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Noah Wyle Plays Papa
Dr. Carter spent the weekend out of the ER and in the DR--as in delivery room.
ER dweller Noah Wyle and his wife, Tracy, are officially on diaper duty, after welcoming their firstborn on Saturday.
Tracy gave birth to a son, Owen Strausser Wyle, in a Los Angeles-area hospital, the actor's publicist, Eddie Michaels, announced Monday.
"The three are home, healthy and very, very happy," adds Michaels.
Healthy and happy indeed, considering Baby Wyle and his folks have one solid medical plan, thanks to Dad. Noah Wyle is signed on to ER through 2004 in a megabucks deal valued at $400,000 per episode, making him one of TV's highest-paid stars.
Michaels didn't divulge the tyke's birth dimensions, but the publicist did offer up one bit of Wyle family trivia: Owen's middle name is the maiden name of Noah's paternal great-grandmother. Both father and son share the Strausser mid-moniker.
Noah Wyle, 31, and his 34-year-old makeup-artist wife celebrated their second wedding anniversary in May. They've been inseparable since 1996, when they met on the set of the indie film The Myth of Fingerprints, in which Wyle costarred.
Wyle recently doffed his stethoscope for a role opposite Michelle Pfeiffer and Renée Zellweger in the recent Warner Bros. drama White Oleander. He also appeared in the underperforming Jennifer Lopez summer thriller Enough.
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An 'ER' Star's Weight Loss
Shedding 110 pounds is like losing an entire person. It's no small task. But "ER" nurse YVETTE FREEMAN, who plays Haleh Adams, did just that in only eight months.
Freeman shares her secret with ET. "I would have five to seven shakes per day," Freeman reveals. "It was easy. I just put it in the blender and drank."
The shakes were part of a UCLA medically supervised liquid diet that Freeman felt compelled to begin for the sake of her health. When she began the plan, she was a size 24 and weighed 257 pounds. The former plus-sized actress had been on many diets before, but when she realized her health was at risk, she knew she had to take drastic measures.
"I was ready to kill someone that first week," Freeman recalls of her initiation into the cold turkey, no-solid-food regimen.
These days, Freeman is back eating "real" food, but not like before. Post-shakes, she cooks up healthy dishes such as cabbage sautéed in chicken broth and sweet potato pie without sugar to keep her hard-earned weight loss.
How did her co-stars react when she returned to "ER" for the start of the 2002-2003 season?
"I was sitting next to her in the makeup trailer, and didn't know it was her," ALEX KINGSTON, who plays Dr. Elizabeth Corday, admits.
Freeman plans to maintain a healthy lifestyle for the rest of her life, and is even thinking of writing a cookbook with her personally designed diet recipes to help others keep the pounds off.
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MEDIC ALERT:
What ER Needs To Do To Survive (From EW Online)
After years of glowing ratings health, ''ER'''s looking a little peaked this season. Though the nine-year-old NBC series is still the second-highest rated drama on the fall lineup, CBS' new detective series ''Without a Trace'' has decreased the 10 p.m. gap between the two networks by a whopping 134 percent. Could this mean the aging hospital drama will soon be wheezing its last breath?
EW.com talked to media analysts about what the show is doing to hold on to its audience and how well their efforts are working. The diagnosis? Don't get out the defib paddles just yet.
APPLYING PRESSURE Aiming to reassure fans who are mourning last season's departure of Eriq LaSalle, Michael Michele, and Anthony Edwards, NBC's latest ad campaign crows that the show is better than ever. ''Say something often enough and people will believe it's true,'' says media analyst Stacey Lynn Koerner of Initiative Media. ''And putting a lot of marketing behind the show with an aggressive campaign is the right thing to do. You can't take its status for granted.'' But MediaWeek analyst Marc Berman wonders if fans will buy the hype. ''They can say whatever they want, but new characters just aren't as readily accepted,'' he says.
PROGNOSIS Good. Even if new kids like Sharif Atkins (Dr. Michael Gallant) don't light your fire, those action-packed promos never lose their punch.
GETTING GORY When Dr. Romano (Paul McCrane) lost an arm during the season premiere, fans wondered if the show was trying to match ''CSI'''s high gore quotient to juice up ratings. ''I think that could drive people to see a specific episode, but I don't think it compels repeated viewership week in week out,'' says Koerner. Besides, imitating ''CSI'''s liquefied bodies and grody evidence exams could push ''ER'''s storylines over the top, a potentially deadly decision. ''The show's sense of realism is what really engages people,'' points out analyst Bill Carroll, of the Katz Television Group. On the other hand, if that reality stuff doesn't grab viewers, the Halloween episode features a yucky flesh-eating virus!
PROGNOSIS Poor. If any more staffers get mangled, viewers may call it quits.
INFUSING FRESH BLOOD With Edwards and LaSalle out, newer cast members Mekhi Phifer (Dr. Gregory Pratt) and Atkins have moved to the forefront this season with juicier storylines -- Pratt and Gallant recently came to blows in a hospital hallway. ''I think Mekhi really shines, and Sharif has a lot of potential,'' says casting director Billy Hopkins. ''In the early years, what made Carter (Noah Wyle) interesting was how he made mistakes and struggled, and Atkins could easily step into that role.'' However, not every attempt to rejuvenate the cast has succeeded. ''I hate to say it, but Sherry Stringfield is just dead wood,'' says Berman. ''And I can't say I'm a fan of Ming-Na, either. The worst part is, the show doesn't do enough with some of the really interesting actors on the show, like Laura Innes (Dr. Kerry Weaver) and McCrane.''
PROGNOSIS Good. The show has survived worse casting mishaps (Remember Dr. Lucy and Dr. Malucci?). There's still hope that Stringfield, who was so strong during her first stint on the show, will find her footing.
WRITING THE RIGHT PRESCRIPTION Last year's episodes about Dr. Greene's terminal brain tumor were heartbreaking; despite a rip-roaring season premiere, it's hard to do better this season. ''Emphasizing his departure for a whole season was a mistake because it left a huge hole,'' says Berman. Storylines that sizzled last year are showing signs of wear as well. ''The love triangle between Abby (Maura Tierney), Carter (Noah Wyle) and Kovac (Goran Visnjic) is all played out,'' says Hopkins. ''Visnjic and Tierney are incredible actors, so there's reason to give them something better to do.'' In fact, several new plot twists may still bear fruit. Dr. Romano's struggle to recover from arm reattachment surgery, the return of Abby's mother (Sally Field), Dr. Pratt's relationship with his gentle-giant brother, and Dr. Corday's newly single status could all lead a revival in the ER. '''The show is still finding its new voice,'' says Carroll. ''The good thing is, it's never been a show that signals in advance what it's going to do. Things can take a left turn when you don't expect it.''
PROGNOSIS Stable. A wretched Romano is always a good thing. And maybe now that both Corday and Kovac are available, there's some potential for a more involving romance than Abby and Carter's tired 12-step tango.
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OSCAR WINNER SALLY FIELD REPRISES EMMY-NOMINATED ROLE AS BI-POLAR MOTHER ON NBC'S 'ER'
BURBANK, Calif. -- August 29, 2002 -- Two-time Oscar winner Sally Field reprises her Emmy Award-winning role on NBC’s “ER” (Thursdays, 10-11 p.m. ET) this fall in the first of multiple episodes in which she portrays the mentally ill and problematic mother of Nurse Abby (Maura Tierney).
Field will resume filming in September in the role she first originated on the popular drama series during the 2000-01 season over an arc of high-profile episodes. Her character -- who suffers from a bi-polar disorder -- will be reunited with her distrustful daughter as well as her son (recurring guest star Thomas Everett Scott, “That Thing You Do”), an Air Force veteran who is visiting Abby.
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ER'S HIP HOP DOC
MEKHI Phifer shattered the doctor mold when he joined "ER" last season to portray Gregory Pratt, a young doctor with inner-city smarts.
"I want to break down the stereotypes of young black males - as far as what we're able to do or how much we're able to show emotionally," says Phifer.
"This doctor doesn't just want to elevate himself . . . he wants to elevate the craftsmanship of being a doctor."
At a time when many of "ER" 's most popular players have abandoned County General for film careers - George Clooney, Juliana Margulies and Eriq La Salle, among them - Phifer has joined the series with 20 films under his belt, including the Shakespearian-inspired "O," "Soul Food" and "Shaft."
Late this fall, audiences get to see him in the hotly anticipated "8 Mile," with rapper Eminem. He begins shooting "Honey," with Jessica "Dark Angel" Alba, next month.
With no lack of acting offers, Phifer - who at 19 bypassed an electrical engineering scholarship to SUNY at New Paltz to take his first film role in Spike Lee's "Clockers" - simply wants to work in the company of "serious actors."
But he also believes that, by portraying Dr. Pratt, he has something to say to other black people about how to handle success.
"I wanted to create the image of a doctor that people could really identify with and that I would seek out to treat me" said Phifer.
"Dr. Pratt was at the top of his class and excelled in his own way, without having to conform to what society thought a young doctor's etiquette should be.
"He comes into this hospital with his defenses up. My character's going to destroy the myth that I can't handle it."
Phifer joins a long list of black actors who started on TV in scrubs.
Last year's Academy Award winner Denzel Washington became a household name playing Dr. Philip Chandler on "St. Elsewhere" two decades ago, and Andre Braugher portrayed a doctor with a philosophical bent on the recent "Gideon's Crossing." Eriq La Salle's hyper-intense Dr. Peter Benton recently exited "ER." for a career directing and acting in movies.
Although Phifer acknowledges his character is less than traditional, he likes Dr. Pratt's personality. Pratt may be wound too tight, but who wouldn't be in an emergency room?
His character may be the most balanced in an ER full of personality disorders.
Pratt 'is passionate and lets his emotion out by being edgy," the 27-year old actor said.
But "Dr. Romano - the little guy with the attitude - is tenfold worse than I am!" Phifer teased, referring to that series' Napoleonic control freak.
Phifer says his character's lack of conformity makes for good contrast with "ER" 's med student Gallant, whom Phifer describes as "subservient and straight-laced.
"Gallant's more a protocol and listen-and-follow-orders kind of guy," he said. Dr. Pratt, on the other hand, is "very confident and ready to make executive decisions."
Like the time Dr. Pratt unilaterally cracked open a patient's chest?
"The patient was flat-lining," says Phifer defensively. "The unspoken rule among doctors is if the guy's dead, you can't make him any worse."
Phifer won't reveal exactly how much of his own personality goes into playing Dr. Pratt, but he says series honcho John Wells likes for the characters that are portrayed "to sort of emulate your own personality, because you've got to live with the character so long."
The new season seems primed to show a softer, gentler side of the "edgy" Pratt.
"There's a lot of room for growth and to let people in to who he is," Phifer says, adding that audiences will see the doc at his home and watch him come to a better understanding of his mentor, John Carter, played by series' veteran Noah Wyle.
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A reflective Dr. Carter offers a positive diagnosis for 'ER'
Noah Wyle plans to fulfill the two seasons remaining on his contract with "ER."
And then there was one.
It was eight years ago on "ER" that Noah Wyle started playing young Dr. John Carter, who was subjected to the tough love treatment from his mentor, Eriq LaSalle's Dr. Benton. Now, Wyle is the only continuous member of the original cast left on the popular medical drama.
With his pregnant wife by his side at a party last month in Pasadena, Calif., Wyle patiently explained why he is staying on the NBC series, where he thinks the show is going and how much he thinks Dr. Carter has changed over the years.
As always, Wyle was as reflective and thoughtful as any actor his age. Which, he reminded critics, is just 31.
"Me and the Cosby kids, we grew up on NBC," he joked.
Wyle said he is staying aboard "ER" because he is much younger than cast originals Anthony Edwards, George Clooney and LaSalle, all of whom left the series in pursuit of greater glory.
"They've all got 10 years on me," explained Wyle. "I am the age now that they were when we started. . . . I just felt it was in my best interest to play the hand that had been dealt to me. To not look at it as some kind of launching pad, but to see it as one of those rare things that comes along once in an actor's lifetime.
"I remember when George was talking to Julianna (Margulies) when she was thinking about leaving. He said: "If you want to make more money, you won't. If you want to work with better scripts, you won't find them. If you want to work with nicer people, there aren't any.' So until you want some sort of lifestyle change or if you want to do only movies, or direct like Eriq and Tony, there really is no point to leaving.' " (She did end up leaving.)
Wyle, however, is staying. Though Sherry Stringfield (Dr. Susan Lewis) also remains from the original cast, she left for several seasons and then returned.
"I'm sticking around for another couple of years," said Wyle. "I've been too curious for too long to see what it would be like to take a third year medical student and bring him around to chief resident."
"John Wells (the show's writer-producer) once described the show to me as a novel that he was interested in writing," added Wyle. "And he considered bringing my character to chief residency the last two chapters of that novel."
How has John Carter changed over the first eight chapters?
"Certain elements of his naivete and his sense of compassion and honesty are (still) there," said Wyle. "But he's wised up a lot."
The actor said he only knows in "broad strokes" what is going to happen to Dr. Carter this fall. His relationship with Maura Tierney's character, Abby Lockkart, will play out. The relationship began shortly after Lewis, who was dating Carter, confronted him about his feelings for Lockhart.
"In a weird way when (Abby) blew the whistle on my character's drug addiction," Wyle said. "It sort of started off this intense interest in this woman, to sort of get to know her better. The thing I like about it is these two characters are so incredibly wrong for each other for so many reasons, but they're also very right for each other. And that affords us a lot of interesting story possibilities."
How is she wrong for him?
"The addictions, the fact that hers isn't quite resolved yet, that her ex-boyfriend (Luka, played by Goran Visnjic), works at the same place that we do. She comes from the other side of the tracks and I'm a blue blood. I'm a far more cerebral type of character and she is a far more physical type of character. It matches up well on paper for there to be a lot of conflict and passion."
Wyle is aware that critics and viewers aren't as passionate about "ER" as they have been over the years. After all, "CSI" overtook "ER" as the top-rated drama on television.
"No. 1, No. 2, No. 5, No. 10. those don't mean as much to me as whether we're still telling as good stories as we did in the first year and are as compassionate about telling them as we used to be. We get our validation every Thursday night with these loyal, loyal people."
Buffalo viewers certainly are loyal. "ER" remains a hugely popular series here even if it sometimes feels like it is repeating itself.
"I really get deja vu when I look across the set and see Sharif Atkins (med student Michael Gallant) practicing suturing in the same chair I used to sit in 10 years ago. . . . You're seeing the same procedures being done by new people. You feel differently about them, they came from different places, they have different sensibilities about medicine. They bring to the table different areas of conflict."
The addition of Atkins and Mekhi Phifer last season encouraged Wyle to believe there is much more life left in "ER." "There is a real sense among the cast that they are hungry," said Wyle. "They are really committed. Nobody's leaving anytime soon."
Wyle believes all the highly publicized cast departures and arrivals created a problem. "They ate up all the ink that we needed to tell those long-running story lines we used to get into," he said.
Wyle plans to fulfill the two seasons remaining on his contract, which would bring him to chapter 11. And then?
"I think," said Wyle, "it would be time to walk."