Why was Kellie Martin killed off “ER” so brutally?

ER had jumped the shark by that point. How many times did that other doctor who got his head chopped off nearly die??

I have no idea why they killed her off other than shock value. But I really thought Kellie Martin was on the way to a huge career at that point. I don't know if she turned her back on Hollywood or things just didn't work out, but while she wasn't a lovely young starlet, she was an amazing actress and I expected her to be a much bigger star.

She probably would have been if she stayed on longer r2, but then again I’m not even sure if she chose to leave and they decided to kill her off because she pissed someone off or it was her idea. Or they told her she’s being killed off without her wanting to leave.

She got married and started having kids after this though. I think that slowed her down greatly.

R1 they still killed it for having jumped the shark. This episode was shocking at the time and the next episode brought in almost 40 million people to see what happens to her. I remember her shocking stabbing making media news because everyone was surprised by it.

The follow up episode (where she does die) brought in 38.39 million viewers.

I like Kellie Martin. Wish she acted more

Her death.

Is ER on any streamers?

She was a bad daughter, and bad daughters deserve to be punished.

I was doing research and it sounds like Kellie Martin was vocal about wanting to leave the show (despite it being TVs highest rated show) because she was bored and felt they were not giving her enough to do. She supposedly started saying this months before so the producers let her leave and killed off her character, closing the doors on her ever returning.

Found some articles from back when it aired (2000).

Oral History behind that shocking episode.

I always liked Kellie Martin. Her exit from ER was shocking. No one was expecting to see her character killed off. She was a new young Doctor. It really shocked everyone. She was also a fan favorite with viewers.

Supposedly the OG cast were massive assholes and awful to anyone who was new. Noah Wyle was the worst one. He even admitted a few years ago he has apologized to every cast member who joined the show after the OGs because he was that much of a monster on set to them. Kellie Martin included.

It was a really tough show to work on. Because of the nature of how they shot it (cameras moving from exam room to waiting room to nurses station, etc. vs self-contained scenes) they put in grueling days. It was common to work at least a 16-hour day and often a lot longer.

Mentioned this in the waiter/celebrity thread but I waited on Kellie Martin decades ago in Toluca Lake and she couldn’t have been nicer. She was with her mom, who was equally genuine. Hope she’s doing well.

She didn't want to be on the show any more.

Yes, it was a BIG entertainment story when it happened, it was shocking. But it was such good television. Some say the show had jumped the shark by then, but I disagree. They could really pull off a dramatic exit.

IIRC, didn't David Krumholtz play the killer? There's an episode a few seasons later where he reappears and is trying to get his life together. He had schizophrenia, right? Something like that. Carter sees him and flips out. Maybe I'm remembering it wrong.

Kellie Martin’s casting was really the beginning of the end for ER, and her getting killed was probably the official jump the shark moment.

I just realized that ER was on the air until 2009.

How bad were those late seasons?

The official jump the shark moment for ER was Romano vs. The Helicopter.

There was no way to come back seriously from that ridiculous scene and event.

(I echo that Kellie Martin wanted off because she was treated like shit. All the "new" people were. As mentioned above, Wyle was such a prick that he apologized personally to every one affected.)

Her sister’s death from lupus around the time she began work on ER was what prompted her to leave early. The hospital setting was too much of a reminder of what her sister went through. When episode aired where Lucy died, she warned her mother not to watch it so that she would be traumatized by seeing her other daughter dying on tv.

She actually has talked about this, OP.

Also it was such a different time in TV history. 30 million people watched that show at once. I can't even fathom it.

[quote]When I found out that's what they were going to do, I was happy, and honored, yet at the same time a little bit wondering what I had done to deserve such a big demise. I mean, it was pretty brutal. But, I think if you have to leave a show, especially a show like ER, that's the way to go.

and Noah played a role in making it more intense. The actor that killed the character has talked about it.

[quote]KRUMHOLTZ: Noah wanted to make sure that it didn't look like a movie stab where it's just a quick jab, that my character being smaller and coming up behind him and wanting to do it quietly and not as quickly, would actually have trouble stabbing someone in that portion of their back easily. He didn't want it to come off fake.

As for Noah, as R11 said, he admitted he was a prick to new people.

[quote]MARTIN: The cast found out when they actually read the script. People were coming up to me on set saying, "You're going to be all right, though, right?" And me saying, "Nope, turns out nope. Not going to be all right." My conversation with Noah, after he knew I was leaving, I'd say the best way to describe it was bittersweet because I think he was surprised and I think he was sad to see me go.

[quote]WYLE: Here's where I harbor a lot of guilt. I was not nice all the time to Kellie. Kellie came on that show and we were like rock stars. We were like, "Who's the new kid?"

[quote]WYLE: We worked extremely hard to be the No. 1 show over those five seasons, and when Kellie came on, or whenever anybody came on, it was like, "Earn your keep!"

[quote]WYLE: I remember very early on her being so mad at me because I made this choice. I was talking to another doctor and she was here asking me a question. When I turned to her, I pretended like, "Oh, there you are," and I bent down like this and put my hands on my hips, it was like I was talking to a child. She just started fuming when they called cut.

[quote]IIRC, didn't David Krumholtz play the killer? There's an episode a few seasons later where he reappears and is trying to get his life together. He had schizophrenia, right? Something like that. Carter sees him and flips out. Maybe I'm remembering it wrong.

Yep, he had schizophrenia. I also remember Liza Weil from Gilmore Girls played his wife and she played the character in a very sympathetic tone.. But, I kind of hated how it was revealed he reappeared on the show that they had a child.

Should be said that Kellie joined the show in season 5 - which is considered by ER fans to be when the show suffered a huge dip in the quality of the scripts

and fans didn't warm up to Kellie character, as she was thrust into viewers face so fast - getting more screen time than people like Gloria Rueben or Laura Innes

Season 6 was a transition season - as new characters were being introduced, while old characters (the actors) decided to leave - Kellie Martin being one of them.

Wyle was awful to everyone new, mostly Goran Visnjic, who was cast to replace George Clooney in season 6. Wyle even admits he felt genuine “hatred” for him.

Those final seasons were terrible, with John Stamos as the new George Clooney/ Goran Visnijic role. You also had Angela Bassett, Linda Cardellini, Alexis Bledel… a good cast, but terrible.

Noah Wyle left the show in 2002 and he came back for like 6 episodes on that final season.

They had to clean up the mess so I wouldn't seem so targeted.

Wyle was jealous because he thought Goran Visnjic was a better actor than he was. Wyle was right.

The first five seasons were stellar. Kelly was a bright spot on a lackluster season .

We've had a lot of ER threads in the last year and a half, and I remember one was about this scene, because I'd never seen the show before so I looked it up. What a nasty way to kill off a character. If I remember from the other thread, didn't they later show that no one went to the funeral?

[quote]ER had jumped the shark by that point. How many times did that other doctor who got his head chopped off nearly die??

At least she wasn't killed off in the two or three helicopter crashes that happened at the hospital.

R27 I think Corday went to the funeral.

Noah Wyle sounds like a douche

R25 it wasn’t about that at all. He had a chip on his shoulder because this new guy walks in and is handed the big lead role instead of making one of the OGs the other lead Doctor, opposite of Anthony Edwards. He was literally cast as George Clooney’s replacement. Later one John Stamos was given that same spot.

Noah didn’t take kind to these new people getting big lead roles on the show.

Later on*

I remember Noah Wyle doing an interview years ago and going off about the new cast members who joined any time after season 3. By season 3 they were a certified smash (and not a fluke show that does well for 1 or 2 seasons then tanks) and Noah Wyle hated when they would cast someone in a main role for the show. I remember him saying something about how the OG cast busted their asses endlessly to build that show and make it the #1 show it was while these new people get to just walk in this established show and be on the #1 show without having to work for it the way they did. He seemed resentful of them.

Does anyone else think Sherry Stringfield probably regrets leaving the show during season 3?

Eriq La Salle was so sexy. I always felt he was underused. Gloria Reuben also.

R33, she had a controlling and I suspect abusive boyfriend/ husband who forced her to quit . She left him and came back to ER a few years later . She was great !

Didn't Martin state years later that she was treated like crap which was the real reason she wanted off the show?

I mean, between Noah Wylie who has admitted he was an asshole and Julianna Marguiles who apparently puts the B back in Bitch, that set could not possibly have been pleasant.

It was a big deal when Stringfield left. It was like, WTF?

I thought Kellie Martin did some good acting work on Life Goes On during the storyline of Jesse having AIDS and Becca dealing with it.

By all accounts Kellie was also able to navigate the hurricane of Patti LuPone, so if she couldn’t make it with ER cast, they must have all been CUNTS

Kellie was my older sister's best friend in elementary school.

I watched this show a lot back in the day, but not every episode, and I might have missed a season or two. I thought the later seasons were just sad and difficult. Everyone kept swapping partners and had such angst, Maura Tierney was annoying doing her usual sour-faced thing, and the end of Anthony Edwards was just sad, sad, sad. I still think of that character off in Hawaii, listening to his iPod or Walkman or whatever, and dying. And not the good kind of sad that's touching and meaningful--just "life really sucks" kind of thing. Bleah.

I did like Kellie Martin, who was a good actress and really seemed as though she'd be a straight-A student in real life. Kind of a little goody-goody but likeable.

What other medical shows are like the eight first seasons of ER which I adore? I gave up on Grey's after two episodes.

Noah Wyle once said stayed on ER for as long as he did, so he could get top billing after Edwards left

E.R. - Starring Noah Wyle

and the fact NBC & Warner Brothers were willing to pay a mint to Wyle to extend his contract. So know Wyle, like his other cast members, don't have to worry about money. He is set for life and can do project he wants to do, Like Falling Skies & the Librarian

He played a gay character in the mini-series "the Red Line" where his husband gets murdered by a police officer - trailer below

Noah seemed like an ego-maniac. What’s sad is that no one knew who they were before the show was on, minus maybe Anthony Edwards. This show made them all household names at the time, especially the shows biggest breakout, George Clooney.

Noah was not the ego-maniac he became at first. He was a young actor. Once the show took off and they became the most watched show in the Country, his ego became out of control. What a fucking diva.

He left in 2002 and then came back to do 6 episodes for season 15. He may have appeared in 14 a few times also.

He was a monster on that set and in 2019 even admitted he was “difficult” and “hard to work with” on ER.

However, As stated, he is set. He doesn’t ever have to work again. He was paid well and seemed to be smart with his money.

I do appreciate that he doesn’t pretend he doesn’t know he was a monster. At least he’s able to admit it now and even apologized to every newer cast member personally years later.

I liked him in The Red Line. Wyle is a decent actor, but a total douche in real life.

R44 he was young and ER became red-hot overnight. He let success go to his head

But at the very least he recognized he was a jackass and made amends to all the people he pissed off.

That said I think Noah Wyle has a cute nose.

[quote] By all accounts Kellie was also able to navigate the hurricane of Patti LuPone

Actually everyone in the cast of Life Goes On have nothing but good things to say about Patti LuPone

except her on-screen husband Bill Smithrovich - everyone in the cast hated him, but LOVED Patti

Kellie & Patti are still close to this day. Patti even sang at Kellie wedding, and has played Kellie mother twice in two different TV projects after "Life Goes On" wrapped up.

There was always gossip that Patti was a diva on that set. But then there is gossip otherwise.

I do believe she got along with her cast.

Maybe she was a bitch to the crew and producers?

I remember being upset Noah Wyle didn’t die in “Enough”. Him and Billy Campbell were the worst in that movie. They made you feel sympathy for J Lo of all people.

R48, I can concur. I’ve heard Patti privately speak quite fondly about Kellie. She treasures their time working together.

Sherry Stringfield did leave in Season 3 but a lot of people don’t remember she actually returned as a regular in Season 8(2001) and stayed for 4 seasons and left again in 2005.

[quote] There was always gossip that Patti was a diva on that set. But then there is gossip otherwise.

[quote] I do believe she got along with her cast.

She got along very well with Kellie Martin and Chris Burke, but she and Bill Smitrivich (who played her husband) loathed each other, and have said as much in interviews since.

All this chatter has made me decide to rewatch ER on Hulu. I used to love this series and always found it to be one of the better (if not the best) or the Doctor/Hospital dramas.

I've rewatched episodes of ER on Hulu here and there over the past few years. I skipped over the Romano getting killed by a helicopter crap.

I loved him getting decapitated. He was a jackass and he deserved it.

The same guy that lost a hand from helicopter 🚁?

at least er is more recent than hazel.

I remember some of the additions in later seasons, like Mekhi Phifer, Shane West, Linda Cardellini, Busy Phillips, Alexis Bledel, John Stamos etc.

Angela Bassett did the final season.

Oh and the season with John Leguizamo

However, Bledel was only in the finale. Why? Not sure.

They should have ended show in 7

To the person who shit on Maura Tierney on ER, I couldn’t disagree more. The season with Abby reconnecting with her mother (played by Sally Field) was great! Tierney got an Emmy nomination for that season and Sally Field won the Guest Actress in a Drama Emmy for that role. It is one of the stories that I remember most on the show.

[quote] Noah Wyle sounds like a douche

Ironic that he played such a sweet, nice, adorable character like John Carter when in real life he's an asshole. In every interview I've seen him in he comes across as an utter shitheel.

As for ER, it should have ended years before it did. They kept killing off characters and pairing this character with that character but it didn't work. It got pretty bad.

I think if you have to leave a show it's great to leave it in such a dramatic way. Everybody remembers the "Lucy and Carter get stabbed" episodes.

They aren’t gonna cancel a show that’s still bringing in amazing ratings. Sadly, they didn’t care about going out on top. They cared about filling their bank accounts.

However, the show had a good 8/9 seasons. Someone on here said only the first 5 were good, I disagree. I guess if you only liked the show for George Clooney, then yes, but the show was still good after he left, for at least a few years.

Also, why was Julianna Margulies moved from Supporting to Lead? She was supporting her first few seasons (where she won one) and then nominated Lead her last few seasons.

I had stopped watching by that time, but due to the hype around Kellie Martin leaving, I did watch that episode. It was pretty shocking, and fairly graphic for network TV. It’s been written since that Noah Wylie and Martin had a strained working relationship, so even more interesting how he was an integral part of how her character was written out.

ER was a good show, always pretty intense due to the setting, but got to be too much for my Thursday nights.

The only actor within the main cast to win the Emmy, bitches.

Gillian Anderson beating both Julianna and Sherri for Lead Actress (after Julianna was switched from supporting the previous two seasons to Lead). Hahahaha

Emmy really went to Julianna head - right after she won, she started throwing her weight around in season 2. Threatening to quit, because she felt (in her mind) she had no storyline. That all she was doing was "supporting" other characters. As the season wore on, she kept getting more and more vocal about wanting to leave.

But then Sherry Stringfeld left, and that opened up room to give Julianna more airtime for season 3 (hence submitting in lead, instead of supporting)

Now the irony in all of this is when she became the lead actress in The Good Wife, she felt threatened by Archie Panjabi getting too much screen time as a supporting character! a situation Julianna was in when she was on ER

She felt so threatened that Archie was hogging up her airtime, she refused to do any more scenes with her and tried to marginalize her as much as possible

That is much WORSE than anything Noah Wyle has done, because at least he said his sorries. Julianna is like "What do I have to be sorry for?"

Jorja fox and Mariska were on show I believe season 4

Because it's difficult to explain a grease fire in a hospital, Rose.

Wasn’t Julianna a Guest Star who was only supposed to be on a few episodes but then they decided to make her a main character?

The show was ridiculous. Doug Ross, with the aid of Carol Hathaway, stole equipment from the hospital in order to help a mother euthanize her son. It gets found out and you know what happens to them? Nothing! In Carol's case I think her hospital "clinic" gets shut down but that's all the punishment she gets. As for Doug somebody pulls some strings and he's allowed to go on his merry way, relocating to Seattle to practice medicine there. They would never have gotten off that easy in real life, especially since the father of the euthanized child was enraged that his son was killed. I hope no one who watched ER thought it had much resemblance to reality.

Actually, many Doctors have gotten away with crazy shit.

[quote] Wasn’t Julianna a Guest Star who was only supposed to be on a few episodes but then they decided to make her a main character?

Yes she was only suppose to be in the pilot, but the producers liked her, so she survived her suicide. Julianna would later complain she was treated so poorly just being a "Guest Star" in the pilot.

[quote]R30 Noah Wyle sounds like a douche

Did that snot nose ever work again? I just remember him turning up briefly as Renee Zellweger’s husband in WHITE OLEANDER.

[quote] Did that snot nose ever work again?

He has TWO series following ER - The Librarian and Falling Skies

Eriq La Salle was robbed. He should have won for season 1.

[quote]R79 He has TWO series following ER - The Librarian and Falling Skies

Never heard of them.

He was on that TLC ancestry show a few years ago. He’s definitely grown and matured (and humbled) since his ER days. He comes off very well in the episode.

I remember interviews of him in the 90s and 00s and he can come off pompous. Glad to see he’s older and more humble now.

Yes, Carole character was supposed to die by suicide and fans wrote in begging for her to live

[quote] However, Bledel was only in the finale. Why? Not sure.

IIRC, the showrunners wanted the finale to show an intern starting off their medical career similar to how the pilot had Carter starting off.

I know this is corny, but I did like how Mark Greene's daughter Rachel appeared in the finale and said she was going into medical school and interacted with the staff and the interns. I recall some brief scene of Rachel hanging out with Bledel's character and talking about medical school.

[quote] To the person who shit on Maura Tierney on ER,

I hope you're speaking metaphorically.

Lea Michele was in that??

[quote] Angela Bassett did the final season.

She was involved in the storyline where a teenager played by Rooney Mara abandoned her baby at the ER. Angela later adopts the baby and allows the teen mom to have visits.

The only actors who really impressed me on the show were Eriq LaSalle and Laura Innes. Innes was superb in season 7 when she finally came out of the closet--I found her performance really moving in that episode.

Didn’t Innes direct this episode, and the Lucy death episode?

R88 I think she got an Emmy nod for that season.

Sorry, I looked it up. No. She was nominated twice for Supporting Actress, in 1997 and 1998

I also liked Weaver's coming out episode.

I remember the gay paramedic character Raul who appeared in several episodes in season 2. I was sad when they killed him off and his death was quite sad because he was severely burned in a fire.

quote] The season with Abby reconnecting with her mother (played by Sally Field) was great! Tierney got an Emmy nomination for that season and Sally Field won the Guest Actress in a Drama Emmy for that role. It is one of the stories that I remember most on the show.

It was the seasons after that which were horrible. Her bipolar mom and brother were so annoying

R48, it pleases me to know that everyone hated Bill Smitrovich. He always seems like someone you'd have to put up with in real life, like a really dumb substitute teacher, or your dumb boss at a shitty temp job. I don't watch TV to be reminded of such tedious imbeciles.

Wow. Back when awards shows were a big deal and tons of tv stars there and fans surrounding to get a glimpse of their favorite stars! Still glamor!

Social media has killed that.

PS why does no one ever shit on George Clooney for being a product of nepotism? People act like he truly worked his way into a successful acting career.

[quote] Actually, many Doctors have gotten away with crazy shit.

Stealing from the hospital and killing a child? I don't think they would have gotten away with THAT, especially since the father was mad as hell about his son being killed. In real life there would have been a major lawsuit and criminal charges.

Wait, Steven Spielberg created ER???

Stanley Tucci was briefly on ER for a few episodes. He blew them all off the screen. He was so much more talented.

R98, no author Michael Crichton

He was a recurring Guest Star and was nominated for an Emmy.

"PS why does no one ever shit on George Clooney for being a product of nepotism? People act like he truly worked his way into a successful acting career."

He struggled to make it for years before he hit it big on ER. Yes, he benefitted from having a famous family but he was not an overnight success

the reason they continued was because it kept making money and the rotating cast allowed the budget to stay reasonable. the additional seasons actually keep the show fresh in syndication (at the time) and made all the seasons more valuable because viewers who age in to watching or pick the show up often go back and rewatch to see the seasons they missed. plus it keeps merchandizing going.

Spielberg production company (Amblin) co-produced the show with Warner Brothers

With all Noah Wyle’s blathering about the hard work of making the first few years a success, you’d think he was the producer, writer and director… not just an ensemble actor drawing a paycheck.

of the original cast - Edwards, La Salle & Wyle made millions when they extended their original contracts - they don't have to worry about money again

Clooney, Margulies left the minute their contract expired - Stringfield quit early breaking her contract

They didn't get the millions, though I doubt Clooney is complaining. But Margulies turned down a $27 million dollar contract to extend for three years - she wanted out

Goran Visjnic & Maura Tierney also made millions when they extended their original 3 year contracts, even though they were not original cast members. But both declined to stay for the final season, but both are set for life as well,

Yeah, Maura owns an entire brownstone in my old neighborhood. She’s quite nice.

R105 actors play a huge role in a shows success. There is a lot that goes into casting the right people.

DL loves to say “anyone could have played that role”, and while that’s true to an extent, the actors need to look right with each other, have chemistry, etc. it’s not just say your lines.

ER stayed in the Top 10 ratings for 10 seasons. It was a fucking cash cow for the network. As long as people kept watching they didn’t care dick about the quality. Once it got too expensive to make that’s when shows start winding down. Second season it averaged 35 million viewers a week. Second to last ,it’s 14th less than 9 million. That’s when it was time to wrap it up. It’s show BUSINESS.

r53, that sounds like every single married couple in my family. They all loathe each other.

Julianna was a huge part of the show’s early success.

The cast as a whole was. But fans did seem to love her r111

R70 Interesting. Recently Marguiles "accidentally" revealed that Duchovny and Anderson were fucking during the X-Files (unlike her and Clooney!) I don't buy for a second that it was a slip; I wondered if there was real beef between the women or just Julianna's usual jealousy. Plus her mortal enemy Archie Punjabi was on Gillian's show The Fall, and allegedly sleeping with Gillian. I think Anderson is overrated and annoying, but Margulies is such a raging cunt that I'm not sure whose side I would take.

I think Anderson looks more beautiful as she gets older.

She was a total pain in the ass to work with.

R114 She does, I'll admit, but certainly not more talented. Just the opposite, in fact

Gillian Anderson and Archie Panjabi? Great visual! Thanks, R113!

You're quite welcome R177. They do actually kiss on The Fall, although not much comes of it if I remember correctly

I thought that the demise of Robert Romero was one of the most stupid things I've ever seen on a tv show. First he gets his arm cut off by a helicopter; now what are the chances of that happening? Then he gets crushed by one; what are the chances of THAT happening? It was so dumb. Anyway, I liked the character of Romano. He was a "bad" character but I liked him a lot better than a lot of the so-called "good" characters. And he had a heart, despite his belligerent persona. He was obviously devastated by being unable to save the life of Lucy Knight.

[quote]R119 I liked the character of Romano.

I didn’t.

Shortly after moving to LA in 1999, I was in Macy's Men's store trying on a sports coat. Also in there in the store was actor Paul McCrane, who played Robert Romano, also trying on a suit.

We were both waiting for a salesman to come help us. The sales staff was slow that day as the store was extra busy for some reason.

When I saw McCrane, I tensed up expecting him to go into a tirade about service in the store, l like his character would. Instead, he was as nice as he could be. He motioned that I had been there first and for the clerk should help me first. A minute or two later, another sales clerk appeared and helped him, so all was good.

[quote] He was obviously devastated by being unable to save the life of Lucy Knight.

I always found the scene of him stitching up her chest towards the end of episode to be quite sad especially when Weaver goes into the room.

It was touching that he made sure to stitch her up himself and he couldn’t even say the time she died. He wouldn’t say it. He made the nurse say it.

You’re 35% more likely to die from a helicopter than an airplane, based on statistics.

There are around 17 helicopter deaths a year. So while low, it’s not impossible and does happen.

I heard that Paul McCrane is an absolute sweetheart

I was glad when Margulies left, I didn't like her from day one. Still don't.

Wasn’t she supposed to leave at the end of season 5 but stayed an extra season? Or was she signed onto 6 seasons while everyone else was 5?

It was karma

R128 I loved that movie. Tori actually looked pretty in it.

It's no The Nurses...

Joey vs Viveca

[quote ]You’re 35% more likely to die from a helicopter than an airplane, based on statistics.

[quote] There are around 17 helicopter deaths a year. So while low, it’s not impossible and does happen.

My father was a statistic.

[quote] There are around 17 helicopter deaths a year. So while low, it’s not impossible and does happen.

How likely is it for a person to get their arm cut off by a helicopter and then get crushed by one? Very, very unlikely I should think.

It happens...

and don't forget Kobe

I'm glad I had stopped watching before that season. Kellie Martin has always been so wholesome to me and brings that quality to each role she plays. I can't bear to see kittens, puppies, or Kelly Martins come to harm.

What about Vic and those two children?⬇️⬇️⬇️

What about them, R136??

follow the thread R136 or get some rest!

I started watching ER right after Clooney left. The first episode I watched was where Benton does a stint as a fill in doc in rural Alabama. It sucked me in and I rewatched all the earlier seasons. I was a fan of Kelli and thrilled to see her join the cast.

I think I checked right about when Abby was in the hat stupid love triangle with Carter and Luka and then that stupid episode in the Congo.

This thread has reignited my 1990s nostalgia

I miss the days when Network TV dominated and appointment Tv was the norm. ER was appointment TV for millions. At its peak it had over 30 million people watching every week.

Euphoria became appointment TV viewing during season 2. But that’s over.

R127 Margulies wasn't part of the original cast who signed 5 year deals - she was a guest star

When TPTB offered her a contract as a series regular, they asked for a 6 year deal.

For anyone interested, the actor Vic Morrow and two children were killed when the reckless director Jon Landis commanded the pilot of the helicopter that was directly above them; "Lower! Lower! Lower! Fire! Fire Fire!" Morrow had to carry both children across a body of water while the helicopter hovered overhead and explosions were going off all around them. One of the explosions damaged the chopper and it came right down on Morrow and the two kids. Morrow and one of the kids got decapitated; the other child was crushed. Landis was brought up on charges for manslaughter but was acquitted by a star struck jury. At any rate neither Morrow nor the children had their arm cut off by a chopper and then return to the set only to be crushed to death by another one? Has that ever happened in the history of the world? I tend to think it only happened on a tv medical drama that increasingly prone to outlandish plot devices in order to keep viewers interested.

i would watch it at the friend's house that had the pot.

R143, not only that, the explosions in water brought 💦 to a boil . It was excruciating

[quote] I started watching ER right after Clooney left. The first episode I watched was where Benton does a stint as a fill in doc in rural Alabama. It sucked me in and I rewatched all the earlier seasons. I was a fan of Kelli and thrilled to see her join the cast

That episode is one of my favorites. I loved how Eriq LaSalle had chemistry with Celia Weston who played the nurse who assisted him at the clinic.

It got so tedious, all the match ups on the show. From one to another. A lot of them didn't work. Alex Kingston had zero chemistry with Anthony Edwards. Maura Tierney had zero chemistry with Noah Wyle OR Goran Visnjic. There were always love triangles, hearts being broken. So boring.

Is Eriq LaSalle gay? I recall he played everything in a monotone.

Carter only ever had chemistry with Benton, never his female love interests.

Maura and Goran were fucking until Goran ended up with 2 kids at the same time - one adopted by his wife, one born to his hometown mistress.

I bet Julianna regrets not fucking George.

Wasn't her character an insufferable know-it-all?

I couldn't stand Maura Tierney on ER. But, I've liked her in other things like The Affair and she was a great in minor roles in Liar, Liar and Baby Mama.

I love Maura in “The Affair.” Such a complex— yet unrepentant— bitch.

I'm friends with a close friend of hers from Yale. Noah Wylie was a huge jerk to her on the set.

(^.^) hear it from a friend who . . .

Noah didn't want his character to become involved romantically with Kellie's.

This is the beginning

OP she was aging out of the cute stage.

🪦🪦🪦

[quote] I loved how Eriq LaSalle had chemistry with Celia Weston who played the nurse who assisted him at the clinic.

I just remember him asking the writers to end his character's relationship with Corday (Alex Kingston), who is white, because he was annoyed that his previous two relationships on the series with black women, Jeanie (Gloria Ruben) and Carla Reese (Lisa Nicole Carson) were depicted as dysfunctional. He said he wanted to put out a positive black relationship on the series so they ended up putting him with Cleo Finch (Michael Michele) whom his character stayed with till the end. It sounds a little strange now but it was 1999 and I sort of see the pattern he spotted.

I still see Gloria in things but Lisa Nicole Carson was such a talent. She was everywhere back then. Sad that bipolar disorder derailed her career. At least she did the right thing and left Hollywood to get herself together. I hope she's well.

Unfortunately Cleo Finch had the personality of a crispbread.

Michael Michele hardly qualifies as “black”. She’s very obviously a biracial woman.

Eriq isn’t gay. The way he speaks in the show is how he speaks in real life.

Again, I liked Maura in her storyline with Sally Field.

And I doubt Julianna regrets not fucking George. She’s done very well for herself and is very independent and intelligent.

The show needed some livening up. It was dull

Julianna thought she was going to go on to have a movie career like Clooney. She bitched so much to the press for about a month or two leading up to her departure about how she was offered so much money but her "artistic integrity" couldn't allow her to continue to play Carol Hathaway any longer. Of course, she always made sure to mention that it was 27 million dollars. It was also a slap in the face to the show, which if they had their way, would have her killed off in the pilot.

What's funny is that at the same time she was leaving, Gloria Reuben was leaving to go on tour with Tina Turner, which made bigger headlines than JM's departure. I always wondered if Julianna was pissed that Gloria stole her thunder.

[quote]And I doubt Julianna regrets not fucking George.

LOL, I doubt Julianna had a choice in the matter. George was busy fucking handsome ER hairdresser Waldo Sanchez. Which is also likely the reason Noah was such a prick to his co-stars. He was bitter and angry that he got dumped by George for Waldo. Gone were the days of Clooney taking him on European vacations, giving him a car to drive and paying his rent before the show premiered and kissing him outside of nightclubs when the show took off. Poor scorned, heartbroken Noah.

I do recall when Clooney's PR had to put out that statement that Eric LaSalle supposedly joined them on the European vacation to quiet the rumors. George sure has kept his PR team busy over the years spinning tall tales for him.

George Clooney was absolutely gorgeous in this show . A good guy too

I for one have never fathomed the appeal of George Clooney. He's considered to be SO handsome. But on "Roseanne" he was nothing to look at at all.

R167 that was Roseanne. You base his entire career on Roseanne? Lmao. Wtf.

Dr. Romano's arm was sliced off in the episode when a Monkeypox outbreak hits the ER (end Season 8, beginning Season 9).

[quote] You base his entire career on Roseanne? Lmao. Wtf.

No. I didn't like like him on ER either, and never understood why he was considered so good looking. I guess you love him. Well, you're welcome to him.

☝🏼 George was adorable and charming. You is jealous

George as a movie star I don’t get. He was ridiculously charming and charismatic as Dr. Ross on ER. It making him a massive star made sense, as he was effortlessly great in ER. However, his charm is charisma never translated to the big screen.

I agree ☝🏼

Charm and* charisma

Don't look at me. You guys are assholes.

-Corky

[quote] You is jealous

Jealous of what? And oh by the way, OH DEAR!

You is retarded

My memory of Kellie/the Lucy character is more along the lines of r21’s than OP’s. Everyone I knew who watched ER at the time thought she brought the show down and that her character was annoying.

However the writing did dip in quality that season which wasn’t her fault. There was a particularly bad storyline involving Mare Winningham as a crazy woman who becomes head of the ER. And Noah Wyle (who I thought was so great those first few seasons as “the student”) was absolutely insufferable in the teacher/mentor position.

I didn't think Kellie Martin fit in well on ER. She still seemed like the teenage Becca on "Life Goes On." She seemed out of place in the fast paced, demanding, emotionally draining ER environment. And making her a love interest of Carter's? Bad idea! She seemed more like a kid sister to him than a potential lover. It's no wonder she didn't last long on the show. But boy she went out in a blaze of glory, totally showcased. If you've got to leave a tv series, that's the way to go.

Yeah, Noah was stuck in that unfortunate role for the rest of his time on the show. But I thought Wyle really nailed the jealous, small-dicked vibe with Goran Visnjic, since he felt the same in real life.

They bashed the audience over the head with Lucy, Lucy, Lucy instead of introducing her slowly as a regular character and building her up. That was never going to win over the longtime audience.

Grey's Anatomy made the same mistake a few years later the character of Maggie - her first episode was a centric. TV hacks never learn.

As others have discussed the tea is that Noah Wylie and Kellie Martin did not get along. Wylie had a reputation of being a prick on the set (although I had a friend of a friend who worked on Falling Skies and she said Wylie was actually very nice so maybe he mellowed). It's also rumored that Martin had some mental health issues which made her hard to work with (she apparently started working on ER the week after he sister died unexpectedly). With the behind the scenes drama taking its toll, they couldn't kill Wylie off so they killed Martin instead and used it as a catalysis to go down the Dr. Carter is a drug addict storyline.

None of Noah Wyle's love interests seemed to click. He was good with Maria Bello the season before Kellie came on, but she left unexpectedly.

Maria and Mariska met and hooked up on season 4 of ER

To this day this episode has ruined me for parties at work where there’s a cake and a knife, I always keep an eye on the knife to make sure it doesn’t “disappear” during the merriment, it’s always seems so ominous and terrifying to me. Then again, I’ve worked in hospitals for many years.

Once Dr. Ross saved little Nicky Alamain from almost drowning, he was a hero.

He comes up out of the water carrying the kid (who now must TOWER over Clooney) and the light from the helicopter is shining on them.

So dramatic.

I gathered up my courage and looked this scene up on YouTube, and I see I've been thoroughly ruined by modern-day gore. It looks like they got into a play-fight at the punch bowl. If you're going to realistically portray two people bleeding out, you need a lot more corn syrup than that.

I was pretty big into ER fandom at that time, and I wouldn't have perceived Lucy as a fan favorite. I'd say she was polarizing, sort of like Falsone on Homicide. She had her fans, but a lot of viewers who had been with the show from the start felt she got too big a push in season 5. The season premiere was all about her first day at the hospital. There was another episode mostly about Lucy and Carter running around Chicago to find a patient's family member. She had a lot of screen time in other episodes. To that point, new cast members (Laura Innes, Gloria Reuben, Maria Bello, Alex Kingston) had been blended in more subtly.

In season 6, post Clooney/Doug's exit, suddenly there was a whole crop of new characters at once (Luka, Cleo, Abby, Dr. Dave) as well as high-profile guest stars (Alan Alda, Rebecca De Mornay), and Lucy really got lost in the shuffle. You could see the writing on the wall.

About ER, I thought its first three seasons were classic television. Maybe it was the last true network behemoth everyone seemed to watch. For a few seasons after season 3, it was past peak but still much better than most television. Around season seven or eight, I was just watching out of habit, and then I bailed at some point.

It's tempting to blame the decline on less interesting new actors/characters (Shane West, Mekhi Phifer, Sharif Atkins, Parminder Nagra), but there were behind-the-scenes changes in the writing and production team too, and a show like ER is hard to keep fresh. With 22 episodes per season, they use up a lot of good ideas for medical stories early, and then you start getting retreads with minor changes. So many variations on "a (something) at a (something) floods the ER with cases," and this week it'll be "explosion" and "beauty pageant."

How is a show still bringing in over 30 million viewers a week in its sixth year “past its peak”? It was still up there.

Unless you meant in quality, r188.

It’s impossible to keep a show high quality for long periods of time, especially shows like ER. That’s why some show runners end their shows sooner than later, to not end up falling too hard in quality.

Also, Lucy didn’t get lost in the shuffle, that was all Kellie Martin’s doing.

The character was originally supposed to get shot.

R183 Noah has been with the same woman for years in real life and has always lived a quiet and private life.

Wyle is super vanilla. The women they always paired him with had too much personality for him. That’s why it feels off. He worked well with Maria Bello and honestly a super vanilla chick like Kellie Martin does work well with Wyle, but he was against that. I get it.

He was an asshole. He’s calmed down a lot since then, obviously, as he’s humbled himself enough to admit he was the one in the wrong and apologized personally to everyone he was awful to.

[quote]Unless you meant in quality

I did mean in quality, but the ratings weren't as high in seasons 5 and 6 either. The highest-rated seasons were 2 and 3. By season 6, it was not even the highest-rated network show. So "past its peak" works both ways.

[quote]Also, Lucy didn’t get lost in the shuffle, that was all Kellie Martin’s doing.

Whether it was her decision, a mutual decision, or they just realized the character wasn't working as well as they had hoped, she was much less prominent in season 6 than in season 5. She was like the toy that wasn't new and shiny anymore once they had four new series regulars to write for (plus Ming-Na returning as Chen). Then she was gone.

She sucked on it. Her sister just died? Wtf. Martin really is ultra vanilla why was she pushed? The whole rivalry with Wyle sounds just bizarre. The death was both really cool and freakishly brutal for a family show actress.

Yes. Because Kellie Martin wanted out, and expressed this since season 6 started. They cut down her role because being in the Hospital environment was triggering her, as her sister died right before she started on the show. On top of that, dealing with Wyle (who she worked closely with) who treated her like shit didn’t help matters. She asked to have her role cut down and then leave.

In season 5 she was thrown on us because they gave her more screen time to cut down the working hours of some of the shows bigger stars, like Julianna. People forget that on this show the actors worked crazy hours, the minimum of 16 hours a day.

R191 their highest rated seasons were 3 and 4. Not 2 and 3.

Season 1 was the #2 most watched show that year, averaging 19.08 million viewers a week.

Season 2 was the #1 most watched show that year, averaging 21.10 million viewers a week.

Season 3 was the #1 most watched show that year, averaging 30.79 million viewers a week.

Season 4 was the #2 most watched show that year, averaging 30.2 million viewers a week.

Just because they fell to #2 most watched in season 4 doesn’t mean Season 2 had more ratings. Another show was getting more viewers, but ER was still bringing in almost 9 million more people a week in season 4 than season 2.

PS, they reclaimed the #1 spot during season 5.

Season 5 was the #1 watched show that year, averaging 25.4 million viewers a week.

Season 6 they dropped to #4 watched show that year, averaging 24.95 million viewers a week.

Season 7 they became the #2 most watched show again, averaging 22.4 million viewers a week.

Season 8 they became the #3 most watched show that year, averaging 22.1 million viewers a week.

Season 9 they became the #6 most watched show that year, averaging 19.9 million viewers.

Season 10 they became the #8 most watched show that year, averaging 19.08 million viewers.

After that they fell off the top ten.

Season 11- #16 averaging 15.17 million viewers

Season 12- #30 averaging 12.06 million viewers

Season 13- #40 averaging 11.56 million viewers

Season 14- #54 averaging 9.2 million viewers

Season 15- #37 averaging 10.3 million viewers

R186 are you speaking about this?

Episode 7 of Season 2, titled “Hell and High Water” is the shows single highest rated episode ever, bringing in over 48 million viewers that week, with a 45% market share (45% of televisions in use during that time were watching ER).

That episode solidified George Clooney as a household name and major star.

ER really overdid it with the “crisis in the ER” episodes - explosions, blackouts, etc. However, the first one they did involving a benzene spill was executed really well and a very suspenseful episode.

R196 Just that picture alone looks like something Greys did later on.

Did anyone watch “Chicago Hope”? ER and Chicago Hope started at the same time and time slot to go head to head with each other, with ER demolishing Chicago Hope so bad that CBS rushed to change the time slot, and then changed the day to Mondays to avoid it going against NBC Thursday lineup lmao.

Chicago Hope did win more acting Emmy’s though, 3, vs ERs 1. However, ER won Best Drama, while Chicago Hope never did and wasn’t even nominated in that category most seasons.

David E Kelley's shows have been memory holed. Was Chicago Hope ever even released on DVD?

I started out watching Chicago Hope. It was slightly more traditional re filming. There was one episode, something to do with a contagious disease, and more and more staff had to be put in isolation. It was quite funny.

Eventually I switched over to ER and managed to see the early episodes on summer reruns. I always liked the revolving Desk crew. One was a shy woman named Bob who spoke with an accent. Finally they figured out she'd been a doctor in her home country.

Wylie was good as a bumbling intern and his scenes with Eric LaSalle were fun to watch. Once he got more confidence, he became boring. I really disliked Kellie Martin's character, so chirpy. I'm surprised she has so many fans here. Still, I remember her mouthing, "PE?" so she knew she was going to die.

Chicago Hope was boring

Kellie and Chad Lowe has or had a podcast. Patti LuPone was their guest and she is close to Kellie.

I was a huge fan back in the day. This show was never an Emmys darling. It was predicted to win the top awards for its first season, and was considered such a sure thing for Best Drama Series that Entertainment Tonight had the backstage area decorated with hospital paraphernalia along with a special "Congratulations to ER" cake waiting to interview the cast when they came backstage after winning.

The egg on everyone's faces when it was announced that NYPD Blue won.

But blame Picket Fences, which for some reason the Academy had a serious hard on for, and which had beaten NYPD Blue in its previous (first) year for Best Drama.

And fucking Mandy Patinkin for Chicago Hope beating out Anthony Edwards for the "Love's Labor Lost" episode which was a tour de force for drama TV was so criminal.

Interesting paper

R204 NYPD Blue was very good show, too.

Does Kellie get invited to ALW memorial pool parties?

R200 not in the states but the complete series is available in Europe.

NYPD Blue was terrific. I was a kid when it started and wasn’t allowed to watch it, but I would sneak and watch it sometimes lol.

When in Middle School I would watch it sometimes and then in HS watched when Mark-Paul Gosselaar took over as the partner.

ER was must see Tv for years. I watched it every week starting in Middle School, and watched for a few years. Kellie Martin was a draw for younger viewers at the time. Prior to season 5 I watched some episodes (my mom watched it) and knew the characters etc. but it was when she joined that I found interest, as did some of my friends. I remember her promoting the show at the Teen Choice Awards etc. too. I assume now that is why she was cast to begin with, as an attraction to younger people.

Rune lost, so sad.... said no one ever.

I tried watching Chicago Hope numerous times but it was so boring to me. ER was exciting and shocking at times and riveting. The writing was phenomenal, and the acting amazing. CH had amazing acting and writing but it was so boring and the pacing so slow. Maybe now that I’m 36 I could appreciate it, but at the time I was so young and never found it interesting. The most interesting thing about it was that it was rated TV MA vs TV 14 or TV PG, the ratings most shows had at the time. Chicago Hope (like NYPD Blue) tried pushing the envelope as far as they could with the censors of Network TV. I appreciated that even at a young age.

Lmao at CBS rushing to create a Medical Drama focused on Doctors and Nurses in an ER set in Chicago when they found out NBC was making ER. They even placed it on Thursday’s at 10pm, to go head to head with ER. They debuted at the same time, with ER destroying Chicago Hope.

Let’s compare Chicago Hope’s 6 seasons to ER’s first 6.

Season 1-

ER #2 watched show that year averaging 19.08 million a week vs Chicago Hope #29 watched show that year averaging 11.2 million a week

Season 2-

ER #1 watched show that year averaging 21.10 million viewers a week vs Chicago Hope #24 watched show that year averaging 11.4 million viewers a week.

Season 3-

ER #1 watched show that year averaging 30.79 million viewers a week vs Chicago Hope #30 watched show that year averaging 10.2 million viewers a week

Season 4-

ER #2 most watched show that year averaging 30.2 million viewers a week vs Chicago Hope #39 most watched show that year averaging 8.9 million viewers a week

Season 5-

ER #1 most watched show that year averaging 25.4 million viewers a week vs Chicago Hope #73 most watched show that year averaging 9.9 million viewers a week

Season 6-

ER #4 most watched show that year averaging 24.95 million viewers a week vs Chicago Hope #62 most watched show that year averaging 9.4 million viewers a week.

I wanted to like Chicago Hope because they several cast members were talented. But the show was too boring. I remember a segment on SNL's Weekend Update where Colin Quinn mentioned that NBC was spending $13 million per episode for ER and he made the joke about how the cast of Chicago Hope was waiting for their new soda machine. I know that probably a lame joke, but I cracked up when I saw that segment. Chicago Hope was basically a dollar store version of ER.

Chicago Hope even cast their dollar store version of George Clooney, nepotism baby and all, Adam Arkin, who played Dr. Aaron Schutt, his shows Dr. Doug Ross.

ER was heavy handed drama. I hope people didn't watch and think that hospitals and the people who work there behave like THAT.

R216 I’m certain most people know ERs aren’t like the ones we see on fictional TV. ER did get some things right though, like the Doctors always bitching about the nurses and feeling entitlement over them.

Nurse Jackie has the most fictional hospital setting I’ve ever seen.

I heard a rumor that Kellie might no be "so fresh"...you know, "down there".

And it annoyed everyone on the cast and crew so much....

[quote] Nurse Jackie has the most fictional hospital setting I’ve ever seen.

More fictional than "Grey's Anatomy?" I can't think of any medical more fictional than that one.

R219 yup. Even more fictional than Grey’s.

Mandy Patinkin won the Emmy for the first season of Chicago Hope, beating both Anthony Edwards and George Clooney for the first season of ER. That was shocking.

Then Mandy left the show the next season.

Based on this post it was because no one was interested in her

[quote] Why was Kellie Martin killed off “ER” so brutally?

Why do you care?

Who would’ve thought that Noah Wylie would’ve ended up a bigger cunt than Patti LuPone?

Noah Wyle. Not Wylie.

I disliked Carter more and more as the series went on, and I think it started in season 4, when Carter had left surgery behind and wasn't under Benton's supervision anymore. Carter wasn't written as as a villain like Romano, so it was hard to explain at the time why I didn't like him. Sometimes when he was just explaining a patient's condition, I felt he had a patronizing, smug attitude. Other times, he showed "empathy" but the emotion seemed fake to me, as if the character were trying hard to appear a certain way. Reading what Wyle has said about his attitude in the ER years makes it make sense. His own personality was coming through.

Mandy Patinkin won Best Lead Actor- Drama for season 1

Hector Elizondo won Best Supporting Actor-Drama for season 3

Christine Lahti won Best Lead Actress- Drama for season 4

They never won Best Drama though, which ER did once.

However, Julianna Margulies is the only actor from ER to win, despite the many nominations and them being frontrunners numerous times.

Everyone expected Anthony Edwards to win for season 1 and George Clooney to win for season 2. But somehow someone else always won.

Everyone expected either Eriq La Salle or Noah Wyle to win for season 1 also, but neither did.

Noah's looking a little rough in 2010, and that wig!

[quote]Then Mandy left the show the next season.

Mandy always seems to wear out his welcome very quickly.

[quote] I disliked Carter more and more as the series went on, and I think it started in season 4…Sometimes when he was just explaining a patient's condition, I felt he had a patronizing, smug attitude. Other times, he showed "empathy" but the emotion seemed fake to me, as if the character were trying hard to appear a certain way.

I loved NoahCarter until around Season 8 when they started positioning him as lead to replace departing Anthony Edwards. His smugness really came through that season, especially in the romantic triangle storyline with Abby and Luka. Though I still preferred him to habitual sad sack Luka who was a total bummer of a character.

Was there a storyline where Carter got raped by a convict, or am I misremembering that?

Just finished the first episode of BBC medical drama, “This Is Going To Hurt” starring Ben Whishaw. Really good.

[quote] Was there a storyline where Carter got raped by a convict, or am I misremembering that?

No that was St. Elsewhere to the character played by David Morse

[quote] Even more fictional than Grey’s.

Having seen the pure insanity that is "Grey's Anatomy" I find that damned hard to believe.

Nurse Jackie follows the incredibly fictional trope that the Nurses are actually the ones running the show, the brains behind everything, the ones overseeing the Doctors etc. if you know anything about the medical field, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

The Doctors are depicted as morons who seem to always have endless time for long lunches that last hours while it’s the nurses who are the brains behind it all, screaming at the Doctors, cursing them out etc.

What a crock.

[quote]Was there a storyline where Carter got raped by a convict, or am I misremembering that?

[quote]No that was St. Elsewhere to the character played by David Morse

Or Michael Corinthos on General Hospital.

I like Cleo.

It sucked when that ex set her on fire and she died in the burn unit.

^ That didn’t happen to Cleo. That happened to Michael Michelle’s character on an episode of SVU.

R233 OK, thanks, I just remember Carter walking around all jittery and sweaty about to break out in a panic attack and I thought it was his rapist in the hospital, but maybe I’m mashing them together, or even with a little 6 Feet Under too, didn’t that happen to David?

On the topic of rapists, I remember some storyline of a rapist or killer who was being treated by Corday and he was playing mind games with her. I recall the cops were trying to get him to disclose where he dumped one of his victims' bodies.

Corday was such a cool character when she was paired up with Benton. There was a great scene in her first year where she seduces him while peeking a soft boiled egg! Alex Kingston had no chemistry with Anthony Edwards, and Corday turned into a shrieking harpy after marrying Greene.

I understood why Eriq La Salle asked the producers to end the Benton/Corday pairing (he was getting a lot of shit from his community for the perceived message that the character needed a white woman for a relationship that worked), but I don't think it was to the good of either character or to the show. He wasn't as good with Cleo, and she wasn't as good with Mark.

Shit, got my shows messed up.

Cleo got cut by glass that had AIDS infected blood on it.

Making her the second Benton gf to have that disease.

Cleo tested negative.

R242 his community? You mean the acting community? Eriq La Salle has never striked me as someone who cared about what others think. He did it because he felt that way himself. This wasn’t on during social media baby. I doubt he knows much of what everyday black people thought of that storyline. Based on the fact they filmed 16+ hour days, I doubt he was sitting around reading fan letters.

"Striked me"??

WTF is your first language, R245?

I've had it with native English speakers who can't conjugate verbs.

Ofc Eriq La Salle knew what the black community was saying about his character. He wasn't reading it in fucking fan letters.

I never ever met anyone who took issue with Benton and Corday being a couple. That never made any media news, black people I knew at the time never said anything negative about it… even DL back then never brought it up.

Only in modern day does DL claim this, with nothing to back it up anywhere on the internet.

It was in TV articles at the time, doofus.

R249 articles? Where are the links???? If they existed then in mainstream magazines or papers, they would be online.

This took two seconds to google, asshole.

R251 the article states what I said already, that La Salle himself took issue with it because he didn’t wanna send the wrong message out. Yes. I acknowledged that. However YOUUUU stated that he took issue because black people, aka “his community”, were upset over it and outraged. However, that article says nothing of the sort. It says he asked the writers to end the relationship not to send the wrong message out, which is something I stated and acknowledged already. The article mentions nothing about fans being outraged or bothered by it, which is what you claimed.

The Kellie Martin stan who a few posts earlier was claiming to be in middle school when ER was on, is now fronting as an authority on the black community circa late '90s. Got it.

R253 there is not one single article backing up your claim. Not one blog. Not one interview. Nothing.

It was 20 years ago, toots, and LSA archives only go back so far, ykwim?

R255 you can find blogs and articles and interviews online going back many decades. But not 20 years????

Girls, you're both fat whores.

I was always a BIG St Elsewhere fan, so I watched ER many years later. I liked the frenetic pace and minor characters helping make the atmosphere real. Ish. But, for some reason I gave up after the big Doug Ross flooding episode. He was about to smoke a joint, but instead went and save d a child. It just played so piss weakly. But this interesting thread has made me think about rewatching it.

I rewatched St Elsewhere two years ago, and it still works.

Doug was the weakest of the OGs.

Noah may have been a jerk about “earning your keep” but the influx of characters they added in Season 6 really diluted the series - Cleo, Luka, Malucci, and the return of Chen. All boring and one dimensional. The only exception, IMO, was Maura Tierney, who started off quite strong before she became such a miserable duck face of a character. And at the same time, the nurses (Lydia, Halle, etc) were given less and less airtime and by season 7 they were reduced to a couple of lines per episode.

You guys remember when that helicopter buried Romano and no one missed him for a couple of days? No one showed up for his funeral. What a sad life.

I also remember a storyline with a firefighter who was dating one of the nurses (?) and was severely burned and everyone knew he wouldn't survive, but he still had hope thought he would be back at work in a few days.

The episode were Mark dies is also still one of the saddest things I've watched on TV.

The show had some great moments in its early seasons.

Anyone remember that the actor who played Dr. Romano was the gay teenager in the movie "Fame"?

He was a redhead then.

“If I could call you mine, for a time…”

I believe Season 7 was the season ER went to widescreen format to really drive home that it was a serious show. This was also around the time NBC debuted Scrubs so maybe they wanted to distinguish the two series? Although ER was always a drama, there was a good mix of lighter medical storylines that balanced it all out. From Season 7 on, all the characters were constantly miserable for the most part.

R262 they went widescreen because HD TVs became a thing at the time. HDTVs didn’t exist in the 90s….

[quote]Doug was the weakest of the OGs.

Doug was my least favorite of the OGs when it was airing, but I had to admit in retrospect that his arc was well written. Something I liked is that even though his fangirls saw him as the white-knight hero who was always right, it wasn't written that way. They showed how irresponsible and selfish he could be, how his flouting of rules sometimes put his friends in tough spots too, and how he had a self-destructive side.

So, he was a character I liked more in retrospect. Clooney was definitely there for the best period of the show, and I later enjoyed him in movies more than I thought I would. Especially after Soderbergh cured him out of some of his acting tics, like the "head down, eyes up" conversational style. I remember reading about that in EW re: Out of Sight when new.

R258 you keep bringing up the new characters brought in during season 6, but that’s more realistic that the show never bringing in anyone new. It’s a fucking ER, not a private Doctor’s Office. Doctor’s and Nurses rotate like crazy.

On top of that, with characters leaving, they need to bring in new ones. That’s how it works for shows like this (and Greys, etc. where the workplace is the center of the show).

Love her or hate her, you can’t deny Julianna is wonderful during that first season.

[quote]Although ER was always a drama, there was a good mix of lighter medical storylines that balanced it all out. From Season 7 on, all the characters were constantly miserable for the most part.

Probably not coincidentally, season 6 was Neal Baer's last season. Baer was a pediatrician, and in addition to his role on ER as an executive producer, he wrote several classic episodes of the first six seasons. His episodes usually had their share of humor. For example, he wrote the one in which Carter takes out Benton's appendix.

Once Baer was gone (to SVU), the principal show runner for seasons 7-9 was Jack Orman, who had first written for ER in season 4 and rose through the ranks. He and Baer had co-run the show in season 6.

The all-Orman seasons (7-9) were definitely more...soapy? Lachrymose?

[quote] you keep bringing up the new characters brought in during season 6, but that’s more realistic that the show never bringing in anyone new. It’s a fucking ER, not a private Doctor’s Office. Doctor’s and Nurses rotate like crazy.

Sure, but don’t make all of them central characters and give them nothing to do. They were boring and/or one dimensional.

Season 6’s overstuffed opening title sequence:

Julianna pings like a mofo

Juliana has a VERY hot, much younger husband.

That screams straight right homophobe ? ☝🏼

I decided to start rewatching the show, and I just finished episode 4, and Noah Wyle played Carter with such a gentleness and kindness in those first few seasons. He was lovely as the Med Student on duty, following and learning from Dr. Benton (who could be pretty hard on him, but probably had to be because it’s the Medical field, not a game).

When the young man him and Benton are trying to save dies, it seemed to hit Carter hard, as the young man was around the same age as him. He is instructed to call the parents and tell them to come because it’s serious. They come and Benton decides to tell them their son has died himself, so Carter can watch and learn. Turns out, he called the wrong people. Big mistake. After that they get the right parents and he delivers the news to them, and then he questions why he is even trying to be a Dr. because he’s not good at it, only for him to deliver a woman’s baby randomly and he remembers why he wants to be a Dr. What a rush for him.

I found his story during that episode relatable and moving. I’m not a Doctor, but I remember being young and questioning why I was doing what I’m doing and if I’m good enough.

It resonated with me far more than the storyline of Doug and Carol with the little boy and his crazy mom, although Doug and Carol’s love story is intriguing. I loved the end of that episode.

Such good TV.

Carter came off cold and a bit of an asshole in later seasons. I forgot he was so warm and sweet in the beginning

I wonder if the change is simply because Noah Wyle was an asshole with time.

However my favorite scene of the episode was Doug showing up at Carol’s unexpected only for her to be with her new man, and her setting Doug straight at the train station.

I get why this show had viewers coming back every week.

I remember Jorja Fox played a gay woman and Carter had the hots for her . Considering that we know that George is gay her to play a lesbian and she is in the closet, the beginning of a career is pretty courageous

George isn’t gay. We don’t “know” anything. Speculation isn’t facts.

I meant Jorja ! I was speaking through phone .

[quote]George isn’t gay. We don’t “know” anything. Speculation isn’t facts.

LOL.

That's really all we can say without breaching the terms of our contracts which are still in effect.

The show should have ended with Green's passing. And that ending of having Carter show the new student around the way Greene did to him in the pilot would have been perfect. Plus you could have had it where Doug and Carol showed up to the funeral.

Everything after was just a waste of time in retrospect.

At least four of ER’s leading men were in love with Neela at some point. In what world?

I never got why Maura Tierney’s character had both Carter and Kovac in love with her and vying for her attention at the same time. All she did was brood and sulk plus she was not all that attractive..

R279 no. Life goes on after you die.

Also, Greene didn’t teach Carter. He didn’t show him. Benton did. Benton was over Carter, not Greene.

I couldn't stand Neela.

Goran and Maura were fucking in real life so I guess he didn't consider her too unattractive to fuck. And it's not like Noah Wyle is some stud who'd only be pulling the hottest chicks.

I thought Parminder Nagra was attractive enough. 4 guys were in love with her because of the revolving cast not because she was supposed to be seen as some goddess. And they were not all that hot. That said, the relationships were awful.

Stamos was the worst addition to the show, he had totally the wrong vibe.

She'll always be Becca to me. I enjoyed her in that Christy show though.

Noah Wyle was not hot. Sorta cute in a very vanilla way but that’s it.

Just rewatched the whole series for the third time, and I agree with r279. The series fell off a cliff in early Season 9.

What king running show stayed strong throughout? They never do.

Did Noah Wyle ever have nudes leaked?

R289 NO

Noah Wyle did play a gay male slut in the play "The 24th Day"

Noah wears the tightest pants in a movie called "Scene of the Crime" with Jeff Bridges.

His package and ass are on nice display. He's still cute in this as well.

Has there been any discussion of Kerry Weaver morphing into a pussy hungry lesbo? I don't think anyone has yet mentioned it. She was first paired with Kim, played by Elizabeth Mitchell, but it wasn't a good fit. They looked ridiculous together; Mitchell looked at least a foot taller. Kerry then pants after a Hispanic firefighter named Sandy Lopez, who outs her in front of everybody. They become a couple and of course Kerry desperately wants a baby. She can't have one so she emotionally manipulates Sandy into having one ("Do it for me") even though Sandy plainly states she does NOT want to have a baby. But she does anyway and they're the perfect lesbo family until Sandy gets killed. Then her family want custody of the baby; they keep it away from Kerry and then seemingly apropos of nothing they decide ok you can have custody again. Just like that. Such stupid writing. Eventually Kerry takes her rug rat and moves to Florida. I wasn't sorry to see her go. She was a real bitch.

I loved Weaver in the early seasons! Loved her conflicts with Susan and her unexpected friendship with Jeanie. She was often a pain in the ass but quirky and with a sense of humor. They ruined her, not by making her character gay but by making her so goddamn angry all the time.

People change with time

^ Yeah, Weaver in seasons 2-6 was bad-ass. Complex, interesting, mysterious. Laura Innes had good scene chemistry with everyone. She really did get ruined later. I didn't like the lesbianism reveal, her specific relationships once she came out, or much of anything they did with her in the Jack Orman years.

This is a great thread. Thanks OP!

Kellie died so that Neela could walk.

WHO NEELA?!

Alternative credits.

I thought the later years were the best. The doctors were less heroic. Maura Tierney's adrenaline depleted, depressive doctor was a lot more convincing than the perky doctors of earlier years. Even the long standing characters had a weariness that made them more convincing than they were in the early years.

R301 you’re not the first person I’ve seen say they preferred the later seasons.

She was annoying as hell as Becca. The ER writers felt that she stole the spotlight away from Corky and therefore, she needed to pay!

This thread has inspired to watch the entire series!

Merry Christmas, r304. 🎄

The show had such a different feel in the first season

Season 3 was the best season IMO. This was before spoilers were a thing so there were a few real WTF moments: Susan’s departure, the tragic ending of the Omar Epps character, and the assault on Mark Green.

As horrific as the killing of Lucy was, it was leaked to the press so it didn’t come as a total surprise.

R307 the press heard she will be shot. The way they killed her off was shocking because they leaked false info on how she would die.

I found a random episode of Chicago Hope on YouTube:

From 2018.

Did any of you bitches watch this?

Noah Wylie looks like a drinker and possibly a domestic abuser.

Noah’s grown son isn’t as cute as young Noah was in the early days of ER, but nice bod!

I thought she wanted off the show and told them she didn't want an opening to come back so they killed her off.

R313 he’s a teenager.

R312 it’s Wyle.

Owen is 19.

A legal teenager.

I totally forgot that Rosemary Clooney guest starred

She was Emmy nominated for that episode. I liked her a lot as the former star who was struggling with her memory.

[quote]ER was a good show, always pretty intense due to the setting, but got to be too much for my Thursday nights.

MARY!

320 posts and not one DL'er mentions Kyle Richards with her ORIGINAL NOSE!

I still have cable (yes, I know!) and it offers a lot of old people networks (Charge, MeTV, Antenna TV, Decades, Rewind, Pop, etc.). Pop has been showing ER for months now. I have the TV on this channel when I'm working from home because I don't have to pay attention to it. I pretty much know each episode and can tell what will happen.

The season currently airing is the season where Linda Cardellini's son Alex runs away to find his Dad. She and and Luka were driving around to find him. This was yesterday's 11 am ET episode.

I do remember watching Chicago Hope but not one episode stands out for me. I can't remember anything from that show. I would really like to watch St. Elsewhere again. Shows like SE really started my love of medical TV shows. I think I've watched them all (including The Good Doctor) at some point. I still like Chicago Med; especially when they have a tie-in with Chicago Fire and/or Chicago PD.