The doctors who work in the ER at the County General Hospital in Chicago grapple with ups and downs in their personal and professional lives while trying to give apt medical care to their pa... Read allThe doctors who work in the ER at the County General Hospital in Chicago grapple with ups and downs in their personal and professional lives while trying to give apt medical care to their patients.The doctors who work in the ER at the County General Hospital in Chicago grapple with ups and downs in their personal and professional lives while trying to give apt medical care to their patients.
- Won 23 Primetime Emmys
- 157 wins & 370 nominations total
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDuring an interview for the PBS series "Pioneers of Television," Noah Wyle said that while filming some of Carter's Africa storyline in the Kalahari Desert, the real on-set medic passed out from the heat, and Wyle (who by that time had been filmed pretending to perform hundreds of simulated medical procedures for the television show) inserted a real I.V. and hooked the medic up to a real saline drip.
- GoofsThe paramedics that come into the ER wear national registry patches on the uniforms. All Illinois medics wear Illinois state patches. Illinois does not recognize the NREMT.
- Quotes
Dr. Kerry Weaver: [leaving Luka a message] Luka, this is Kerry Weaver. I'm down two attendings and up 40 patients. If you don't get in here and start working your scheduled shifts, I'm gonna call the INS, tell 'em your greencard's a fake, and have your ass deported
- Alternate versionsDuring Super Bowl XXXVIII (2004) on 1 Feb. 2004, a storm of controversy erupted over the halftime show featuring Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson. When the episode ER (1994) episode "Touch and Go" was set to first air on 5 Feb., the episode was under a scrutiny over the fact that it would featured an elderly woman's bare breasts. In light of all the media attention, the episode aired with the woman's breasts obscured. However, the episode continues to air in re-runs and syndication in its uncensored form.
- ConnectionsEdited from The Muppet Show: Jean-Pierre Rampal (1980)
Seven years later, I'm still watching (or taping) it every week. Why? Because it's the best drama show on TV, hands down, no contest. I thought at first I was biased because I studied physiology and am pretty versed in the technical jargon and medical realities they face on the show. I have a great interest in medicine and even considered a career in that path at one point in my life. However, the more I watched the show, the more I realized that it's not about the physical traumas, but about the human traumas. The admittedly romanticized, but no less relevant, reality of a profession that deals with life and death day after day, night after night. This is what makes it compelling. This is what makes it of greater scope and deeper emotions.
An ER doctor never gets enough sleep, never gets to go home. Is facing critical situations one after the other. Must make life-altering decisions daily. And yes, also has to cope with his personal life. Relationships, achievements and short-comings.
The setting aside, ER is a show that can boast about serious talent in the writing, directing, acting, casting, cinematography, editing, sound and even the pretty realistic make-up-F/X departments. And I'm talking about top-notch rendition, year after year. Just look at the list of Emmy and Golden Globe nominations over the years. What should also be kept in mind is the genuine appreciation by the public, as demonstrated for example by the People's Choice Award for Favorite Television Dramatic Series for eight years straight.
Created by writing mogul Michael Crichton, this show has passed a host of extremely talented actors that went on to 'bigger and better things', while still keeping the quality and the excitement of interesting and captivating stories told by equally apt newcomers. The style of the show is unique. The humour is witty and often sarcastic (see the purposely unlikable, sharp-tongued Paul Crane's Dr. Robert Romano). The tension is handled impeccably. The death of main characters truly riveting, sad and heartfelt (no question some of the best shows). The personal stories of the nurses and doctors and their work interactions with each other is worthy of a soap opera, but handled with a honest hard look at the twists and turn of life and personal interplay. The directing is smart, thorough. The long continuous takes (with great cinematography work) enables us to feel right in the action and switch from a tense situation to the other. What can you ask more of a TV show?
I enjoy ER and give my hats off to everyone involved with the show. Back in 1994, they re-invented the TV drama genre, upping the level of writing, acting and directing. This challenged the competition at the time and started giving us altogether better drama shows (for the most part). In its ninth season, ER is still the best; it hasn't lost any steam yet. Yes, there has been a lot of changes (actors-characters), but the essence (writers, directors, producers) of what makes the show great is still there and still strong.
When it comes down to it, the daily stress and life-affecting decisions at County General Hospital coupled with the hectic work environment is a place I want to vicariously live in every week. Because, with all the pain and hardness, we understand that these doctors like to help people, but they also love the RUSH.
- christian94
- Nov 20, 2002
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