Special to the Director's Cut Blog
By Mark Barger
NBC is saying farewell to one of its longest running shows next Thursday. "ER" will be closing its doors with a two hour finale, preceded by a one hour retrospective.
It began with novelist Michael Crichton, when he created the drama. In 1994, Crichton said "we are really trying to do something that's different." "ER"'s frenetic pace and rapid fire medical jargon shattered the mold for TV doctors.
"It changed the way we watched television," says TV Guide's Greg Evans. Thursday nights became a vicarious thrill ride for viewers, echoes of Crichton's medical school days alongside ER doctors and nurses. "They're in there for the rush, the adrenaline, the excitement and for the necessity. To do their work under extreme pressure," said Crichton in 1994.
But this "ER" was almost DOA.
"All the networks passed twice. Not just once, they pas...