ER: 15 Years of First-Rate Television
Carol’s suicide attempt: ER is about to begin its fifteenth season, which is also the last of the show. How the years go by. I remember watching the very first episode in 1994 and being impressed by everything in it, the actors as well as the technical qualities. The show was created by Michael Crichton who based it on his own experiences as a young doctor. The show portrayed life in an emergency room at a Chicago hospital and would go on to become one of NBC’s longest running hit shows. As the fifteenth season begins, not one of the original cast members remains even though some of the supporting characters (playing the nurses) still hang around. Let’s take a look at some of the memorable moments from the show. The first one, above, is from the first episode where Nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianne Margulies) is brought to the ER after attempting to commit suicide.
George Clooney’s breakthrough: This clip shows Doug Ross (George Clooney) imitating Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) and being caught in the act. It shows Mr. Clooney’s charm, which helped propel the success of the show, and also the fact that ER had its light touches as well.
The rise of John Carter: One of the greatest parts of ER was the story of John Carter (Noah Wyle). Born into wealth, he chose to become a regular physician and certainly matured over the years, going from harried intern to respected resident. This clip shows him having an allergic reaction while attending the rounds.
Mark Greene gets beaten up: I remember this episode very clearly. It made quite an impression on me because the assault on Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards) seemed so graphic and realistic. The writers also made the choice to show how long it took for a person subjected to this kind of violence to recover, which is something TV shows usually neglect to show.
Lucy and Carter get stabbed: I don’t know what Kellie Martin is doing nowadays (I haven’t checked her out on IMDb.com) but she did make an impression as Lucy on this show. She was there between 1998 and 2000, but left the show after being stabbed to death in an episode that also left John Carter close to dying from his stab wounds. YouTube user requiemx43 has put together this video of scenes showing what happened in these dramatic episodes. Carter survived, but became addicted to painkillers.
Carol and Doug reunited: Both Ms. Margulies and Mr. Clooney chose to leave the show eventually; he in 1999, she in 2000. This clip shows their last scene together (unless they choose to reappear in this last season).
Mark dying: In 2002, Dr. Greene finally succumbed to the cancer he had been suffering from for some time. This clip shows his death, which was beautifully portrayed on the show.
Romano gets a chopper in the head: One of the most absurd moments ever of the show was when Robert Romano (Paul McCrane) was killed by a helicopter some time after having his arm cut off by the rotor blades of another helicopter.
I’m hoping that the last season will provide more memorable moments from the show. It may have deteriorated somewhat these last few years, but it remains one of the greatest ever. I’m sure it will go out on a high note.
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