Maybe
2009-03-22 06:25:22 UTC
Post-Mortem: ‘ER’ Is Remembered Fondly
By BILL CARTER
Published: March 19, 2009
IN the long tradition of cultural touchstones forged from ignored or
rejected television scripts, the story of “ER” stands out. “Every
network had passed on it, twice,” John Wells, the show’s original and
longtime executive producer, recalled. “It had all these characters
and medical dialogue, and they found it utterly impossible to
follow.”
15 Years of Blood (Fake), Sweat and Tears (Real) (February 26, 2009)
At the time — the early 1990s — “ER” was labeled a “trunk job,” a
script that had languished in some forgotten slush pile for years. And
indeed it had, somewhere in the dark reaches of Steven Spielberg’s
Amblin Entertainment production company. Written in 1974 by Michael
Crichton, who died last year, the original version of the show
included a scene in which a few doctors, working in a Boston hospital,
were listening to a basketball game with Bill Bradley playing for the
Knicks and Tommy Heinsohn playing for the Celtics.
Then, in 1993, the project attracted new interest when the Warner
Brothers studio, which had gained the rights, began pitching the
series anew, using Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Crichton as inducement. (The
two had just collaborated on the enormously successful “Jurassic
Park.”) After an initial round of rejections, NBC — given the big
names attached — reluctantly agreed to produce a pilot and put it on
the schedule.
In hindsight the early doubters, as they often do, missed a
transitional moment in television history — not to mention a
blockbuster hit. In the mid-1990s “ER” attracted more than 30 million
viewers a week, at its very peak in 1998, 47.8 million. By comparison
today’s most-watched dramas rarely reach 20 million viewers. It was
the most-watched show in television for three seasons, and even now
remains the second-most-watched drama on NBC (after “Law & Order:
SVU”).
The show’s end has been predicted each year for at least the past
three; early this season NBC executives still talked of possibly
renewing it for one more September. But Mr. Wells and Warner Brothers
studio chiefs decided the show should go out while it still held a
respectable audience. The final episode is set for April 2.
This oral history includes many performers who became closely
identified with “ER,” but starts with Mr. Wells, the show’s driving
force from its outset.
In the Beginning
JOHN WELLS George [Clooney] was the first to be cast. I knew him from
seeing him around the lot. Les [Moonves, now the CBS chief executive,
then the head of Warner Brothers studio] had made a cast contingent
deal for a crime show with George, but George showed up in my office
and said he’d heard about our show, and he liked the part better than
the legal show. He had a scene memorized, and he did it, and it was
terrific. I said we’d love to have him. But George had to convince Les
because the other was a lead role and this was a supporting role.
George just told him: I want to do this one. Then as now George was
very aggressive and very smart about managing his career.
ANTHONY EDWARDS I was not getting great roles in movies. But I was
supposed to be directing this children’s movie, so I told John Wells I
probably can’t do it. Then I went home, and my wife and my manager
slapped me around and said this is Crichton and Spielberg. This is a
big deal.
MR. WELLS Julianna Margulies was just a day player. She agreed to do a
small part because she was leaving town. She left town thinking she
died in the pilot. Eriq La Salle we didn’t cast until three or four
days ahead of the pilot. Noah Wyle was like 13 years old and was
waiting tables. We brought him in because you were always supposed to
bring two choices to the network and we wanted the other guy. But he
kept getting better and better, and then he got the part. A lot of it
was pure luck.<
[snip] For the rest of the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/arts/television/22cart.html
Maybe...pretty interesting
By BILL CARTER
Published: March 19, 2009
IN the long tradition of cultural touchstones forged from ignored or
rejected television scripts, the story of “ER” stands out. “Every
network had passed on it, twice,” John Wells, the show’s original and
longtime executive producer, recalled. “It had all these characters
and medical dialogue, and they found it utterly impossible to
follow.”
15 Years of Blood (Fake), Sweat and Tears (Real) (February 26, 2009)
At the time — the early 1990s — “ER” was labeled a “trunk job,” a
script that had languished in some forgotten slush pile for years. And
indeed it had, somewhere in the dark reaches of Steven Spielberg’s
Amblin Entertainment production company. Written in 1974 by Michael
Crichton, who died last year, the original version of the show
included a scene in which a few doctors, working in a Boston hospital,
were listening to a basketball game with Bill Bradley playing for the
Knicks and Tommy Heinsohn playing for the Celtics.
Then, in 1993, the project attracted new interest when the Warner
Brothers studio, which had gained the rights, began pitching the
series anew, using Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Crichton as inducement. (The
two had just collaborated on the enormously successful “Jurassic
Park.”) After an initial round of rejections, NBC — given the big
names attached — reluctantly agreed to produce a pilot and put it on
the schedule.
In hindsight the early doubters, as they often do, missed a
transitional moment in television history — not to mention a
blockbuster hit. In the mid-1990s “ER” attracted more than 30 million
viewers a week, at its very peak in 1998, 47.8 million. By comparison
today’s most-watched dramas rarely reach 20 million viewers. It was
the most-watched show in television for three seasons, and even now
remains the second-most-watched drama on NBC (after “Law & Order:
SVU”).
The show’s end has been predicted each year for at least the past
three; early this season NBC executives still talked of possibly
renewing it for one more September. But Mr. Wells and Warner Brothers
studio chiefs decided the show should go out while it still held a
respectable audience. The final episode is set for April 2.
This oral history includes many performers who became closely
identified with “ER,” but starts with Mr. Wells, the show’s driving
force from its outset.
In the Beginning
JOHN WELLS George [Clooney] was the first to be cast. I knew him from
seeing him around the lot. Les [Moonves, now the CBS chief executive,
then the head of Warner Brothers studio] had made a cast contingent
deal for a crime show with George, but George showed up in my office
and said he’d heard about our show, and he liked the part better than
the legal show. He had a scene memorized, and he did it, and it was
terrific. I said we’d love to have him. But George had to convince Les
because the other was a lead role and this was a supporting role.
George just told him: I want to do this one. Then as now George was
very aggressive and very smart about managing his career.
ANTHONY EDWARDS I was not getting great roles in movies. But I was
supposed to be directing this children’s movie, so I told John Wells I
probably can’t do it. Then I went home, and my wife and my manager
slapped me around and said this is Crichton and Spielberg. This is a
big deal.
MR. WELLS Julianna Margulies was just a day player. She agreed to do a
small part because she was leaving town. She left town thinking she
died in the pilot. Eriq La Salle we didn’t cast until three or four
days ahead of the pilot. Noah Wyle was like 13 years old and was
waiting tables. We brought him in because you were always supposed to
bring two choices to the network and we wanted the other guy. But he
kept getting better and better, and then he got the part. A lot of it
was pure luck.<
[snip] For the rest of the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/arts/television/22cart.html
Maybe...pretty interesting