Talk:ER (TV series)

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Contents 1 Minus notation 2 Susan Lewis left for Phoenix or Flagstaff? 3 Archive 4 Jump The Shark 5 Other long-serving (4+ years) regular cast not credited as stars 6 First Member to Leave Cast 7 Not enough content!!! 8 Movie? 9 1st episode 10 Please use references 11 "Other notable episodes" -- needs explanation 12 "Cook County Hospital" 13 Casting of Parminder Nagra 14 Merge? 15 Hallee Hirsh 16 Deletion of discussion "stupid writing" 17 Opening paragraphs 18 Cast departures 19 Error In Trivia Section 20 Massive revert alert 21 Rating Chart 22 County General or Cook-County General? 23 Jumping the gun 24 Scott Grimes 25 12 original episodes 26 Nielsen ratings for ER 27 Clemente 28 Trivia Section 29 This article needs serious work

[edit] Minus notation

The notation, for example, 6-, means "six minus", which means "less than six years". I wonder why this is used a multitude of times, such as in 7-, 8-, 9-, 10-, and so forth. Why is is that someone always worked less than a certain number of years? Note that a mathematician wrote this.

...Mathematician hey... -6 != 6-, what school did you go to? It's pretty common notation in encyclopedias to use this format, such as in biographies of living people where their birth dates would be written "b. 19xx-". Although putting "7-present" or "7-current season" would be more clear, I understood what it meant. This is the dumbest complaint I've ever seen. -—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.84.58.134 (talk • contribs).

Please refrain from insulting people in your responses. And remember to sign your comments. Oh, and by the way, new discussion on the talk page goes at the bottom of the page. Thanks. ---Charles 15:32, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Susan Lewis left for Phoenix or Flagstaff?

I recall hearing Dr. Lewis in an episode say that she had been working in Flagstaff, Arizona after her return to the series (not Phoenix as the person who reverted my edit believes.) She said something about the heat being depressing etc and that she has been working in Flagstaff. Can someone confirm/reject this? I won't reedit the article until i get some sort of confirmation. Summoned 00:51, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

I'm the person who reverted your edits. I have "No Brain, No Gain" on tape, and in it she tells Mark, after he confronts her about dating Morgenstern, that she was never dating him, but rather had been meeting with him to get his help in securing a job for her in Phoenix. Also, in "Union Station" she takes a train to Phoenix, not Flagstaff. One last thing—you might want to move this to the bottom of the page. That's where new discussions go (see guidelines at the top of this page). 24.21.87.178 01:02, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Archive

The Archive link does not work.--malber 15:08, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

It works now, but why was the previous discussion archived in the first place? It wasn't tremendously long. --malber 12:32, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

I agree... why was it archived? Emily 02:13, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Jump The Shark

For a show running 12 years, this article seems just a bit more than a stub. I expected more, but I'm not a fan of the show (well, former fan, I only watched it for three seasons). It would seem to me that this show has jumped the shark, however it is difficult to choose the precise moment because this show seems to have exercised every "jumped" category. --malber 15:21, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

Jump the Shark.com has Doug Ross leaving as the most popular Jump moment. For me it started losing it earlier than that in the start of season 4 when Mark Greene's beating lead him to become a jerk. Mark having a relationship, then marriage, to Corday never worked for me either. Then Carol left. So I guess I'd put it, for me, from eason four to the start of 7 except I did like some episodes after that. (After they switched the actress, and personality, of Greene's daughter it pretty much had nothing left to interest me. My vieing of the show was a tad Greene-centric as initially he was my favorite character. Watching how they screwed him up is also notable to me in the decline) Anyway it's kind of a shame because in its first three seasons it was maybe my favorite show. In seasons 4-7 it was still kind of good. In the last 2 or 3 seasons it's been mostly bad, although I appreciate their effort to get interest in the Congolese situation.

A problem with my comments is personal events effected my viewing of this show. I was in the ICU in late 1997 for respiratory failure and after that I never enjoyed it as much. All the doctors talked about it a great deal in the ICU and for awhile it kind of reminded me of things I moved on from.--T. Anthony 11:03, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

People misuse the term "jump the shark." They seem to use it as a synonym for "this is when I stopped liking the show," or "this is when the show started to suck"---but that is not what the phrase means. It denotes a moment when the show did something so horrendous and previously unthinkable that the entire atmosphere suddenly changes. Has ER slipped?---certainly. Has it "jumped the shark"?---no. --Charles 05:32, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

I would have to say it "jumped the shark" with Dr. Romano and the helicopter. Gnosbush 17:16, 27 June 2006 (UTC)

i dont know what you guys are talking about. the first 8 or 9 seasons are unbearably soap opera-ish. the 10th and later seasons have much better writing and humor.

[edit] Other long-serving (4+ years) regular cast not credited as stars

There are a lot of red links in this section. This section is questionable because the individuals listed are not particularly noteworthy. The few edits I see to this article each week involve this section. It's also getting a bit lengthy. Are we going to start listing every extra that's ever appeared on an episode of ER? --malber 12:34, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

I think it's good that all of the characters that lasted more than 4 years without credit be mentioned... not every guest star has any need of being listed, but important characters are still good... Emily 02:13, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] First Member to Leave Cast

In the article, it states that George Clooney was the first original cast member to be moved, however I beg to move that this be changed to Sherry Stringfield, despite the fact that she later returned. Maria Bello also left before Clooney. Cameronian 20:12, 11 February 2006 (UTC) Maria Bello was not an original cast member (didn't start until 3rd season) however Sherry Stringfield DID leave before George Clooney.

Sorry, should have been more clear, I had only meant that Maria had been a regular cast member, not that she was an original.

[edit] Not enough content!!!

This site has not got enough content! For being one of the most popular tv shows in history there should be more facts in this article! Please add some information and pictures! Thanks --84.59.220.41 15:56, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for your suggestion! When you feel an article needs improvement, please feel free to make whatever changes you feel are needed. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit any article by simply following the Edit this page link at the top. You don't even need to log in! (Although there are some reasons why you might like to...) The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes—they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills. New contributors are always welcome. --Christopherlin 17:55, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

I think Cch Pounder was an important support cast member, does anyone have her details?

Done! Also, please dont forget to sign your posts on talk pages, using four tildes (~). Thanks. Cameronian 20:08, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Movie?

Wasn't the series based on a movie with the same actors/actresses playing the same people as they play in the series? I could have sworn that I read somewhere that this "movie" did so well that a series was made from it? Flyerhell 02:37, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

Well, there was a pilot episode, and it certainly had some differences from the series, but AFAIK, it was always intended to be a series, and wasn't just a movie later made into a TV show, like say Buffy. Ok, Buffy's a bad example, since the production was very different, but it's the best I can think of. Maybe Michael Crichton intended to sell it as a movie script or something. I can't recall, but I have a book on ER around here. I'll see if I can dig it up and find out. Mister.Manticore 03:53, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

The most successful film-turned-TV-show I can think of is M*A*S*H. The Altman film and the TV series were a great deal different, to the point that there is a large number of people who liked one and almost hated the other. (In both directions, liking the series and hating the film or liking the film and hating the series) Although Gary Burghoff was in both as Radar O'Reilly.--T. Anthony 11:10, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

You are right, Mr. Manticore, it was originally scripted as a movie, and it was decided that it should turn in to a series before it was actually filmed. The pilot is in fact feature length (IIRC around 2 hours). Hope this helps. Cameronian 20:12, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 1st episode

Was the first episode 2 hours long, or did two episodes air in a row? Because I can see here where the most recent update, saying that from the second episode on, as opposed to the third, Nurse Carol Hathaway was added to the full-time cast. Oh- I just looked on tv.com, and it seems that the first episode, "24 Hours", was 2 hours long. Well, I'll post this anyway, in case anyone else os confused... Emily 00:29, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

The first episode was 2 hours long (with commercials). On subsequent airings and in syndication, it is presented as Pilot, parts I and II 04:15, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Please use references

Please cite sources using <ref> as seen in several examples I just introduced. In one case (the reason for departure of the Lucy Knight character) the previous version of the article made claims refuted by an apparently reputable source (E!). I fixed that problem but there could be others. 66.167.141.160 01:18, 17 March 2006 (UTC).

[edit] "Other notable episodes" -- needs explanation

In the "other notable episodes" section, several episode titles are listed with no explanation. Why are they notable? PxT 21:47, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

I also wonder, why are they notable? Perhaps some of them deal with current events? Hyacinth 04:02, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Since the section has a link to a complete listing of ER episodes, I am sure that reasons for their notability can be found there. I know that episode featuring James Woods as an ALS patient was hyped greatly by NBC, and for very good reason; his was a remarkable performance. I am sure other episodes cited as "notable" also have such compelling reasons. -- Jalabi99 14:12, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

I agree that there's a problem here. Having a guest star doesn't make an episode "stand out", nor does having a main character leave- otherwise there would be dozens of "stand out" episodes. I'm going to pare it down to 1. "love's labor lost"- an episode that won an emmy, and 2. "hell and high water"- an episode that got the highest nielsen rating ever by an ER episode. johnpseudo 18:21, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Cook County Hospital"

It is not set there, though the hospital may be based on it. --Daniel C. Boyer 18:51, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, it's set at "Country General" in Chicago. Emily ^{(Funtrivia Freak)} 18:32, 2 April 2006 (UTC) I mean- "County" Emily ^{(Funtrivia Freak)} 18:32, 2 April 2006 (UTC) I meant "County" Emily ^{(Funtrivia Freak)} 18:33, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Casting of Parminder Nagra

What's all this "John Wells cast her after being a fan of her hit film Bend It Like Beckham"

Oh yeh! He cast her cos she's a sexy minx.

Er 22:29, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

It all kinda goes together. --Bonalaw 11:05, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

Where is this cited? Where did you find this? If this isn't provable, we can't use it...

She has said so in at least one television interview she had on E! Entertainment Television. I will put up a link to a transcript of the interview in question. -- Jalabi99 14:05, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Merge?

I have proposed a merger of the page Mental Illness in ER into this article. The other article reads as an opinion piece. If nothing is worth saving from the other article, then I suggest making it into a redirect. —MiraLuka 07:00, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I do not believe that they should be merged, and I do not believe that there is anything salvagable in that article. It is total POV, using ER as an example in order to attack the media's handling of mental health issues, especially schizophrenia. Now, I am not arguing that the author of the article is incorrect, but the point is moot---Wikipedia is not the place for such an argument.--Charles 07:05, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Delete it. It is totally POV. Like Charles, I'm not saying that it doesn't have a point, but there is no place for it on Wikipedia. --John24601 08:12, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I agree with the above comments in that is totally subjective and misuses what Wikipedia was created for. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.137.75.138 (talk • contribs) 14:23, 16 May 2006 (UTC).

Okay, I'm making the other page into a redirect and removing the merge tag. Thanks. —MiraLuka 19:37, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hallee Hirsh

I think she acted as Rachel Greene in some important episodes like "On The Beach". Can't she be considered as a supporting cast of past?

[edit] Deletion of discussion "stupid writing"

It angers me that the anonymous user at IP address 72.230.9.33 deleted the discussion at the top of the page entitled "stupid writing." I voiced my objection to the comments originally made, but a discussion had ensued between myself and the original poster as to the purpose of the talk page, and that discussion had merit. No one should ever delete a discussion on the talk page without permission, or without discussion---that's why it's called the talk page. --Charles 04:55, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Opening paragraphs

The opening paragraphs of this article seem too long to me. There is a lot of information in those paragraphs that could (and should) be dealt with in the main body of the article, and in some cases the information is repetitive. The introduction really does not need to be so long and ponderous, does it? Any thoughts? --Charles 04:38, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cast departures

I like the new "cast departures" section, but what do you think of making it a subsection of the "cast" section? ---Charles 04:45, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Error In Trivia Section

A bulleted note in the Trivia section states, "ER is loosely based on writer Elizabeth Hunter's time spent in Seattle's Harborview Medical Hospital as a registered nurse.[citation needed]."

This is a widely perpetuated, yet totally false, assumption. The show is based upon Executive Producer Michael Crichton's experiences in medical school, and, specifically, his work of non-fiction, Five Patients, (published in 1970 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.) A great deal of the pilot episode of "ER" was taken directly from the book. The book (and, ultimately the series "ER") is based upon the experiences of a fourth-year medical student (author Michael Crichton) at Massachusetts General Hospital in the 1960's. The premise was, of course, updated for television in the 1990's and beyond.

Please correct this error. For further information and verification, you can check Crichton's official website (http://www.crichton-official.com/).

[edit] Massive revert alert

Some anonymous user came in and reexpanded the trivia section which I had taken a lot of time to pare down to a managable 5 or 6 entries. It looks like this anonymous user feels the need for a horrendously large trivia section. Currently there is a policy discussion about the removal of trivial sections of articles in toto, and while I am generally a trivia buff, I can see the need to incorporate a lot of similar trivia into the main article text when there is enough that is alike. Now, I would like to do a massive revert of this article back to where I had it before with almost no trivia, and the trivial information distributed within the article. Does anyone object to this move? Also, I will correct any other errors that cropped up when I did the trivia clean-out.
—Lady Aleena talk/contribs 04:58, 27 June 2006 (UTC)

I am that anonymous user, and the reason I reverted so many of your changes is because you incorporated a ton of material into sections where it didn't appear to fit in well. For example, you included many trivia items about how an actor was recruited for the show, or what episodes they directed, into the cast departures section. I just don't think that is the proper place for all sorts of non-departure information. I do not "feel the need for a horrendously large trivia section." I simply didn't agree with the way you re-fitted so many items into the existing sections. Perhaps more thoughful editing and paring down of the trivia section is warranted, and I'd be happy to help with that. 24.21.87.178 18:30, 27 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Rating Chart

Can someone possibly make a Neilson rating chart for this article? Flyerhell 21:13, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] County General or Cook-County General?

Although the article states that the name of the hospital is County General, in Episode 4 Noah Wyle calls it "Cook County General Hospital" when he is calling to report the news of a kid's death.

The time code is exactly 28 minutes if you have the DVD season set.

--Borisborf 18:43, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

It is also called "Cook County General Hospital" in Episode 10 at 16:03. --Borisborf 16:57, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

I think those are some odd exceptions, possibly even goofs. The vast, vast majority of the time it is refered to simply as County General. That's also the name used on the "official" NBC site (http://www.nbc.com/ER/about/) as well as the Warner Bros. site. 24.21.87.178 04:44, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

Is it not the case that the full name is "Cook County General", but because the entire series and characters are set in Cook County, there is no need to qualify the "County General" with "Cook"? --John24601 06:30, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Jumping the gun

I don't think Stamos should be added to the main cast section until after he appears in the main cast credits; that is, in September, after his first episode has aired. Same for characters listed in the Supporting cast list; the qualifier is "played supporting roles for three or more seasons," and I think that should be honored. Actors should not be added until their third season of appearing on the show begins. What do you think? 24.21.87.178 18:24, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

The show is in transition of seasons and Season 12 already finished. There is official information about the new season and we don`t need to hold up the information. John Stamos has already joined the cast (since the season started to be shot) and Leland Orser has been on the show for three seasons already. Rockdolly 19:02, 21 July 2006

Okay, I can see the Stamos argument (though I don't share the opinion), but Orser has not been on for three seasons. His first episode was in season 11 ("Try Carter"), and though we can obviously assume he will be on the show during season 13, there is no "official" info out about that (unlike Stamos). Given that, I think Orser shouldn't be added to the Supporting cast list. He's on the Notable guest stars list already, and will be added to the Supporting cast list in just a few months. What's the hurry? 24.21.87.178 19:04, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Scott Grimes

I have speculation Scott Grimes will NOT return as Dr. Archie Morris this season. I believe in the episode "21 Guns" he was shown making a video saying goodbye to everyone as he was transferring to a pharmuesutical company. I never liked him anyway. Whats evryone else think?

That's correct, he was leaving, and making the video as you described. I don't know if he will be returning for any of the upcoming season. Unless it can be confirmed, we should leave it until the new season starts to see if he's in there.

I realize that we should leave it there, but I was just wondering if anyone else had heard of confirmation and what their thoughts were.

Gotcha. It looks like he left, but I haven't confirmed it. Apologies for not signing my previos post ("That's correct, he was...). CPitt76 18:02, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 12 original episodes

i don't get that. 12 eps in decemeber will they be all new or older episodes/seasons?

They will be 12 NEW episodes then the show will leave unitl May where the season will then finish out. Erfanatic 20:57, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Nielsen ratings for ER

Does anybody have got sources for ER's Nielsen ratings in the first five seasons? I mean the average numbers of people who watched ER during these seasons. I have got these numbers for the seasons 6-12, but not for the first five seasons. (I'm not interested in the household ratings or the shares.) With these numbers it would be nice to make a table for having a good overview over the show's audience success. --88.73.234.237 13:27, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Clemente

Why is there no mention of Dr. Victor Clemente (John Leguizamo) - I have only just started watching ER (but we're back a few series here in NZ) but he is one of the main characters? (and funniest ones too) -- PageantUpdater • talk | contribs | esperanza 23:27, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

Nope...he is a recurring character...he would be under guest starring roles under the main article. He is not mentioned of the ER page because he has only been on for 1 season. According to a recent spoiler he committs suicide early on in season 13. Hope that answers your question. Erfanatic 21:26, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

Thanks but no thanks. This answers my question but will completely wreck my enjoyment of the show! Why did you have to include the spoiler? (although I'm kinda not surprised... he seems a little bit too much edgy) -- PageantUpdater • talk | contribs | esperanza 22:02, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

Sorry that I may have ruined things for you, but please do not revert what i write. Erfanatic 04:19, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia Section

Ok...under trivia it says that opening credits were cut from 50 seconds to 5 seconds. Ok yes it was but since the episode length was extremely long it might have been on purpose, and John Stamos was not in this episode so instead of leaving him out they probably will wait until next week to show him in the credits. Also in past season premieres because of their length the opening credits have been left out. I am going to revert this until we see episode 13.02. Erfanatic 21:56, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

It still was cut to 5 seconds in 13.02. Raven6247 02:15, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Can someone give a citation for the stated reason for cutting down the opening credits from 50 seconds to just five? I wonder how much exposition can take place in less than a minute, so the stated reason for the credits' length being cut doesn't hold water for me. -- Jalabi99 14:10, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

I've added a reference to a blog post by the execute producer (David Zabel) explaining the reason. I hope this is up to Wikipedia standards, and if it's not, please fix it, thanks! Jayden54 15:30, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

I was the one that created that trivia bullet. Thanks to Jayden for adding the refrence. Jalabi99--it may not seem like the most sensible reason, but it's the one they offered, so it's what will stay.EATC 03:43, 10 December 2006 (UTC)EATC

[edit] This article needs serious work

I don't really know where to start, for a show as long running and famous as ER, this article is quite sad. I'm a new convert to this show and I came here to read about the past history of some of the characters and plots. Lost has a detailed episode guide for every single show, here the plot details don't even mention how famous people like Jon Leguiziamo or Kristen Johnston were on the show, nevermind how long, or their impact. I can't write this because I don't know the past history. The last plot update in the

• Episodes section - How bout a plot summary? The live episode tidbit probably belongs under the trivia section and the notable episodes list could go under the awards section.
• In the episode I just watched on rerun, Eve got fired and abby tells kovac she is pregnant... this isn't even mentioned in the episode guide! These summaries are obviously ripped of from the dvd or tv guides and don't really detail what happened for people who want to know, which is presumably why people would be reading this section.
• "Julianna Margulies guest starred in the pilot as Nurse Carol Hathaway and then became part of the regular cast." I would think that if they were in episode 1, and also episodes 2-200, they weren't really a guest in the pilot so much as cast.
• Cast departures stops at season 11... There's people in season 12 that aren't on now.
• US tv rating: Premier/finale dates? Who cares? Viewer rank/# viewers - For what? Finale? Premier? Entire season?
• "Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps. All times mentioned in this section were in the Eastern & Pacific time zones." What times? The dates?
• DVD release dates? How is this important?
• ref #5 "Are You Sick Of Neilson Rating Yet" taken from google groups? This is a reputable source?
• Only one picture in the article which is less than stellar
• Season 5 plot summaries missing, no one has the dvds? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.84.58.134 (talk) 07:48, 15 December 2006 (UTC).