrayed by Julianna Margulies.
The show delves into complex themes, including struggles with addiction, mental health, and the dynamics of gender and race within a high-pressure medical environment. Over its run, the series showcased the evolving relationships among its characters, creating a rich tapestry of drama that kept viewers engaged. Notably, "ER" became a cultural phenomenon, drawing in substantial viewership and earning numerous accolades, including Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for its cast. The series not only set a benchmark for future medical dramas but also established itself as a critical anchor for NBC's primetime lineup throughout the 1990s.
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Subject Terms
ER (TV series)
Identification Television drama series
Creator Michael Crichton (1942-2008)
Date Premiered on September 19, 1994
In an era when half-hour comedy shows ruled prime-time television, this drama series was a smashing success, belying the network’s original fear that a new, hour-long weekly drama series might not attract viewers.
Based on his personal work experience at Massachusetts General Hospital, novelist Michael Crichton craftily created a familiar series setting, a hospital, and then gave the theme a twist, centering the program on the hectic lives of hospital emergency personnel instead of on their patients. Crichton worked with the producer John Wells and an extensive cast to create a phenomenal two-hour pilot program focused on twenty-four hours at a trauma center at County General Hospital in Chicago. ER centers on the lives of devoted doctors, caring nurses, and interesting support staff in a nighttime soap opera that quickly spins from one medical emergency to the next. The characters are strong individuals with a wide range of personal issues: attempted suicide, nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies); alcoholism and womanizing, Dr. Doug Ross (George Clooney); and marital constraints, Dr. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards). Characters also deal with the stress and anxiety of being: young and female in a predominantly male profession, Dr. Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield); young and African American, Dr. Peter Benton (Eriq La Salle); and young and wealthy in the workaday world, Dr. John Carter (Noah Wyle). The characters’ concerns and frustrations with one another create working relationships with intensity equal to the high drama of working in a big-city general medical center. The program leaps from one dramatic scene to another, always focusing on the interplay of the characters in a traumatic situation.
While ER is like other medical programs in its background and setting, its plot is different because it does not focus on medical geniuses or kindly saviors performing miracles to ease patients’ ills; instead, it focuses on six or seven main characters, their interactions with each other and subordinate staff, and their personal and professional development in a chaotic environment. Throughout the 1990’s, the characters and their relationships with one another slowly evolved and changed: medical students became interns and later residents, staff fell in and out of love with one another, and personnel changed. Each episode left the audience sitting on the edge, wondering what would happen next and how the next episode could possibly be any more exciting.
Impact
Three days after the pilot aired, on September 22, 1994, the series took its position on the new fall lineup for the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). The high-action, intense series opening quickly led ER to become the network’s Thursday night anchor program. ER quickly emerged as a top-billed program, luring advertisers who were willing to pay substantial fees to spotlight their products on this instantly popular new program. Both stars and supporting actors were soon nominated for Emmy and Golden Globe Awards.
Bibliography
Dougan, Andy. The Biography of George Clooney. Philadelphia: Trans-Atlantic, 1997.
Jones, Mark. ER: The Unofficial Guide. London: Contender Books, 2003.
Keenleyside, Sam. Bedside Manners: George Clooney and “ER.” Toronto: ECW Press, 1998.