George Clooney returned to ER tonight. He filmed the episode a few weeks ago, and things were a little crazy on the lot while everyone rushed around denying that he was here yet diverting tours around the action. Even the call sheets for the day had code names for Julianna Margulies and Clooney. Guest star and Oscar-winner Susan Sarandon also caused a stir on the lot. ER was pulling out all the stops, wooing original cast members and A-list talent to the final episodes of the series.
But in the episode itself, which aired tonight, the arrival of Clooney, Margulies and Eriq La Salle (Dr. Benton) was quite unremarkable. Dr. Carter was surprised to see his old friend Benton show up, but Dr. Ross and Carol Hathaway were just another doctor and hospital administrator in the eyes of the current staff at County General (i.e. Nurse Taggart and Dr. Rasgotra). Sarandon was, as to be expected, perfect in her role as the grandmother who has to decide to pull the plug on her young grandson so that his organs could be harvested and shipped out nation-wide.
I liked it best that way. There was no fuss, and it was a great metaphor for how the show itself is ending. All the stops are being pulled as original cast members are wooed back to the ER to reprise their roles as our freshman class at County General, but the current class at the ER doesn’t know who they are. Life has moved on, and Clooney, in a moment that reminds us he’s a world-class actor in his own right, lingers on the nostalgia of what was for a brief moment, then he, too, moves on.
But then, ER has never been a show to make a fuss over its stars, no matter where they rank in the heavens.
The current, regular cast of ER boasts both 80′s heartthrob John Stamos and the Emmy- and Oscar-nominated, Golden Globe winner Angela Bassett. The loveable, big-hearted redhead Scott Grimes (who plays Dr. Archie Morris) was perhaps best-known prior to ER for his roles as Will McCorkle on the TV show Party of Five or as TSgt. Donald Malarkey in the mini series Band of Brothers. Yet none of these actors really headline the show. They all have their own story lines, sure, and I’m definitely partial to one story line over others (I LOVE Dr. Archie Morris and Scott Grimes’ performances make me cry EVERY episode), but ER is an ensemble show.
And despite the fact that more performers (30, as of 2008) received Emmy nominations as lead, supporting or guest actors/actresses on this show than did for any other series, everyone who enters the ER is truly part of a team.
And I think that this is evident in every single episode of ER‘s fifteen-year run. In 2007, ER tied with Cheers for being the most Emmy-nominated show ever with 117 nominations (ER now has a total of 123, according to www.imdb.com). The success of this show is a collaborative effort: the writers, the producers and directors, the hundreds of crew members, the lead cast and background actors (including my favorite Warren O’Reilly)… Everyone has committed so much to this show.
Can you tell I’m getting a little nostalgic? And I’ve really only come on board for the show since I started working at Warner Brothers (hey, I had to do my homework!), but boy am I hooked. I’ve since watched the first three seasons on DVD, and have seen every episode this season.
But more than I’ll miss the show (I can always watch it on DVD), I’ll miss seeing the cast and crew on the lot every day. They have been so gracious about letting tours poke around their sets and watch them filming and there is always someone who is excited to talk to tours about what it’s like to work on the show.
With only three episodes of ER left, I’ve already got my DVR set up to tape the first episode of ER executive producer John Wells‘ next TV show, Southland. I’ll miss ER and the cast and crew, but in a town as creative as this one, I know there’s always more great TV on the horizon.
Farewell, ER!
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