| Trivia |


HOW COULD THEY SCREW THAT UP?

-Mark and Jennifer Greene had a divorce agreement that Jennifer could not move far away, yet that's exactly what Jennifer did in going to St. Louis, with no discussion or objections from Mark.

-Malik's last name is McGrath, however they wrote a line where Doug calls him "Malik Williams"

-Carla Reece/Reese married Roger McGrath. They are now Carla and Roger Simmons.

-Another last name change was with Lydia. Her last name was Woodward in the pilot (same as one of the show's producers), but was Wright in the next episode.

-Roger worked for the CTA, yet somehow was given a promotion to Hamburg, Germany. Evidently the European line of the Chicago Transit Authority.

-The twins' due date was terribly fudged so they could be born on Thanksgiving, then their age was stated wrong as well.

-Carla's last name as written on her ultrasound is spelled as "Reece," yet her son's name is spelled "Reese."

-In "Sharp Relief", Anna, after originally saying she had a friend on drugs, later tells Carter (while at Chase's apartment) that it was her boyfriend. She specifically says said boyfriend was on heroin.

But in "Of Past Regret and Future Fear" when Carter mentions her boyfriend who'd been on heroin, (Max), she corrects him, no, not heroin, percocet.

-In season one, Howard Davies mentions once seeing Carter doing dressage on a white Icelandic pony, and asks Carter what its name had been. "Marigold" Carter tells him.

In "Ground Zero" we see a painting of Carter on a horse, which the Carter family butler says is "Mr. Carter and Marigold." Except that the horse in the painting is brown, not white. Either they dyed Marigold, poor beast, or Carter didn't like to correct Mr. Davies, or he had two horses with the same name, or the painter had an eyesight problem.

-The ever-changing lockers. I can go on at great length about the lockers, but for now I won't. My two favorites; the locker that starts "Sharp Relief" belonging to Carter, then changes to Doug mid episode, then belongs to Carter again by the end. And the recent joy of Carter's locker being stripped bare of adornments in the length of time it takes him to bend down, pick up his crutches, and stand up again.:)

-Benton told Jeanie his mother stood up and applauded at his graduation, but told Carter he missed his graduation because he was in surgery.

-Luka told Kerry that his wife and kids were taken and then killed, but he told Carol that his apartment building was bombed with them inside. Whether or not this is a continuity error, or both are the truth, only time will tell.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Original Character Names

Dr. Mark Greene - Dr. Ritchie Greene
Dr. Doug Ross - Dr. Tom Ross
Dr. Susan Lewis - Dr. Beth Lewis
Carol Hathaway - Barb Hathaway
Lydia Wright - Lydia Woodward
Haleh Adams - Haleh Homayojian
Carla Reese/Reece - Chandra Harris
Dr. Luka Kovac - Dr. Janko Pavic
Dr. Dave Malucci - Dr. Dave Norquist
Dr. Gabe Lawrence - Dr. Ted Lawrence
Abby Lockhart - Dori Lockhart
Rena Trujillo - Lea

Original Episode Titles

"9 ½ Hours" - "Growing Up"
"Long Day’s Journey" - "Missing Persons"
"Carter's Choice" - "Revulsion"
"Day For Knight" - "A Day For a Knight"
"The Good Fight" - "A Perfect Match"
"Greene with Envy" - "Lawrence of Northwestern"
"Homecoming" - "Indian Summer"
"Sand and Water" - "Way Too Soon"
"The Visit" - "I Loved You, God, How I Loved You"
"The Dance We Do" - "Rapid Cycling"
"Surrender" - "Inside Out"
"The Crossing" - "Golden Hour"
"Where the Heart Is" - "Mea Culpa"/"Taking Care"
"Rampage" - "Revelations"
"Supplies and Demands" - "Shadows and Fog"
"A Simple Twist of Fate" - "Seven Sinners"
"Walk Like a Man" - "Don't Call Me Mikey"
"One Can Only Hope" - "The Lottery"

"Saint in the City" - "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City"

Episodes Named After Characters

Abby Lockhart - 1 (Abby Road)
Cleo Finch - 1 (How the Finch Stole Christmas)
Kerry Weaver - 1 (Leave it to Weaver)
Lucy Knight - 1 (A Day for Knight)
Carol Hathaway - 1 (Calling Dr. Hathaway)
Peter Benton - 1 (Benton Backwards)
Mark Greene - 2 (It's Not Easy Being Greene; Greene With Envy)
John Carter - 4 (Welcome Back, Carter; John Carter, M.D.; Dr. Carter, I Presume; Carter's Choice)

SAY WHAT?!?!

Del Amico and Greene?!?!
From Ultimate TV - “Sherry who? Blonde Ambition in the ER”
" . . . Bello's Del Amico will also provide some love in the chaotic emergency room. The last time we saw cute, but overworked big boss Dr. Greene (Anthony Edwards) really really en amour he was tragically chasing after the departing doctor played by Sherry Stringfeld, who left the series for personal reasons, the season before last. It's about time Green got some good (and reciprocal) lovin.' Enter Dr. Del Amico last season. Now Bello has a regular starring role in the most-watched drama on TV . . . Executive producer John Wells was glad to bring Bello on board. 'I was a big fan of her work from what she was doing last year on her series for CBS,' Wells recalls. 'And we were preparing to cast a part of a girlfriend for Dr. Greene towards the end of last season, and Maria came in and we met and talked about it.'"

Ricky Martin?!?!
From JAM! Music - “Ricky Martin to guest star on 'ER'”
"Singing heartthrob Ricky Martin, who used to star in ABC's long-running soap-opera 'General Hospital', will be a guest in the ER next year, Rolling Stone reports. "Believe it or not, I'm a frustrated doctor," Martin said. "And it would be a great place to let my frustration go. I love medicine". TV to be big fans of medicine, too. 'ER' has been a top-rated series since its debut in 1994."

Carter and Lucy - What would have been
From USA Today's 5/20/00 Interview with Noah Wyle
"Wyle, who discovered in a script that the two would embark on a romance, complained to producers. The actor thinks their original intention -- to have the characters sleep together -- was wrong. 'We compromised (on a kiss), and that's what it was,' he says. 'It just didn't ring true to me. To try to manufacture that Lucy is the hospital vixen is wrong, because that's not what Lucy represents . . . The one thing I know is that Carter wouldn't cross the line. To sleep with a student would be a transgression that would be hard for viewers to forgive.' Warner Bros. confirms that the romance is dead."

From Ain't it Cool News' Coaxial from March 23, 1998
" . . . you can expect Carter to be financially cut off from the family. To make ends meet, he's going to become an R.A, at a medical school nearby, where he'll meet his next romantic interest, a young medical student . . . "

Elizabeth Mitchell Returns?
From inside sources at "Drop the Chalupa"
"According to a source who HANDLES ACTORS CONTRACTS at ER, EM did sign a contract (although the terms are loose because she is still under contract from The Beast - loose means her shooting schedule isn't set in stone since she's still technically under contract in case TB is miraculously picked up). As in she'll be back."

"The consensus between the moles is that Elizabeth Mitchell *will* be part of this season's ER. From what I have gathered so far, Dr. Legaspi will appear in a somewhat different capacity..."
"I'll get right to the point: according to my sources, EM will be back. They don't yet really know how they will bring her back or for how many episodes, but they do plan to have her back.
We should not expect to see her before February--though they may be willing to do it sooner if they can, logistically speaking--and even then she may not be working at County. This is where the "different capacity" comment comes in. They have not decided whether she should accept her position back or whether she will be working elsewhere. I should point out that their preference is to have her come back, get a promotion in the face of Romano's demotion, and eventually have her find out what Kerry did.

Not knowing whether Dr. Legaspi will be working at County or elsewhere is a plot device and it has nothing to do with Elizabeth Mitchell or her contract."

Benjamin Bratt?
From The National Enquirer
Following his brilliant surgical removal of Julia Roberts, Benjamin Bratt has secretly signed up to join the sutures-and-sex "ER" crew for the season's final half! My prognosis? If everything clicks, Bratt will re-up as a regular!

SEASON 8 TIDBITS

Who appeared in the most closing sequences?

Jing-Mei Chen - 0
Robert Romano - 0
Cleo Finch - 0
Luka Kovac - 0
Michael Gallant - 0
Dave Malucci - 1 (Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magic)
Abby Lockhart - 2 (Beyond Repair; Lockdown)
Peter Benton - 3 (The Longer You Stay; Quo Vadis?; I'll Be Home For Christmas)
Elizabeth Corday - 4 (Four Corners; Damage is Done; Bygones; On the Beach)
Kerry Weaver - 5 (Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magic; Never Say Never; Start All Over Again; Partly Cloudy, Chance of Rain; The Letter)
Susan Lewis - 6 (Supplies and Demands; If I Should Fall From Grace; It's All in Your Head; Secrets and Lies; Brothers and Sisters; The Letter)
Mark Greene - 6 (Four Corners; Damage is Done; A Simple Twist of Fate; It's All in Your Head; Bygones; Orion in the Sky)
John Carter - 7 (If I Should Fall From Grace; I'll Be Home For Christmas; A River in Egypt; Secrets and Lies; Orion in the Sky; The Letter; Lockdown)

Who missed the most episodes?

Ming-Na: 6 episodes
Paul McCrane: 4 episodes
Alex Kingston: 4 episodes
Anthony Edwards: 4 episodes
Laura Innes: 2 episodes
Goran Visnjic: 2 episodes
Michael Michele: 1 episode

Noah Wyle, Eriq La Salle, and Maura Tierney appeared in every episode this season.
Sharif Atkins appeared in every episode after being added to the credis.

ER POTPOURRI

All-time episodes missed

Anthony Edwards - Middle of Nowhere, How the Finch Stole Christmas, Fear of Commitment, Secrets and Lies, Brothers and Sisters, The Letter, Lockdown (Total 7 episodes)
George Clooney - Freak Show, Family Practice (Total 2 episodes)
Sherry Stringfield - Hell and High Water, Last Call (Total 2 episodes)
Noah Wyle - The Long Way Around, Fathers and Sons, Family Practice, Middle of Nowhere (Total 4 episodes)
Julianna Margulies - Family Practice, Middle of Nowhere, Family Matters (Total 3 episodes)
Gloria Reuben - A Shift in the Night, The Long Way Around, Fathers and Sons, Family Practice, Day For Knight, Split Second, The Good Fight, The Miracle Worker, Responsible Parties, Sins of the Fathers (Total of 10 episodes)
Laura Innes - Fear of Flying, No Brain, No Gain, Fathers and Sons, Family Practice, Be Still My Heart, Match Made in Heaven, The Dance We Do, Sailing Away, Supplies and Demands, If I Should Fall From Grace, Next of Kin (Total 11 episodes)
Maria Bello - Fathers and Sons, Family Practice (Total 2 episodes)
Alex Kingston - Fathers and Sons, Family Practice, Truth and Consequences, Fear of Commitment, Where the Heart Is, Partly Cloudy, Chance of Rain, Secrets and Lies, The Letter, Lockdown, Hindsight (Total 10 episodes)
Kellie Martin - Middle of Nowhere, Great Expectations (Total 2 episodes)
Paul McCrane - Great Expectations, Be Patient, Under Control, Such Sweet Sorrow, The Dance We Do, Sailing Away, Where the Heart Is, Beyond Repair, A Simple Twist of Fate, Secrets and Lies, Orion in the Sky, Walk Like a Man, Tell Me Where it Hurts, First Snowfall, Next of Kin (Total 15 episodes)
Goran Visnjic - Sins of the Fathers, Truth and Consequences, The Peace of Wild Things, The Greatest of Gifts, A River in Egypt, Damage is Done (Total 6 episodes)
Maura Tierney - (Total 0 episodes)
Michael Michele - Such Sweet Sorrow, Surrender, Supplies and Demands (Total 3 episodes)
Erik Palladino - How the Finch Stole Christmas (Total 1 episode)
Ming-Na - The Dance We Do, Piece of Mind, Rock, Paper, Scissors, Surrender, Thy Will Be Done, Survival of the Fittest, Start All Over Again, Supplies and Demands, If I Should Fall From Grace, Partly Cloudy, Chance of Rain, Quo Vadis?, I'll Be Home For Christmas, First Snowfall (Total 13 episodes)
Sharif Atkins - (Total 0 episodes)
Mekhi Phifer - Tell Me Where it Hurts, First Snowfall (Total 2 episodes)
Eriq LaSalle - The Long Way Around, Fathers and Sons, Family Practice, Great Expectations, Such Sweet Sorrow, Thy Will Be Done (Total 6 episodes)

How many times have the opening credits changed?

Original Opening Credits:
24 Hours - Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Sherry Stringfield, Noah Wyle, and Eriq La Salle

1. Day One (1.1) - added Julianna Margulies (first time credits included pictures & music)
2. Days Like This (2.6) - added Gloria Reuben
3. Dr. Carter, I Presume (3.1) - added Laura Innes
4. Ask Me No Questions, I'll Tell You No Lies (3.9) - removed Sherry Stringfield
5. Ambush (4.1) - added Alex Kingston and Maria Bello (there was only a black screen with words in 4.1; their pictures weren't added until the next episodes.)
6. Day For Knight (5.1) - removed Maria Bello, added Kellie Martin
7. Middle of Nowhere (5.16) -removed George Clooney
8. Leave It To Weaver (6.1) - added Paul McCrane, Goran Visnjic, and Michael Michele
9. Humpty Dumpty (6.7) - removed Gloria Reuben, added Erik Palladino
10. Family Matters (6.10) - added Ming-Na
11. Abby Road (6.12) - added Maura Tierney
12. Be Patient (6.15) - removed Kellie Martin
13. May Day (6.22) - removed Julianna Margulies
14. Never Say Never (8.4) - added Sherry Stringfield
15. Start All Over Again (8.5) - removed Erik Palladino
16. Beyond Repair (8.11) - removed Eriq La Salle and Michael Michele
17. It's All in Your Head (8.15) - added Sharif Atkins and Eriq La Salle
18. Secrets and Lies (8.16) - removed Eriq La Salle
19. On the Beach (8.21) - added Eriq La Salle and Michael Michele
20. Lockdown (8.22) - removed Eriq La Salle and Michael Michele
21. Chaos Theory (9.1) - removed Anthony Edwards, added Mekhi Phifer

BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW…

Anthony Edwards:
- that he dated and lived with Meg Ryan. He even proposed before she broke it off.
- that his full name is Anthony Peter Planck Edwards
- that he studied ballet as a teenager to meet girls
- that his grandfather designed Walt Disney Studios in the 1930s
- that he is married to Jeanine Lobell, a make-up artist
- that he has three children: son Bailey, and daughters Esme and Wallis

George Clooney:
- that he graduated 2nd in his high school class at Augusta (KY) High School. Although I understand there were only 23 students in his class.
- that he tried out for the Cincinnati Reds.
- that he owns a pet pig named Max
- that he taught Kirsten Dunst how to drive
- that he gave Noah a car for his birthday
- that his full name is George Timothy Clooney
- that his aunt is singer/actress Rosemary Clooney, his cousin is Miguel Ferrer, and his uncle is the late Jose Ferrer
- that he is terrified of earthquakes
- that he was married to Talia Balsam from 1989-1992, but they divorced

Julianna Margulies:
- that her mother was/is a hippie.
- that her father wrote the Alka-Seltzer jingle
- that she dated (still does) Ron Eldard
- that she is left handed
- that she majored in art history

Sherry Stringfield:
- that she loves motorcycles, skiing, reading, and traveling
- that she streaked her honor society induction
- that she is left handed
- that she is married to Larry Joesph, a science writer from NYC.
- that she has a baby girl named Phoebe who was born in March 2001
- that she is lactose intolerant

Noah Wyle:
- that he's obsessed with everything Noah's Ark
- that he can't stand being labeled as a "goody-two-shoes" and resents the fact that George gets photos of racy women while he gets 15 year old girls and their hamsters.
- that he lost his virginity at 13
- that his full name is Noah Strausser Speer Wyle
- that he is married to Tracy Warbin, a make-up artist who he met on the set of his movie, The Myth of Fingerprints.
- that he went on stage and gave a speech at MacWorld computer trade show posing as Apple Computer interim chief Steve Jobs. Jobs invited him to do so as a joke after Wyle portrayed him in "Pirates of Silicon Valley".

Gloria Reuben:
- that she sang backup for Tina Turner's international tour
- that in the 80s, she appeared in a Luvs diaper commercial
- that she sang the Canadian national anthem at the 1998 baseball All Star Game

Laura Innes:
- that her fiancé was stabbed and murdered by a crazy old woman who claimed that he stole her parking space. She killed him with a butcher knife, from her kitchen. She was classified as being mentally ill/insane.
- that she married the Hey Dude! guy (David Brisbin)
- that she isn't disabled, but came up with the idea for Kerry to limp. Her sister has post-polio and is handicapped in one arm.
- that she's had many hospital stays, including three tracheotomies because she swallowed an acorn when she was a year old
- that she was born and raised right around Chicago; even attended Northwestern University
- that she original auditioned for the part of Diane Leeds (Dr. Ross' girlfriend in season 1)
- that she is ambidextrous
- that her full name is Lauren Innes
- that she has a son, Cal, who was born in 1990

Maria Bello:
- that she practices lethal kickboxing
- that her full name is Maria Elana Bello
- that she sang in the movie Duets, and is also featured on the soundtrack
- that she is currently dating Dan McDermott, head of DreamWorks TV
- that she had a son, Jackson Blue McDermott, in March 2001

Kellie Martin:
- that she's accomplished at both ballet and photography
- that she attended (still does) Yale University
- that she dated Joey Lawrence
- that her younger sister died of lupus a week before she began filming for ER
- that her full name is Kellie Noelle Martin
- that she is the national spokesperson for lupus
- that she has been married to Keith Christian since 1999

Goran Visnjic:
- that he trained as a paratrooper in the Croatian army at age 18, and volunteered to stay on for an additional three months during the war with Yugoslavia
- that his nickname is Sime (pronouced "SHIH-me")
- that he has been married to Ivana Vrdoljak, a sculptor, since 1999
- that he appeared in Madonna's 1998 music video, "The Power of Goodbye"
- that he played Hamlet at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival each year for six years (1993-2000)
- that his hobbies are fencing, swimming, and diving

Erik Palladino:
- that he was arrested at 17 for assault and given a one year probation
- that he was in a rock band called "No More Happy Faces" with his brother Chris
- that he is living with and dating actress Sarah-Jane Potts

Eriq La Salle:
- that he's skilled at martial arts
- that he wrote, directed, and produced two short films that won awards at the Worldfest Houston Film Competition and the USA Film Festival
- that he changed the spelling of his first name to Eriq, to "be cool"

Alex Kingston
- that she's fluent in German
- that her husband, Florian Haertel, is a German freelance journalist
- that she has a daughter Salome Violetta, who was born in March 2001
- that she had to go through in-vitro fertilization in order to conceive her daughter
- that her navel is pierced

Paul McCrane
- that he has been married to Dana Kellin, a jewelry designer, since 1998
- that he has a son, William Thomas, who was born in December of 2001
- that he can sing, and did so in the movie 'Fame'
- that he even wrote one of the songs in 'Fame' - "Is It Okay If I Call You Mine?"

Michael Michele
- that she once worked at the Gap to make ends meet
- that her full name is Michael Michele Williams
- that she was named after her mother's best friend, another woman named Michael
- that like her character, Cleo Finch, she comes from a mixed racial family - Michael's father is white and her mother is black, while Cleo's mother is white and her father is black
- that she filed a sexual harassment suit against EddieMurphy, which was eventually settled out of court

Maura Tierney
- that she has been married to Billy Morrisette since 1994
- that she and her husband enjoy traveling across the country. The only states they haven't visited are Kansas and Iowa.
- that ER contacted her for the part of Abby Lockhart - she didn't even audition
- that she was once fired from a Growing Pains guest spot

Ming-Na
- that her name means "enlightenment"
- that while trying to fit in at school, she changed her name to Maggie & Doris
- that she was the president of her high school's sci-fi club
- that she has been married to screenwriter Eric Michael Zee since 1995
- that she manages At Last, an Asian boy band, along with her husband
- that she can sing and play the guitar
- that she has a daughter, Michaela, who was born in November of 2000