Questions and Discussion on Season 15, non episode specific...

I'm excited that we are going to get more ER. Anyone know if Maura will finish out the run?

No specifics have been released on the season or contract signings as of yet. I only started the thread since filming was mentioned in a Season 14 blurb.

JD/Forum Moderator

From Marcy Sue at Bleu Profond 2

The new issue of TVGuide (March 17-23, 2008 with the American Idol 12 on the cover) has the speculation of one more season of ER as it's number 8 story of the week. Here's the text of the story:

One More Season for ER?
It sure looks that way. Though the deal's not yet signed, exec producer David Zabel is making plans for a 15th year with "new characters coming in as interns and medical students." But it won't be all fresh faces. The departing Goran Visnjic (Luka) will be back to wrap up his story with Maura Tierney (Abby). "It's not a traditional exit," Zabel says. "They're not walking off into the sunset, nor is it tragic." A four-episode visit from Noah Wyle's Carter will also be pushed to next season, though he may show up one time this spring. But all the good stuff won't be held. Look for a dashing new doc when the NBC show returns April 10th. "You'd have to go back to [George] Clooney to get close to this kind of character," Zabel teases.

There are two old pictures used. One promotional still of Luka and Abby from "Coming Home" with a caption that reads "Audiences will be intrigued" by Abby and Luka's story, Zabel says. And one of Noah Wyle with a caption that reads 'Wyle's return was delayed due to the writers' strike.'

Another season? That will be great! I don't think it would have been good for ER to end when a strike forced a shorter season. I think Luka and Abby will end up being friends which is how they always seemed to me.

From EW.com
http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/03/will-clooney-an.html

George Clooney, Julianna Margulies coming back to 'ER?'

Mar 12, 2008, 06:29 AM | by Lynette Rice

We might just have the writers' strike to thank for bringing George Clooney back to the ER! Yep, you read that right; NBC, facing a shortened development season brought on by the 100-day labor dispute, is in the final stages of renewing ER for a 15th season next fall. The reprieve has prompted executive producers John Wells and David Zabel to make ambitious plans for what (finally) appears to be the drama's last season. "We want to revisit characters that have existed on the show over the years and say where they are now," says Zabel of stars like Clooney (Doug) and Julianna Margulies (Carol). "We'd love to get them all back in some way, but that doesn't mean we're going to. But we're gonna try."

He's already guaranteed a visit by at least one alumnus: Noah Wyle will reprise his role as Dr. Carter for four episodes next season. Maura Tierney (Abby) and Goran Visnjic (Kovac) are also expected to make a return engagement. "The toughest will be getting Tony Edwards because his character is dead," says Zabel, laughing. That's a little tricky, but there are ways to do it that we've thought about. Even if it were like a lost episode from 1996 featuring him and Wyle."

In the meantime, Zabel will keep the ER buzzing for the remaining six outings this season by bringing on Aida Turturro (The Sopranos) for a three-week stint as a patient and adding a hot new doc (possibly an unknown actor from Australia) who's supposed to make Dr. Gates (John Stamos) look like a plain white-coat. "He'll be a sexy rake, a devil you can't resist," explains Zabel, adding, "A dynamic new character has the ability to motivate everybody, though it's easy to get excited about next season considering it will be the last."

Nothing about Shane West...it's sad

man i really hope that doesn't happen! They just got married and it took a lot to get them there. That would make many fans unhappy.

You know as much I like the old characters from the show being next season will be the last, why can't the writers just focus on wrapping up the existing storylines (luka/abby, ray/neela, pratt)? I also don't care about this new doc either. Sorry for the rant.

Peace,
Sem1973

you're very right Sem1973"

A new guy? Another Jerk? No, thanks.
I only the old characters...I want Ray Barnett come back with or without legs...his storyline is not finished!
I hope Shane come back with great and big scripts...

From tvsquad:

http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/03/17/update-g...eturning-to-er/


Update: George Clooney is NOT returning to ER

Posted Mar 17th 2008 3:41PM by Bob Sassone

Filed under: ER, Celebrities

OK, we can put all of those "George Clooney is going to make a cameo appearance on ER next season!" rumors. You know, the rumors I helped fuel last week.

Clooney himself tells Extra that he is not going to make an appearance on the show. He says that not only would they not ask him to appear on the show, there would be no reason to do it.

Well, OK, if he doesn't want to appear on the show, that's one thing. But I think he's crazy if he thinks the producers of ER or NBC wouldn't want to see him on the show one more time. Can you imagine the ratings for that episode? And I also have to take issue with his statement that there would be no reason to do it. I think finding out what's going on with Doug (and Carol) would be of immense interest to longtime fans of the show.

Then again, maybe it's better that he doesn't appear on the show. Knowing ER, they would have him be a patient in the er and kill him off dramatically. And if Clooney isn't going to appear on the show I don't want Juliana Marguiles to appear either. Nothing against her, it's just that if they have Carol appear without Doug, then they'd have to come up with some story about why he's not with her, such as divorce or death, and we don't want that to happen. It's better if we just remember them living happily ever after some place.

lol, I was just actually going to post this video I found of a recent interview with George Clooney about ER http://celebrities.ninemsn.com.au/video.as...amp;_cobr=optus

But I see it doesn't really even need to be posted (:

I cant see the video

Dr.Chen should come back to the ER haha

watched old episodes?

hahaha yeah. On TNT

From: NBC Universal Media Village

NEW YORK - April 2, 2008 -- NBC announced that it will pick up the classic and Emmy Award-winning medical drama "ER" (Thursdays, 10-11 p.m. ET) for a 15th and final season. The announcement was made today by Ben Silverman, Co-Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios.

"'ER' is one of the greatest shows of all time and we can't wait to deliver to the audience the fantastic stories the series is known for," said Silverman. "We will introduce new characters to the great ensemble."

Currently in its 14th season, "ER" has averaged a 3.8 rating, 10 share in adults 18-49 and 9.5 million viewers, keeping NBC in a virtual tie for the Thursday 10 p.m. lead in 18-49 despite big lead-in advantages for the time period's ABC and CBS competition from "Grey's Anatomy" and "CSI" respectively. "ER" is the #3 series on the NBC primetime schedule this season among women 18-49 and the network's #2 series among women 25-54.

Combining the extraordinary talents of multiple award-winning producer John Wells ("The West Wing" "Third Watch"), best-selling author Michael Crichton ("Jurassic Park") and the creative team at Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television, the venerated series "ER" explores the inner workings of an urban teaching hospital and the critical issues faced by the dedicated physicians and staff of its overburdened emergency room. Currently concluding its 14th season, the highly acclaimed drama series now holds the distinction of being recognized as the most Emmy-nominated series in the history of television with 120 nominations. Crichton and Wells serve as executive producers, along with Christopher Chulack, David Zabel, Joe Sachs and Janine Sherman Barrois.

A winner of the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award, the series has also earned 22 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series in 1996, among the many accolades. In addition, the cast has been honored with four Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Ensemble Performance in a Drama Series.

The long-running series stars Maura Tierney ("Semi-Pro," "Welcome to Mooseport"), Mekhi Phifer ("Dawn of the Dead," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "8 Mile," "Slow Burn"), Parminder Nagra ("Ella Enchanted," "Bend It Like Beckham"), Linda Cardellini ("Brokeback Mountain," "Scooby-Doo" movies, "Grandma's Boy," "Freaks and Geeks"), Scott Grimes ("Band of Brothers," "American Dad," "Party of Five," "Mystery, Alaska") and John Stamos ("A Raisin in the Sun," "Jake in Progress").

On staff at County General Hospital are Abby Lockhart (Tierney), a recovering alcoholic trying her best to juggle a demanding residency and motherhood while everything around her seems to be falling apart; Dr. Greg Pratt (Phifer), an attending fighting for the chief spot on the floor as well as for a firm grasp on his love-life; Neela Rasgotra (Nagra), a skilled surgical resident committed to growing in her craft as well as in her place on the surgical team; Sam Taggart (Cardellini), a spirited emergency room nurse who is finally getting some time to explore life and love both in and outside the hospital; Dr. Archie Morris (Grimes), the quirky-yet-talented attending dedicated to his work but constantly distracted by his own world; and Tony Gates (Stamos), a paramedic-turned-medical-resident who has overcome numerous obstacles to take on the rigorous challenges of life in the ER.

Yeah! One more year!

From USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/ne...al-season_N.htm

NBC veteran 'ER' will end its run next year



Early goodbyes: Maura Tierney and Goran Visnjic won't stay to the end.

By Gary Levin, USA TODAY

NBC will make one last set of rounds at County General for a 15th and final season of ER, but not all the doctors will be around for rotations.
Maura Tierney (Abby Lockhart) will exit after a few episodes, and Goran Visnjic (who plays Lockhart's love, Luka Kovac) also will leave the show early next season for Abby's exit.

Mekhi Phifer has not yet signed a new contract, although castmates John Stamos, Parminder Nagra and Linda Cardellini will be back.

Looking ahead to the finale, executive producer John Wells would like some former cast members to come back and say goodbye. But apart from Noah Wyle, whose contract calls for him to return for four more episodes, he hasn't made any overtures.

"I kind of miss all my friends," Wells says of George Clooney, Julianna Margulies and the rest. "It's impossible to approach people and say, 'Hey, would you feel like it?' without knowing what all these (future) stories are going to be. We'd just like them to be part of closing down what everybody started."

There has been talk that this season would be the show's last as ratings drop but costs climb: The show is NBC's most expensive yet far from its most popular. But while the writers' strike benched the show, it also helped extend it, Wells says.

"We felt there wasn't any way to do the series justice, to conclude it after all these years, when we were going to have to write these (six spring) episodes in three or four weeks."

Now he can plan an ending he had in mind when Anthony Edwards left in ER's eighth season, which he thought might be its last. "It's still pretty much the same idea."

Along with NBC's Law & Order, ER is the longest-running prime-time drama now on TV. After the last patient is treated, it will count 327 episodes.

That's 90 more than Friends, which premiered the same week but called it quits four years ago, and nine years past the funeral for onetime competitor Chicago Hope.

The drama made Clooney a star, peaked at more than 40 million viewers and set a record price tag of $13 million an episode for NBC early in its run.

Though far from those heights, the show's reprieve allows producers to choose how they'll go out. "I didn't want the show to go out creatively with a whimper," Wells says.

"I would like to have people remember us fondly rather than as a guest who won't leave the party."

I am not happy that this is the last season!! And Abby and Luka aren't going to stay to the end? What is that? I am so excited about watching the new season! my phone will be unplugged, and I will be undistractingly glued to the tv. I hope we see Dr. Carter again soon! he was my absolute favorite!

I know, I hope we see Dr.Carter too. He was so nice and cute haha

They talk about everybody...and Shane West ?

I am beginning to be very disappointed with ER

love22 I agree, it's really disappointed.
They never say nothing about Shane West

Have you guys ever considered that maybe TPTB is trying to keep Ray's return secretive? I mean it wouldn't be the first time(remember George Clooney's return?). I know it is easy to see TPTB as the bad guy, but has anyone ever stopped to think that they are doing this for a reason? They don't call it drama for nothing you know.

I hope you right G-unit!

From Monsters and Critics.com: http://smallscreen.monstersandcritics.com/..._and_John_Wells

A Chat with 'ER's' Maura Tierney and John Wells

Accomplished actress and Boston native Maura Tierney, who has played Dr. Abby Lockhart for eight years on "ER" is leaving the series shortly after the show's 15th and final season.

Tierney's Dr. Abby Lockhart first appeared on "ER" back in 2000 and she is the longest-running actor on the series, next to Goran Visnjic, who plays Dr. Luka Kovac.

The actress received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Lockhart in 2001.

The actress received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Lockhart in 2001.

Tierney will miss her castmates when she exits the show. Executive producer and "ER" creator John Wells also agrees with Tierney, and noted the rich cast the show has employed over the years during his interview with Monsters and Critics.

Some of the challenges Wells noted were the constant need for accuracy in medical jargon and technical expertise so the show appears realistic.

"ER" returned with six new episodes that began Thursday, April 10.

Both Wells and Tierney are both grateful to finally be back to work after the lengthy strike, which stunted what was originally expected to be the final season of "ER."

"I felt relieved," says Wells, who walked the picket line in front of Warner Bros. studios in Los Angeles.

Both Maura Tierney and John Wells took time out to speak with Monsters and Critics along with other journalists regarding Tierney's character's swan song performances and the end of ER.

Abby has been through probably more than almost any character in TV - just so many things. What is it you see about this character that you like to come back with her, with the really hard stories? And Maura, how do you see this person overall?

John Wells: You know, I also refer to it as writer Darwinism. Writers write to people who can really act and Maura’s an extraordinarily talented actress. And so you know that whatever you bring to the character she’s going to give you something that’s unexpected and moving, and wonderful.

So Maura has sort of created that for Abby’s character by being so terrific. I know that that sounds like sort of an easy answer with Maura on the phone. But truthfully, like in any business or sport, you go to the person who can really deliver for you and Maura proved, really right from the beginning, that she was never going to take the easiest choice in the scene - always was working hard to try to find something interesting to do with the character which is no small feat over the number of episodes that we do.

And so Abby has gotten a tremendous amount to do because Maura has always been able to deliver sort of an extraordinary performance and character.

Maura, how do you see this person at this point?

Maura Tierney: First of all, I just want to say thank you to John because that was a really nice thing to say. I really appreciate it. And overall, I don’t - I see the character as very human and I just - I sort of feel kind of - the direct kind of - not opposite, but it’s a reflection of what - the writers, I feel like, have taken great care of this character.

I mean, it’s hard for everybody when you’re on a show for a long time to keep it interesting. And I think always Abby was really protected by the writers because, you know, they were always interested in keeping it real.

Everyone matured. And I feel like the characters matured, but like what’s great about being able to play the same character for a long time is - you know, it’s like she sort of advances and learns a little but, but no one’s ever entirely sort of fixed.

Your flaws or your weaknesses don’t entirely go away. And I feel like the writers were able to sort of mature her a little bit. And then you hit a speed bump and then she matures a little bit.

So I think overall it’s just sort of a woman trying her best to grow up.

John Wells: I think the character represents many of the things and has come to represent many of the things that people who work in emergency rooms go through.

it’s a very, very difficult place to work over time - not unlike being in an air traffic control space or something where you’re under tremendous pressure.

And we haven’t actually done anything with the character that didn’t come from real stories - things that we’d heard from nurses and physicians who work in the emergency room.

So while seen in the context of the one character, she’s come to represent a certain type of woman who works and dedicates her life to this career and how they deal with the tremendous pressures of what happens to them on a day-to-day basis.

Maura Tierney: They have the complexity of ones who have a child, too, and being a mother - working woman doing this. So it’s sort of, you know, morphed through all of these things.

John - so many of your projects you incorporate social ills and unrest, and political trends into your storylines. Can you share what we might find in ER this season for the coming episodes?

John Wells: Well, you know, Noah - I mean, just on that issue, Noah Wyle will be returning to the show next year. He and I have always kind of had a long term arrangement about when the show was going to come to an end that his character returns.

So because he has been off working in the volunteer and sort of Doctors Without Borders world for awhile -- his character has been -- I’m sure that’ll come back into it as part of his return.

What he has learned bringing it, you know, bringing it back into the ER. But it’s a little early to kind of figure it out for sure.

I think this next year is going to be very interesting through the political campaign with all the various proposals that are coming forward for healthcare.

This will be our fifteenth season next year and we began, in our first season, in the midst of the Clinton - of the first Clinton healthcare plan.

In fact, when we were lucky enough in that first season to end up on the cover of Newsweek, the headline was a healthcare plan that really works.

It’s interesting that even though we’ve been on for 15 years, we are in exactly the same place with the exact same concerns in the healthcare system as we had 15 years ago.

So I think we’ll be addressing the various proposals that come up and how those are practically - you know, how they’re going to be practically effective in the workplace, you know, for emergency room medicine and also just for medicine as a whole.

The system remains sort of tragically under funded and with tremendous problems, and I’m sure we’ll deal with all those issues - continue to deal with all those issues.

Maura, you had a small role in the film Diggers – will you ever develop a series or a play, or anything that would involve some of the rich characters that are in the North, South Shore of Boston?

Maura Tierney: I wouldn’t probably do that because I grew up in Boston Proper. But, you know, my father was a politician and there’s a lot of rich characters in that world. He was on the Boston City Council for 15 years.

That’s something that always interested me. And, you know, Boston is such a crazy political city. So I’d probably - if I were to do something like that, gravitate more towards something like that than Diggers which I also - I love that movie.

After Abby’s many twists and trials, what does she current want from her life from Luka? And what would you like to see happen?

Maura Tierney: Well right now where we’re at in the show, because of the trials and tribulations, I think Abby just wants everything to be okay. She made a lot of mistakes and it’s this very sort of delicate moment in her personal life because she’s sort of got her professional life back together.

Right now, what the writers are writing and what the character is struggling with is the kind of consequence of those bad behaviors and the story - the fact that saying I’m sorry doesn’t always make everything better.

So at this point in the show, she’s just sort of hoping that she can get back sort of everything that she had. John?

John Wells: I agree completely, and we’re hoping - we like to send people off whole when they leave this show. And as Maura’s time on the show, sadly is coming to an end, I think we’d like to see that she’s found a little peace in her life.

Maura Tierney: And I’d like Abby to go off physically whole as well.

What support will Abby receive in her staying sober?

John Wells: Well I think for it to work, you know, you have to have your husband and your immediate family available to you and there to support you. And I think, for Luka he was pretending that she was in better shape. The great difficulty -- obviously with anyone who’s struggling with alcoholism -- is accepting that it’s a chronic disease and that it never really does go away.

And you have to remain ever vigilant to the dangers of falling back into drinking. And I think we’ve all be very proud and Maura’s done a wonderful job of performing it.

We’ve all been very proud of that storyline and the way it’s gone over the last year in saying, you know, it - no matter how long you have - you - it’s been since you took your last drink, you’re always an alcoholic and only one drink away.

There’s some talk of Shane West coming back for an episode or two. Can you guys talk about that a little bit?

John Wells: Well, I love Shane and we would love to have him come back for some episodes. What we’re doing now is kind of planning or beginning the planning for the final season which will go on the air next September.

And as part of that, we’ll be contacting really pretty much everybody, seeing who wants to come back and do a little spin.

But he’s not set for like the rest of this season, in particular?

John Wells: No. We haven’t set anybody at this point that I think that you don’t already know about.

And - I’ll be asking people who wants to come back and be part of the last season. And we’ll see who wants to do it and if we have storylines. But I love Shane and I’d love it if we could figure out a way to make that work.

What’s it like for each of you to go to the doctor, in real life?

Maura Tierney: I find that I think I know a lot more than I actually do when I talk to them. But sometimes I do know. I mean, John, you do pick up stuff. It’s not like I think I’m a doctor.

But I do feel like sometimes the information I’m receiving or the language I can use, it’s easier for me to understand stuff.

Yeah. And it’s scary to understand stuff., there’s a lot of those words that they use because you don’t really want to know what it means.

Maura Tierney: It’s true.

John Wells: You know. I mean - yeah, (galapcholi) sounds very, you know, it sound very benign. But it’s actually sort of a miserable thing that you never want to have happen.

The other thing I find that I do is I will try, you know, in my very pretentious way to sound like I know more than I do. And what I will draw from that is somebody speaking to me as if I’m actually a physician.

Then - and so I’ll leave the room having - knowing absolutely nothing about my medical condition because I’m too embarrassed to say well I just threw in a couple of words to try and sound smart, but now I have no idea what the hell you just said.

Maura, is there anything prop wise from the set that you would take as a memento from the show?

Maura Tierney: I will not be taking my scrubs with me.

John Wells: That’s her Christmas gift from the show. We’ll give her a bunch of scrubs.

Maura Tierney: I have started to eyeball the set, I’m telling you. That’s so funny you asked that because I’m like, hmm what do I want? And I want to be really specific and careful about what I lift from the set. I’m not over them. I just - I want something a little more iconic.

Do you reflect on the time span of the series you created?

John Wells: I think, like what often happens when you get involved in success and particular one that kind of enters that public zeitgeist thing that the show did at the beginning is it has very little bearing on what you’re doing day-to-day.

We were working very hard, trying to make the show, trying to make it as compelling as we could. And we didn’t really have a lot of time to worry about, you know, what Chicago Hope was doing or not doing or would we success or not succeed.

Or you’re just really trying to survive at the beginning of a television series. And then right around the time of the end of the first season, we were kind of getting these forty shares and it all took off for the cast, in particular who, you know, could - went from kind of traveling in coach to being unable to walk through the airport without our providing them with security.

It sort of sunk in that this was going to be a bit of a ride. But we’ve really, you know, tried to stay focused on just making the show good and not pay too much attention to what I always sort of refer to as the world at the end of the telephone which has now kind of turned into the world at the end of the keyboard.

And to just try and do a show that we were still proud of, and working with actors who we think are talented and want to do more work with, and trying to do stories about what’s really going on in the workplace.
I think one of the things that really hasn’t been discussed much about the show is that the thing that allowed it, I think, to continue as our cast members oftentimes moved on was that it’s really about a workplace and a workplace that’s not dissimilar from a lot of other people’s workplaces where it’s very pressured.

You have very close friends. Your work family becomes as close to you as your own family even though you’d never really admit that at home. And I think that’s what people connected with over a long period of time.

I’ve been very proud of that - of the way in which we’ve been able to talk about issues that we thought were important and show the fallibility of the people that work there, and yet still admire them for the work that they do, you know.

Maura, did you have any idea that this would turn into such a long term thing when you came aboard?

Maura Tierney: No, I didn’t. But it just - I didn’t, but then it worked out that it was like such a great job. And the show kept going on, and they kept wanting me to stay there. So, you know, it was really a very, very fortunate thing for me.

John Wells: We got her at a weak moment, too. She was coming off of News Radio…And we grabbed her up.

Maura Tierney: Also another workplace show.

Did either of you all ever get any negative feedback from nurses - any grief from them when Abby made the leap from nurse to doctor?

Maura Tierney: Well I feel like it was much too (much) with you guys, that the writers sort of - they - I think the writers were really careful -- if recall correctly in the storyline -- about my character having these specific thoughts about - they wanted to make sure it was not portrayed as a promotion because it’s two different jobs.

So I feel like when we did - when the character made the transition, that was addressed in terms of what my character had to say and how it was perceived with the other nurses in the cast - that it wasn’t like you getting a better job.

It was like getting a different job because nurses are so vital. And it is a different job. Am I right, John?

John Wells: Yeah. And we tried, we have a number of physicians who have worked on the show with us, either as - on the set as our technical advisors - full time technical advisors or on staff.

And they were all very sensitive to that because emergency rooms really run off the nurses and the - not just the nurses but also the physician’s assistants, the nurse practitioners, the respiratory therapists do a tremendous amount of it because the way in which the emergency rooms are set up, the doctors have very little time - individual time to spend with patients.

And so we’ve tried to be very sensitive to that from the beginning. We - the only time we heard a lot about it actually was the first time we did something about it with Hathaway -- with Julianna Margulies’ character -- it was probably in Season 3 or 4 where someone actually confronted her in what we intended to be a scene in which showed the ignorance of the other person but which people in the nursing profession were offended by and which somebody said you’re too smart to be a nurse.
And it was meant to be - you were not to like that character, but we got a lot of mail.

Very much a sore subject. But when you talk to doctors that’s not the way they feel about the nurses, you know, and particularly in emergency room medicine where they’re so over-taxed and the nurses are basically providing all the primary care and the doctors or flying in and out of the rooms.
So we’ve tried to be very careful about that.

Has your involvement in the show all these years made you more hands-on, more involved, more proactive about your own healthcare?

John Wells: Maybe more paranoid about my own healthcare.

Maura Tierney: That’s what I was going to say.

John Wells: And I manage to terrify the members of my family, too with my half-baked information about things like people will say something - oh, you got to get that checked out. That could be lymphoma, you know.

And so people freak out. I mean, you know more and you’re concerned more. I think the thing that I have come to know from doing it and spending so much time around physicians and nurses, and ER personnel, and administrators is I think we have a tendency to think of doctors as scientists.

While what they do is based on science, it’s really an art and a very difficult art. And people make mistakes, not because they’re incompetent but because they are - there are many, many possible solutions to every problem that confronts them.
They get it right a lot more often than they get it wrong. But it is a - it really is an art. It’s not a science.

Can you comment on the strike and how it affected you?

John Wells: You know, it’s very odd. at the beginning of the strike we were positioned at the main entrance to Warner Brothers so everybody was driving past us and you’re out there walking around with a sign and eating pizza.

And then when things really ground to a halt by Christmastime and there were a couple more months where nothing was going on, you know, for me it is missing the people that you work with.
it was very important things that we were striking over. But at the same time, I realized how much I actually just missed my work and the people that I get to work with.

Maura Tierney: Me, too. I really did feel that way. It was very odd to not be working. It’s a little shock to the system, especially after, you know, being there - you’re there so many hours, so many days.

In comparison to the popular medical shows like House and Grey’s Anatomy on the air, how does that force ER to continually evolve?

John Wells: It hasn’t really - not because I don’t admire the shows, but I don’t really watch them. And I have friends who work on all of them. It’s a little difficult. They’ll call me up and say hey, can you watch my - this episode or that episode I’ve written or that I’ve directed, or I’m acting in.

But there aren’t that many different medical stories and so, you know, we’re always just looking for different ways to do them. And so I try to not be influenced by having seen something where I would say oh they just did that or they just did this.

So we actually haven’t watched them. I was surprised at how long it took for another successful medical series to show up.
we were really sort of at the end of our eleventh season, you know, before Grey’s Anatomy moved in to do well. I’m most happy for them and then House roughly about the same time. I don’t remember exactly.

So we had the world to ourselves for a long time and it was inevitable that someone else would do it well or, you know, find other variations on the kind of thing that we were doing because we were - when we started, we were finding variations on things other people had done before us.

It certainly has made a difference in the audience. You know, the audience finds new things. That’s the nature of anything that you do in the popular culture.

And, you know, and I think ultimately if you can say that anything hastened the end of a 15-year series, the success of the other shows have reduced our audience and we want to be able to go out while we’re still doing well and still proud of what we’re doing.
So that’s why we’re thinking that this coming season will be our last year.

Maura, are you going to stay away from that genre for awhile after ER is over for you?

Maura Tierney: I’m going to stay away from that genre for awhile. I mean, not because - just like even when I finished News Radio, I didn’t want to do another half hour sitcom right away.

I felt like I would never do one that was so much fun or better because I loved that show. And I feel the same way about this one. I can’t imagine doing something that’s more fun for me or as challenging, or as interesting in this genre than this has been.

So probably not.

Why call it quits now? You’re just three shy of Law & Order’s record on the air.

John Wells: Well first let me say thank you for thinking that we’re - that the show has been creatively rejuvenated. I appreciate it. It’s a personnel issue, honestly. We have - one of the reasons it’s been rejuvenated is we have a very strong writing staff led by David Zabel right now.

And in my conversations with David, and kind of talking about how much longer he wanted to be committed to the show, he was - he’s thinking about you know, it’s time for him to move on in his career.

Another aspect of that is Goran having said that he was prepared to move on and Maura, and other people in the cast beginning to come to the end of the period of time that they wanted to do with it.
I felt -, I wanted to make sure we were going out still very strong rather than waiting until we had stayed too long at the party. And so I felt strongly that we still had a very good show with a wonderful cast and that it was - and I wanted to be able to do it right.

I’ve been involved in a couple of (constant) series where we kind of just got to the end of a season and, the network had let us know that we weren’t going to be able to continue and I didn’t get to wrap it up the way that we had wanted to or that we would have if we’d knew in advance.

I think for all of you who watch a lot of television and report on it, and review it, and critique it, there are many, many frustrations that we’ve had in the past of not being able to properly end series. I just thought for a show that had been this successful, on for this long, that I wanted to really have the opportunity to write it correctly on its way out.

There’s been talk that Anthony Edwards might return, possibly in a dream sequence. Obviously, Noah Wyle is the only one you’ve been able to confirm. Is that - is it just talk at this stage?

John Wells: I haven’t talked to Tony in awhile. He did a wonderful thing last year. He and his family took off - he’s got a bunch of kids, he and Jeanine.

And they went around the world for a year with a tutor and I haven’t talked to him since he got back. So I’m not quite sure where that rumor came from. I haven’t really thought about it.

We sit down and - right around Memorial Day, the whole writing staff. It’s a terrible time. We go to Hawaii and sit around…and figure out what we want to do for the next year. And so over the summertime, I’ll start contacting people once we have an idea. People aren’t going to come back unless - and some people may not come back at all under any circumstances.

But they’re certainly going to want to know if we’re asking them to come back, what it is we’re asking them to do and what would they get to play.

And we haven’t figured that out yet, so I really haven’t been contacting anybody.

NBC is saying 19 episodes.

John Wells: Well they have told us 19 air dates…which is what the confusion is. They would like us to end the final week in February sweeps because…as everyone knows, the second quarter which is, the May sweeps have gotten increasingly weak over the last few years.

I think they would like us -- for sales purposes -- to finish in February. And whether they end up asking us to do a one-hour or a two-hour, I’ve just told them that by kind of - before Thanksgiving, you know, November 15 something like that - we need to know so we can plan adequately.

Can you talk about past stars returning to ER?

John Wells: Well, I would doubt - I love George (Clooney). He’s a friend of mine. I would doubt very much that he would come back to the show. I know that’s the first question that everybody always asks.

We’ll sit down and try and come up with stories that would be appealing to the actors and then see if they have some interest in coming back and doing it.

Why do you doubt he would be interested in doing that?

John Wells: You know, he’s - I - a couple other things have come up in his life. He’s doing this and that.
He’s doing this and that. I think that it can be difficult for people who have been away from a character for a very long time to come back and actually kind of put the cloak of that character back on.

And so, some people are more excited about doing it because they were ready to come back and sort of felt maybe they had something else to say about the character or looked forward to that opportunity.

For other people, as they left it was very emotional to leave and difficult to leave, and they kind of wanted to be - they were ready to go. And so I can’t speak for them yet or know whether or not they’ll be interested or not.

I would hope that at the very least we could kind of get everybody together to talk about the experience of the show. You know, I mean I don’t know whether NBC -- well I assume they will -- want us to do things like the Today Show, same as they did for Friends. And I suspect that people will be very up for doing that. Actually putting the scrubs back on when, you know, it’s a little spooky, you know, if you’ve been out of something for a long time and there would be a lot of expectation for you to do it well.

To actually step back in a role that you haven’t played for eight or nine years, you know, the ability to get back into that character and into that performance -- particularly for some of the people -- may be very difficult.

So I can’t really speak for them, I know that they’ll want to hear - because I know them all well and they all are - have a tremendous amount of integrity about their work and pride in what they do, that they will want me to be able to tell them exactly what it is the story would be.

There’s no point calling until I know what the story might be and see if it’s something that interests them.

Is there anybody else that you know who you think would be up for it or would tend to be more excited about it?

John Wells: No. because again, I haven’t really talked to anybody and I don’t, you know, some of the people I’ve lost contact with on sort of a regular basis. Some of the people I talk to regularly.

I had somebody put together the whole list of everybody who had been a regular who was still alive as a character.

And looked through it and we will sit down at the end of May and actually start trying to figure out some stories that might be interesting for some of the characters that tie into our existing characters. We don’t want to just do kind of a - something where people are sort of dropping in like parachuting into the show just for promotional purposes.

We want to make sure they’d be real - there would be real stories to do.
And I was kind of amazed at some of the people I’d kind of forgotten who were around on the show at the beginning - not forgotten exactly, but I did major guest stars and things who have gone on to other things -- Kirsten Dunst and Maria Bello.
And, there were a lot of people who have gone on to do other things that are pretty extraordinary.

I tell you, and this is just me because I come out of the theater -- the thing I am most frightened of is my office is right beside the stage where we’ve shot all these years. I know that, in a year from now there’ll be a moment which I walk onto the completely empty stage and see somebody putting up a pilot for something else.
That’ll be a difficult and emotional moment for me, I think.

Maura, first of all, how many episodes are you on next season? And secondly, will fans of Luka and Abby need to pull out their tissues or will we be a little happy at the resolution of that relationship?

Maura Tierney: Fans of Luka and Abby always should have their tissues close by. And I’m not exactly sure how many episodes I’m going to be doing next season because it’s - in terms of scheduling and just - I don’t know.
They - it has not been worked out yet.

John Wells: And it’s a little complicated just so that you know that we’re not trying to be coy about it. With the writers’ strike ending, you know, there were - we were unable to produce as many shows as we were supposed to this year.
So part of it is trying to kind of figure out all right, you know, what are we still obligated for everybody and what does NBC want us to do. And everybody in all these shows are trying to figure that out.

It’s kind of a mess really.

Maura Tierney: Yeah, it’s like - and everyone is working triple time to sort of compensate for the time we lost. So it’s a little confusing.

John Wells: It’ll be at the beginning of the season at some point, In the first episodes, whether that’s one - Episode 4 or Episode 3, we’re not quite sure - or Episode 5. We’re trying to kind of figure it out.

You mean when the relationship is resolved and when the characters leave?

John Wells: Yes.

Maura Tierney: We are going to make you cry so hard.

John Wells: Come on, admit it. You’d be a little disappointed if you weren’t crying at all.

Maura Tierney: And they might be tears of joy. That’s good. Whatever it is. I mean, that’s what’s great about having the ability to work with another actor for so many years, because it’s such a great relationship that we have as humans and the characters have.

So there’s a lot for the writers to work with. So I don’t even know exactly what it’s going to be, but I’m excited.

Well that means that Goran will be back for at least several episodes next season, right?

John Wells: Can’t tell you.

It does sound like he’ll be back, clearly, there’s been some rumors about a spin-off of ER. Is there anything - are you thinking in those terms at all?

John Wells: No. I get these rumors too and if, during the course of next season, we thought that was a good idea, that we all got excited about and there were actors who wanted to do it, we might consider it.

Again, Michael Crichton and I have never really wanted to dilute the series itself. And there’s always been a lot of pressure to spin-off something from ER, and we’ve always resisted it.

And it’s just sort of a personal choice. I believe that spinning - and of course, it doesn’t apply now that we’re in - heading into Season 15.

But I’ve always felt spinning things off somehow diminished the - sort of the original show.

So the John Stamos rumor was not true, that he turned down a spin-off?

John Wells: It may have been a spin-off from Full House, but, you know, it wasn’t from ER. I’m not trying to be coy about it. It’s just that we weren’t able to work during the strike. We came back. We had about four weeks to get shows back on the air, which is very tight, and try and get six of them done through - to get us on through May sweeps.

So honestly, we’ve just been running and gunning like crazy to try and get back on like everybody else in town. And we just haven’t been able to kind of do what we normally do which is put a little more time and thought into that.

we will be getting to it and by summertime we’ll be able to answer a lot of those questions. But right now, we’re just trying to survive.

Talk about the hot new doctor in the ER.

John Wells: It is a character that will go into next season. We’re not quite sure how many episodes David will be in next year. We like him very much. David Lyons is his name and he’s a young Australian actor that we’re all excited about - very talented.

And as always, in the - at the end of the season, the beginning of the fall, the new interns and medical students come into the ER, which has again been one of the ways that the series has been able to, I think, stay strong is that the -- excuse me -- the natural storytelling for the show allows us to constantly be introducing new characters.

So yeah, we’ll absolutely be introducing new characters in the fall.

John, have you given any thought at all yet to how you want to end the series?

John Wells: The reason - when Noah was saying he was done or getting ready to go, he and I sat down and I told him then what I had kind of hoped for the end of the series which is an idea that I started to kick around when Anthony Edwards was leaving.

I had that feeling in Year 8 that George having been gone, Julianna having been gone, Eriq leaving earlier that year, Sherry already gone and now Anthony leaving - that we would be - we’d kind of quickly wind down.

So I talked to Noah at that time sort of roughly about an idea I had for the end of the series. And then when he was choosing to leave, when obviously we had such a wonderful new infusion of talent with Maura and Goran and others who had joined us at that point, the - that same idea is one that he and I have continued to talk about and so that’s why he committed to coming back and doing four episodes at whatever point the series ended.

The final episode and the final images I kind of have in my head. But what will lead us up to that is anybody’s guess.

Any signature ER moment over the course of next year?

John Wells: I’m sure we will just because they’re fun to do and the audience likes them. But also the cast and the shooting company likes them because it’s a challenge to figure out how we’re going to actually do something.

We’re doing something very big at the end of this season. And we’re hoping to be able, in the next few days, to announce some guest casting that we’re excited about that’s involved in that.

I’m sure we’ll do it next year. We just haven’t quite figured out what. But I don’t think there’ll be an earthquake or anything that happens at the hospital in Chicago…at the end of the season.

What has made careers working in this industry rewarding for you both?

John Wells: I grew up in Arapahoe County, Colorado and I was just so happy not to be roofing houses anymore. And that’s absolutely the truth. I never thought - I mean, in my deepest, darkest hopes, I hoped that I would be able to make a living somewhere in dinner theater or regional theater, doing something where I just got to be around the actors and the designers, and writers and directors and people that I so admired and loved.

So honestly, what’s been rewarding about it is, that extraordinary chance that some of us get to actually do what we love and to make a living at it when you come from someplace where it seems like an impossible dream to be able to do that.

I know that sounds a little hokey and Pollyanna-ish, but that’s the absolute truth for me.

Maura Tierney: I don’t think it sounds hokey at all. I agree 100%. I think the same thing. It’s sort of like that it’s the feeling of being able to do what you love and also on something that is an extremely, you know, the quality of the work, I think, is very high.

And so it’s like to be able to have such a great time all day and be challenged, and put out I think a really good show is like beyond sort of all the expectations I had.

Going back to David Lyons, who is going to be his biggest adversary on the show? Who will he begin having scenes with?

John Wells: We’ve just started, but everybody. His character is meant to be a conflict character who is sort of banging heads with everybody that he runs into. Then…he - I used to work with a casting director who said God doesn’t give with both hands, but I think in this case he does. He’s a very attractive, handsome, appealing guy and also a really talented actor.

So we were - we’re lucky to have him.

Any specific episodes or scenes that you would say were your favorite to work on and to act in?

John Wells: Well I loved -- because it was about my - some of my personal history that I won’t elaborate on too much more than that -- the scenes that Maura did with Sally about bipolar disease were very important to me.

And that whole storyline was very important to me. And then I was very proud of what we did with Noah, with the John Carter character - in his first trips to Africa.

They were not particularly well received by the audience. A lot of people didn’t watch them or tuned them out because the subject matter is very difficult.

But I felt it was very important to be doing and I was very proud of the work that we did about it, and being some of the, you know, first shows in a, you know, in a very popular medium. Not trying to make people eat their vegetables, but to be able to do something that dramatized some of the things that were happening the Congo and then later in the Sudan on a broad based network entertainment show - I was proud of and remain very proud of.

And Maura, do you have a favorite episode that you were in?

Maura Tierney: Yeah, well I agree with - my work - the work I did with Sally, to me, is - has been my favorite throughout the whole time. For the - it was just a really, really exciting for me because the material was so great and Sally was so great.
And those are my favorite shows.

Maura, Does or did your role ever affect your mood at all? Do you ever have to go home and watch yourself in Liar, Liar just to kind of balance things out?

Maura Tierney: That’s so funny. The anecdote to my son is watching myself on TV. No. You know, sometimes it’s - you get tired because it’s sort of demanding and you’re a little - it’s a little exhausting to sort of be that emotional all day.

But honestly, you have a lot of fun at work no matter how grim the material may be, and sometimes even when it is especially grim - the more we kind of have to have a sense of humor about it.

So I don’t find that I have to bring it home with me because, you know, we all sort of handle it when we’re there.

The doctors I would like to see back on ER are Chen Weaver and Corday

I wanna see Chen and Corday back on ER too! Also Carter and Dr.Greene, that's probably impossible since he died on the show haha.

From www.tvsquad.com


Maura Tierney wants Abby Lockhart dead, dead, dead
Posted Apr 17th 2008 2:41PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: ER, Celebrities, Reality-Free

[/color][color="#007dc3"]ER has a way of either killing off beloved characters or sending them off in some other unnecessary, ****** way (remember Jeanie just leaving without saying goodbye to anyone because they were too busy?), but now a top star on the show actually wants them to kill off her character.

Maura Tierney tells AOL's TV Tattler that she wants the show to kill Abby. Tierney isn't coming back full time next season (she'll be on a handful of episodes) and she would like to see Abby killed off instead of walking into the sunset with Luka. But breathe easy, Abby fans. Tierney says that the producers have no plans to kill Abby off. I'm not sure why Tierney would want to have her character killed off. I mean, she's not going to be on the show anymore so why tick off fans?

Boy that Maura sure has a warped sense of humor doesn't she? Thanks for the scoop Tiger!

LOL. She must just enjoy the morbid novelty of the idea. I don't think they'd really kill her character off.

I don't think so either. But they're definitely not above torturing the h*ll out of her though!

Well, that's weird, because in the long interview posted above, she says this:



Maybe she means dead, but in-one-piece dead, and not blown-to-bits dead. (sorry,now that was really morbid!)

Im sad its the last season. But I guess you cant keep a show going with bad ratings...

If I had my way they would bring back Benton with Carter (atleast for one episode)and let us know how he faired. I would love to see Ray back and Elizabeth, if they could get Anthony Edwards back for a few shots that would be amazing. But I realized the only character that has been on the whole time is Halae kinda funny, I was worried last season that they were going to get rid of her and that drove me nuts. I have watched this show since it started seen every episode and though it sucks that it's coming to a end I hope they do it right and make it feel good because this show is what lead me into my career as a nurse.

i doubt they will actually "kill abby off", its not how ER works. Correct me if im wrong but the only 4 i can remember dying are Greene, Romano, Gallant, and that Lucy girl that ends up sending Carter to rehab. As to who will come back for the ending, i have no idea, all of them (the ones alive not dead)? ok im dreaming but it would be nice.

From NBC Universal Media Village

NBC ANNOUNCES GOLDEN GLOBE WINNER AND OSCAR-NOMINATED ANGELA BASSETT WILL JOIN THE CAST OF 'ER' FOR 15TH AND FINAL SEASON
Published: April 29, 2008

BURBANK, Calif. -- April 29, 2008 -- NBC announced that Golden Globe winner and Oscar® nominee Angela Bassett will join the cast of NBC's long running show "ER" (Thursdays, 10-11 p.m. ET/PT) in early fall of next season as a tough-as-nails attending physician who is coming back to Chicago after doing tsunami relief work in Indonesia. Her arrival shakes up the ER but her strong exterior hides a troubled past that will slowly be revealed.

"Angela is a wonderfully talented actress who I've long hoped to work with," said executive producer John Wells. "We couldn't be more delighted that she's agreed to join us."

Bassett's talent as an actress and executive producer in both television and film have repeatedly earned her respect and acclaim from peers and fans alike, as she has proved herself to be one of the industry's premier leading ladies.

Bassett could be last seen on the big screen as the leading role in Tyler Perry's "Meet the Browns." Previously, she starred opposite Laurence Fishburne in the critically acclaimed "Akeelah and the Bee" for Lions Gate Films. She also received rave reviews for her work in August Wilson's classic play "Fences" at the prestigious Pasadena Playhouse. Bassett recently wrapped Giancarlo Esposito's "Gospel Hill" and "Nothing But the Truth," starring Kate Beckinsale and David Schwimmer. She will also star as Voletta Wallace, mother of slain rapper, Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace in "Notorious," due out January 2009.

Perhaps best known for her intense portrayal of Tina Turner in the biopic "What's Love Got to Do with It" opposite Fishburne, Bassett earned the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama as well as an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture. She also secured an Academy Award® nomination for her powerful performance.

Bassett has also received NAACP Image Awards for her performance in "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" as well as her supporting roles in "The Score," "Music of the Heart" and "Malcolm X" (opposite Denzel Washington). She was recognized for her leading role in the television movie "Ruby's Bucket of Blood," for which she also received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, bringing her total number of Image Awards to nine. In addition, Basset received NAACP Image Award nominations for her work in the sci-fi feature blockbuster "Contact" and "Boesman and Lena," and an Emmy® nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie for her work in "The Rosa Parks Story."

In addition to these awards and nominations, Basset has portrayed memorable roles in the features "Mr. 3000," "Sunshine State," "Waiting to Exhale," "Strange Days," "Vampire in Brooklyn" and "Supernova." Recently, Bassett could be heard in theaters across the country voicing the character of Mildred in Disney's animated smash hit "Meet the Robinsons," based on the successful children's book of the same name by William Joyce.

NBC renewed "ER" for a 15th and final season in April. Combining the extraordinary talents of multiple award-winning producer John Wells ("The West Wing" "Third Watch"), best-selling author Michael Crichton ("Jurassic Park") and the creative team at Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television, the venerated series "ER" explores the inner workings of an urban teaching hospital and the critical issues faced by the dedicated physicians and staff of its overburdened emergency room. Currently in its 14th season, the highly acclaimed drama series now holds the distinction of being recognized as the most Emmy®-nominated series in the history of television with 120 nominations. Crichton and Wells serve as executive producers, along with Christopher Chulack, David Zabel, Joe Sachs and Janine Sherman Barrois.

A winner of the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award, the series has also earned 22 Emmy® Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series in 1996, among many accolades. In addition, the cast has been honored with four Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Ensemble Performance in a Drama Series.

The long-running series stars Maura Tierney ("Diggers," "Welcome to Mooseport,"), Mekhi Phifer ("Dawn of the Dead," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "8 Mile," "Slow Burn"), Parminder Nagra ("Ella Enchanted," "Bend It Like Beckham"), Linda Cardellini ("Brokeback Mountain, "Scooby-Doo" films, "Grandma's Boy," "Freaks and Geeks"), Scott Grimes ("Band of Brothers," "American Dad," "Party of Five," "Mystery, Alaska") and John Stamos ("A Raisin in the Sun," "Jake in Progress").

On staff at County General Hospital are Abby Lockhart (Tierney), a recovering alcoholic trying her best to juggle a demanding residency and motherhood while everything around her seems to be falling apart; Dr. Greg Pratt (Phifer), an attending fighting for the chief spot on the floor as well as for a firm grasp on his love life; Neela Rasgotra (Nagra), a skilled surgical resident committed to growing in her craft as well as in her place on the surgical team; Sam Taggart (Cardellini), a spirited ER nurse who is finally getting some time to explore life and love both in and outside the hospital; Dr. Archie Morris (Grimes), the quirky-yet-talented attending dedicated to his work but constantly distracted by his own world; and Tony Gates (Stamos), a paramedic-turned-doctor who has overcome numerous obstacles to take on the rigorous challenges of life in the ER.

"ER" is a production of Constant c Productions and Amblin Television in association with Warner Bros. Television.

I wish they'd proofread these things more carefully before they release it; her name is spelled wrong twice! (Sorry if that sounds nit-picky but you can't promote a big star coming to your show and then misspell her name.)

Also, isn't it interesting in that last big paragraph that each character is described by some element of their personal life except for Neela? She's strictly "a skilled surgical resident committed to growing in her craft as well as in her place on the surgical team." Hmm...

Or maybe I'm just grouchy today.

I love Carter with a beard too...glad he is coming back for some episodes. Hope they end up Abby and Luka as happy since they are closing out the show anyway. Both have had enough drama.
So sorry to see the show end. I have been watching for most of the 14 years. Can't believe most emmy nominated show being dropped b/c of money. NBC certainly has enough, and all these silly reality shows won't last 15 years.
Wish they could bring Greene back, but guess that one would have to be as a ghost.

Here is how it would begin:

The episodes leading up to the Series Finale should talk about how County is losing money because of its poor location and building, and needs to close (bear with me). As the episodes progress, Dr. Carter will meet with Dr. Weaver and talk about building a new County General with his grandmother's money. After he is done building it, he should invite all past characters to help with the grand opening.

In the new hospital, each wing will have a unique name, based after a character who died on the show. The OR will be called the Dr. Romano OR; the Oncology wing will be named after Dr. Greene; the ICU after Dr. Lucy Knight; the Hospice (or maybe something else) after Dr. Michael Gallant. Each character will reflect on each passed character as they visit the various wings and think of flashbacks (perhaps newly made ones).

When they cut the red tape to open new County, all supplies and equipment will already be available in the hospital. They will talk about how they need to employ the staff again. Perhaps not long after they open the hospital, a major catastrophe occurs (maybe the old County collapses, or two planes collide). Because the hospital just opened, no one will be at work yet. Since all the past cast members are there, they all decide to work in the new hospital one more time together, wrapping up loose ends.

MUST HAVE CHARACTERS should include the following:
1) Dr. Elizabeth Corday
2) Dr. Kerry Weaver
3) Dr. John Carter
4) Dr. Peter Benton
5) Dr. Abby Lockhart
6) Dr. Greg Pratt
7) Dr. Doug Ross
8) Dr. Susan Lewis
9) Dr. Luka Kovac
10) Dr. Neela Rasgotra
11) Nurse Carol Hathaway
12) Dr. Jing-Mei Chen
13) Dr. Cleo Finch
14) Dr. Anna Del Amico
15) Dr. Dave Malucci
16) Nurse Sam Taggart
17) Dr. Tony Gates
18) Dr. Archie Morris
19) Jeanie Boulet
20) Dr. Ray Barnett
AND of course all minor nurses, paramedics and desk clerks and such who have always been on the show
Pretty much ever good character that has been on the show

GET RID OF CHARACTERS should include the following:1) the new australian guy
2) the chief now, Star something
Pretty much any character that was added to the show for no reason whatsoever and came in as if they were the new "cool" doctor in the ER.

WRAP-UPS should include:
1) Jing-Mei getting back together with Pratt
2) Ray patching things up with Neela
3) Maybe Carter getting together with Abby if Kovac decides to leave her.

At any rate, this episode should at least be two hours long if not a multi-parter. If this last show gets such great fan reception, they could always try for a spin-off or a continuation of the show, signing older characters who want to return to show back on (like Alex Kingston [Dr. Corday]).

New and ESPECIALLY old fans would be extremely pleased with the return of so many of their favorite character and could then remember ER as one of the best dramas ever on TV, rather than a great drama that has been going downhill slowly and should have stopped a while ago.

OK, that's all so far. It doesn't have to happen EXACTLY like this, but it should be something with a similar concept I think.

I agree with you I am not happy the 15th season of ER will be the last season. Look at it this way you can go out and buy the Seasons 1-14 on DVD and watch them over and over again.

From Tulsaworld.com http://www.tulsaworld.com/entertainment/sp...5_TV4_span26420

"ER" remains one of TV's longest running shows



NBC / Brian Bowen Smith
The cast of "ER," from left, Parminder Nagra as Neela Rasgotra, John Stamos as Tony Gates, Mekhi Phifer as Dr. Gregory Pratt, Maura Tierney as Abby Lockhart, Linda Cardellini as Samantha Taggart and Scott Grimes as Dr. Archie Morris.

By MIKE HUGHES Gannett News Service
5/4/2008


When "ER" debuted, the impact was instant.

Ratings soared, critics raved, actors became stars. They "went from traveling in coach to being unable to walk through the airport without ... security," producer John Wells said.

Some people caught every episode; others hesitated. "I remember thinking it was a very dark and sad show," actress Linda Cardellini recalled.

Back then, she was a bubble-faced California teenager, with no reason to obsess on a show that includes death and dismay. Now, 14 years later, she's at the show's core.

She’s 32, with a career that has ranged from "Brokeback Mountain" to "Scooby-Doo." As Sam Taggart, she’s a key part of an "ER" wrapup, with:

– The final two episodes of this season, Thursday and May 15. Wells promises "a bit of a cliffhanger ... big things will blow up."

– The start of next season. In the first few episodes, "ER" says farewell to Abby, played by Maura Tierney.

– The rest. There will be 19 hours next year, 20 if the finale in February runs two hours. That will wrap up a show that once dominated.

It "was this huge sort of phenomenon," Tierney said.

It brings a sense of TV history, she said.

"There are ... random moments when I'm on Stage 11 and go, 'Wow, this is a very big deal." Not as big as it once was.

In its first season (1994-95), "ER" was second only to "Seinfeld" in the Nielsen ratings. In three of the next four years, it was No. 1.

And now? In its first new, post-strike episode, it was an adequate No. 36 out of 116.

It keeps being renewed partly because it draws a gold-plate audience, with high income and education.

This year, there was another reason: "ER" was given one more season, because the strike slowed the development of new shows. That will be the 15th season for "ER," pushing it past "Dallas," "Knots Landing" and "Bonanza" on the all-time list. Among hour-long dramas, only "Gunsmoke" and "Law & Order" have lasted longer.

Part of the longevity comes from the nature of a teaching hospital. "(Each) fall, the new interns and medical students come into the ER," Wells said.

And part is the fact that any workplace show can keep making changes. It can lose a star " even a superstar, in the case of George Clooney" and survive.

Some characters didn't catch on, but a few did powerfully.

In 2000, "ER" added Tierney as Abby Lockhart. She would go from nurse to doctor, while struggling with alcoholism, drugs and a manic-depressive mother. "She sort of advances and learns a little, but no one’s ever entirely sort of fixed," Tierney said.

In 2002, it added Mekhi Phifer as Gregory Pratt. He would become the emergency room’s steady, central force.

And in 2003, it added Cardellini and Parminder Nagra. It was a key youth movement. Three years earlier, Cardellini had played a teenager in "Freaks and Geeks." Now she was a nurse, single and raising a son. "She had a co-dependency with her child," she said.

He had troubles and was sent to boarding school. "You could tell her loneliness, from not having her guy around," Cardellini said.

But there was a flip side. After work, Sam could play.

"It's like having a delayed adolescence," Cardellini said. "She made so many wrong choices but she'sa survivor."

Earlier, she’d had a mismatched affair with Luka Kovak (Goran Visnjic). Lately, she has moved on to Tony Gates (John Stamos).

Meanwhile, Luka linked with Abby, his kindred spirit. They are battered souls, in a show that seems to last forever.

Watching old reruns of ER today and a thought came to me, Mr. Greene's daughter would now be old enough to be a Doctor and that would bring symmetry to ER in the final season?

Keith58,

THAT is an interesting idea! That is one story that would capture my attention.

The info I found interesting is that the final episode will air in February 2009. Sounds like after they return from summer break they will shoot straight through to the end, no breaks. If the first episode airs in September, 19 or 20 episodes would carry ER into Feb '09 if there no major hiatus periods.

Yes, and let's all pray that contracts can be worked out and there is no actor's strike. Television has barely survived the writer's strike. Another strike would REALLY hurt!

Some thoughts on Season 15 ER.
What we know so far. Core Cast. Abbey, Luca and Pratt are definitely gone. So that leaves Sam, Gates, Morris and Neela with support from Dubenko, Frank, Crenshaw, Chuny and Haleh. That leaves a lot of gaps. I really hope they’re not all filled by celebrity guests only.
Things I liked over the last few weeks of season 14. The emphasis on the fact that ‘County’ is a teaching hospital and the attendings taking time to teach and explain. That was one of the things that made ER so good in the beginning.
I, like a lot of others, do not know what to make of the Sam/Gates story but I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. In order to develop their story further, however, it seems inevitable that they reintroduce the kids. I’m not too keen on Alex but I really like Sarah(she’s a great young actress) and I think Gates relationship with her is one of his more attractive qualities. I’d also like to see how she relates to Sam, how Alex relates to Gates and how they relate to each other!
Morris. After seeing what Scott Grimes can deliver dramatically in the episodes ‘Jigsaw’ and ‘Under Pressure’, I only hope we see more of his serious side. He is a wonderful actor. I think there is so much more of this character we have not seen.
Neela. Again, here is someone that there is a lot more we have to learn about. Her family and cultural background has been highlighted but never really dealt with. She appeared to have a very chaste or was that just private relationship with Michael until they married. After his death she latched onto the first ‘new’ man in her life that showed her kindness and went OTT with regard to the speed she plunged into that relationship.
Although everything pointed to the fact that she was in love with Ray, we never found out for sure. She has been left very much on her own and isolated this year. Abbey her usual confidante was not available and there was nobody else to turn to so we have not really seen her open up to anyone.
New cast. Well it looks like ‘surfer dude’ is staying around at least for a while and Angela Bassett is coming in as a new character. Whatever!!
We also know that Carter is definitely coming back but only as a guest for a few episodes toward the end of the series. I, however, would not like to see the ER flooded with old cast members.
The only reason there is a season 15 would seem to be the writers strike so I really hope the series does not fizzle and die. We can only hope that there are some story lines planned for season 14 being deferred to season 15. It would be nice to see Hope pay a return visit, I enjoyed her character and although a little annoying at times, she had a lovely positive energy and it would be nice to see Morris in a relationship again. Poor guy, he, like Neela, has had no significant other all year. Such a hue and cry about Ray and Neela and nothing about Archie and Hope! Yes, bring back Hope.
Yes, I would also like to see Ray return but if so would like to see them really tackle the disability issue and how it has affected him and what choices he is forced to make around his future both immediate and long term. Return to the ER, at the moment? Unrealistic unless he’s superman. So it would be interesting to see him explore other options. And yes, it would be nice to see him and Neela get some sort of closure.

So Pratt's a short timer too. Isn't he supposed to get promoted this week? Hopefully he and Bertina (sp?) will leave together and no harm befalls Pratt (although given what has happened in the last 2 to 3 yrs. on ER I put nothing past the writers).

I am going to put a warning here before anyone responds to the above post...

NO SPOILERS FROM SPOILER SITES are allowed to be posted on this forum, if it doesn't come from an approved media source such as NBC Universal Media Village, TV Guide, E!, or some other legitimate media outlet then it CAN NOT be posted on the forum.

Thank you for you cooperation.
JD/Forum Moderator

From: Associated Press

`ER' starts countdown to series' final flatline
By KINNEY LITTLEFIELD – 1 hour ago

BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — Deep inside Stage 11 on the bustling Warner Bros. lot, a giant of a television show is starting to die.

The medical drama "ER," one of prime time's longest-running series, will expire next February. And "ER's" upcoming 14th season-ender (10 p.m. EDT Thursday) will slide the show one step closer to its demise.

"It just shakes you up a little," says executive producer Christopher Chulak on a break from directing season finale scenes on "ER's" County General Hospital set. "One foot in the grave," jokes "ER" special effects-meister Scott Forbes.

But "ER's" death is more than the end of a once wildly popular TV series. It is the culmination of an era in broadcast television. Created by Michael Crichton, "ER" helped usher in a new age of top-flight TV drama in the early '90s, along with its CBS archrival, "Chicago Hope."

The most Emmy-nominated series ever, with 120 nods and 22 wins, "ER" launched George Clooney's career. And it far outlasted "Hope."

Such history permeates "ER's" set, where Clooney's framed basketball jersey hangs high on a wall, a memento of the mega-star's passion for playing hoops on the studio lot.

Still, despite the scent of finality on Stage 11, executive producer John Wells isn't getting melancholy about "ER's" death sentence — at least not yet.

"It's a great luxury because it means we can plan the ending properly," says Wells, whose drama "Third Watch" was terminated more swiftly in 2005.

In a few weeks Wells and his writing staff will hunker down to map out storylines for "ER's" final season, which will include two new characters played by Angela Bassett and Australian actor David Lyons, and at least one return by a former star.

Although it's unlikely Clooney will do an "ER" cameo next season, Noah Wyle has committed to four episodes as Dr. John Carter. "ER" die-hards watched Carter morph from bumbling medical student in season one to skilled physician working in the genocide zones of Africa by Wyle's last appearance in 2006.

"Carter figures centrally in the way I wanted to end the series, which I'd planned six or seven years ago," Wells says.

"When Tony Edwards was leaving the show at the end of season eight, I thought we would probably come to an end pretty quickly, so I spent time thinking about what the end of the series should be," Wells recalls.

And yes, "Africa will figure prominently in the storyline of Noah's return," Wells says.

Wells also hints he may not be able to resist trying some nostalgic flashbacks for "ER's" last fling.

"But we'd be concerned about doing too much in the way of fantasy sequences because of the way that 'St. Elsewhere' ended," Wells says of the earlier NBC medical series. In 1988, "St. Elsewhere's" finale implied that its entire run had been imagined by an autistic child.

Meanwhile on Stage 11, Chulak and crew are busy turning the imaginings of "ER's" season finale script into a sequence of carefully choreographed emergency room confrontations.

Guest star Steve Buscemi, who plays a drunken patient with a dark past, wanders around looking haggard in hospital gown, frayed robe and slippers.

In the season-ender, Buscemi's character puts the whole emergency room in danger in what Wells calls "literally a big bang" of a cliffhanger that "puts a character you love and care for in jeopardy."

Such scenarios typically foreshadow a character's exit from the show. But by February, "ER's" entire cast will be gone.

"I'll definitely cry," says Linda Cardellini, who has played nurse Sam Taggart for five years.

"I used to love fighting with Robert Romano," Cardellini says of the obnoxious doc played by Paul McCrane from 1997-2003. "One of my first weeks on the show we wrestled against the wall and I ripped off Romano's artificial hand and threw it down the hall. We had fun."

Adds Maura Tierney, "Yeah, I feel sort of unhinged, but in a good way."

Tierney plays medical resident Abby Lockhart, a recovering alcoholic with a rocky marriage to Dr. Luka Kovac (Goran Visnjic). She will appear in only two more episodes next season, and Visnjic may not return at all, or only briefly.

"With me and Goran ... we have this eight-year history, as humans and as characters. But it's sort of time," Tierney says of her upcoming final bow. "And it won't be traumatic. It will be a sweet ending."