Created by novelist
Michael Crichton and reportedly based on his own experiences as a medical student, the NBC hospital drama
ER debuted September 19, 1994, directly opposite the similar CBS endeavor
Chicago Hope. Though many critics thought that
Chicago Hope had a better chance for survival than
ER, the NBC series scored a surprise hit -- and over a decade later it was still firmly imbedded in the network's Thursday-night schedule, while
Chicago Hope had long since vanished. Set largely in the emergency room of Chicago's fictional County General Hospital,
ER focused on the professional and personal trials and tribulations of the unit's staff, with several subplots and story arcs weaving in and out of each hour-long episode. The regular cast for the
first season consisted of
Anthony Edwards as Dr. Mark Greene,
George Clooney as Dr. Doug Ross, Sherry Stringfield as Dr. Susan Lewis,
Eriq La Salle as Dr. Peter Benton,
Julianna Margulies as Head Nurse Carol Hathaway, and
Noah Wyle as med student (and later doctor) John Carter. Of these actors, only Sherry Stringfield and
Noah Wyle would still be on the series as it entered its second decade on the air -- and of these two, only Wyle had been on the show throughout its entire run (Stringfield retired from the series in season three, but returned five years later).
Later principals, in order of their appearance, included
Laura Innes as Dr. Kerry Weaver,
Alex Kingston as Dr. Elizabeth Corday, Paul McCrane as Dr. Robert Romano,
Kellie Martin as med student Lucy Knight,
Erik Palladino as Dr. Dave Malucci,
Goran Visnjic as Dr. Luka Kovac, Ming-Na as Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen (a recurring character in season one who returned as a regular in season six),
Maura Tierney as Nurse (and later Dr.) Abby Lockhart,
Michael Michele as Dr. Cleo Finch,
Sharif Atkins as Dr. Michael Gallant,
Mekhi Phifer as Dr. Gregory Pratt, and Parminder Nagra as med student (and later doctor) Neela Rasgotra. Many of these characters' lives were intertwined romantically, while some of the characters were bitter enemies; all were uniformly fascinating. And just as in "real life," there was nothing predictable about the exits of certain characters: some departed with tragic abruptness (Lucy Knight, Robert Romano), others simply bade farewell