Background Information about "ER"

Launched in 1994, “ER” is one of the longest-running series on TV. It has garnered 22 Emmys including Outstanding Drama Series in 1996. Set primarily in a fictitious Chicago teaching hospital’s emergency room, it concentrates on the lives of the medical personnel and their daily challenges such as overcrowding due to local catastrophes, life-and-death decisions that must be made without adequate information, and shortages in staffing. The demands of their personal lives impact their work and vise versa.

Executive Producer John Wells (right front) directing a 1999 episode of “ER.”

The series idea was created by best-selling author Michael Crichton ( Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, State of Fear) and brought to the attention of John Wells who shepherded it through his Warner-based company and on to NBC, where it has been a Thursday night staple. In addition to executive producing, John Wells occasionally writes and directs episodes. The ensemble cast has varied over the years as doctors and nurses (and actresses and actors) come and go. Noah Wyle was on the show the longest, from its first episode in 1994 until 2005.

“ER” cast and crew work on a scene being staged in the hospital set.

In 1997 NBC broadcast a live episode of “ER” called “Ambush.” The camera crew was disguised as a PBS crew making a documentary in the Chicago hospital. Because of the difference in time zones, the show was performed live twice so that those on the west coast saw a live telecast, too. In 1998 “ER” received a record-breaking renewal contract from NBC of $850 million for three years. It came at the time when “Seinfeld,” which aired on Thursday nights, had decided to leave the airwaves. NBC wanted to make sure that it did not also lose “ER.”

Assistant Property Master John Fairchild, Property Person Mark Verduzco, Property Master Rick Ladomade, and Property Master Rick Kerns during earlier days of “ER.”

Props play an integral part in the story lines of “ER.” Most of them are actually real medical equipment and supplies and the “ER” set looks and feels like a real hospital. The prop masters and their crew have become experts in medical equipment and the actors must learn to operate the equipment correctly. Authenticity with medical procedures is something that “ER” strives for even as it concentrates on the gripping stories that have made it such a long-lasting success.