ER is another type of TV drama I really enjoy -- the medical drama. Well, actually, the only other one I can remember is "St. Elsewhere," with which ER shares some similarities. I don't get to watch this show every single week, but I try not to miss it too often.
ER takes place in a Chicago hospital (like Chicago Hope, which I have never watched!). The show focuses mostly on the personal lives and interactions among some of the ER and hospital staff, each episode usually involving a few storylines revolving around patients who have been brought into the ER under more or less dramatic circumstances. The plot involving the hospital staff weaves itself throughout the continuum of episodes. The series, which was created by Michael Crichton of "Jurassic Park" fame, will be entering its 5th season in September, 1998.
Note: George Clooney, who plays the part of Dr. Doug Ross, has declared that the 1998-99 (5th) season of ER will be his last on the show.
Note: Carter is my favorite ER character!
note: Rumor has it that Maria Bello, who plays Dr. Del Amico, will not be returning for the 5th season of ER.
The Cast of Characters
Dr Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards): Mark is an ER doctor, and a pretty tortured character. Mark was married to Jenn (and has a daughter named Rachel), whom he divorced after having found out that she had been cheating on him. After divorcing his wife, Mark became very close to Susan Lewis, but Susan had to leave for Arizona, and even though Mark managed to tell her that he loved her at the train station where he had run to meet her, she left anyway. Since then, he has had several ephemeral relationships, including one this past season with Cynthia, the perfectly incompetent desk clerk whom he had hired. Toward the end of season 3, Mark was badly beaten up in a hospital bathroom, which had a pretty detrimental effect on his mental state. During this past season, he visited his parents' home a couple of times and had to deal with problems with his family, including his mother's stroke.
Dr Doug Ross (George Clooney): Doug is an excellent pediatrician and, in the early seasons of the show, he acquired a reputation as somewhat of a womanizer and heavy drinker. Doug had a relationship with nurse Hathaway, before she tried to commit suicide, for which he blamed himself. His many flings with different women could not make him forget Carol, and in season 4, they got back together. He also had a stormy relationship with his father, to whom he had not spoken since age 12. In the end, though (season 4), Doug's father got killed, along with his girlfriend and a passerby, while driving a car under the influence. This prompted Doug to take a trip to California with Mark (who is his best friend), to come to terms with this event. Doug's career was put in jeopardy at the end of season 4, when he performed rapid detox on a baby without permission.
Dr. John Carter (Noah Wyle): Carter was originally a surgical intern who was given a very hard time by Benton. However, he discovered that the kind of relationship that he manages to establish with patients would be better used in an ER environment, so he switched his residency from surgery to ER. He comes from a very wealthy family and, thus, has no financial worries. Carter is an excellent doctor with great bedside manners, but he can sometimes fret a bit when under pressure. He is quite taken up by Anna Del Amico, who, unlike him is under great financial stress and became a bit resentful when she discovered that Carter was weathly and had been trying to conceal his wealth from her. However, with Maria Bello, the actress who plays Del Amico's part, leaving the show, it seems like that relationship will be going nowhere fast... (note: Everyone in the ER calls Carter by his last name... I'm not sure why.)
Dr Peter Benton (Eric LaSalle): An ambitious, talented, but also mightily arrogant African-American surgeon. The main plots involving Benton have revolved around his giving a hard time to Carter, who was his student; having a tough time taking care of his mother, who had a stroke, and whose death devastated him; his brief affair with Jeanie, a married Occupational Therapist who, it was learned in the first episode of season 3, had contracted HIV from her husband Al (Benton tested negative for HIV). Benton then had a relationship with Carla, from whom he had a son who was born premature. His relationship with Carla didn't last, but Peter is learning how to become a committed father to his son, and has consequently mellowed a bit. During season 4, Benton began a relationship with Dr. Corday, a British surgeon whom he had first perceived as a competitor. However, at the end of the season 4, Corday learned that her sponsorship may not be renewed, and Benton didn't seem to care very much.
Dr Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes): Dr. Weaver joined the ER as Chief Resident in the second episode of season 2, to the great dismay of most of the ER staff.
Dr. Weaver has a mysterious limp, but Laura Innes, the actress who plays Kerry Weaver's character has said that the cause of that limp will be revealed when deemed appropriate by the show's writers. Very little is known about this character's personal life.
Dr Anna Del Amico (Maria Bello): Anna Del Amico joined the ER near the end of season 3 as a Pediatrician specialising in Emergency Medicine. Anna is a good-looking young woman, who is also at times tortured with moral dilemnas, such as when she couldn't perform an abortion on a patient. There is some definite attraction between Anna and Carter, but so far, nothing much has happened between them. Towards the end of season 4, Max, one of Anna's ex-boyfriends, whom she had helped when he had become addicted to pain killers, re-appeared, to Carter's dismay.
Dr Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston): A new English Surgeon who joined the ER in Season 4. There was immediately some tension between Benton and Corday, he felth threatened by her,etc. But soon, she managed to loosen him up, took him out drinking to a bar where they played darts (she was way better than he was). They eventually got it together and spent the night together toward the end of season 4, but Corday's future in Chicago appeard to be in jeopardy when Dr. Romano told her that he wouldn't renew her sponsorship. Benton wasn't particularly sympathetic to her when he heard the news...
Carol Hathaway (Juliana Margulies): Carol is the ER's Head Nurse, who attempted suicide in the series pilot (this character was supposed to die, but proved so popular with the audience that the producers decided to keep her on). When Carol returned to work, she was going out with Tag, and orthopedic surgeon, which made Doug Ross a bit jealous. At the end of season 1, Tag and Carol were to be married, but Tag realized that she didn't love him and the marriage was called off. In season 2, Carol's flame was Shep, a paramedic; things were going well, until Raul, Sheps partner died, and Shep fell apart. Soon Carol and Shep broke up. Carol was suspended from her job for a while for having given the wrong blood type to a patient who subsequently died. For a while in season 3, she entertained the idea of going to medical school, took the MCAT, scored quite high, but decided to remain a nurse. In season 4, Doug and Carol resumed their relationship, and Doug even proposed to her; initially, Carol accepte, but later on told Doug that she wanted to take things at her own pace.
Jeanie Boulet (Gloria Reuben): Jeanie is a Physicians Attendant. She first came into the series as Benton's mother's physical therapist. She was then married to Al, a construction worker, but had a short-lived affair with Peter Benton. At the end of season 2, we learned that she had become infected with the HIV virus from her husband, who had been promiscuous; Jeanie advised Benton to get tested for HIV. In the first episode of season 3, we learned that Benton had tested negative, but that he wanted nothing more to do with Jeanie, who joined the ER as a Physicians Attendant. In season 4, Jeanie was fired by Carol because of budget cuts, but fought back because she thought that she was being let go because of her HIV+ status. She won her job back. Jeanie also got back briefly with her ex husband Al, but he had to leave town because he couldn't get a construction job in Chicago where everyone in the business knew that he was HIV+. Jeanie also took personal care of, and became very close to Dr. Anspaugh's son, Scott, who had leukemia. However, Scott lost his battle against the disease and passed away toward the end of season 4.
A Few Good ER Links
The Official NBC "ER" Site: A good, basic official site. Includes decent biographies of the cast. The Alt.TV.ER.Page: A wealth of information on ER, presented with great humor by Rose "BamBam" Cooper. One can't possibly look at everything on that page in one visit... ER: Must See TV: An excellent fan site, extremely thorough and well-organized. Highly recommended!
