"ER" executive producer John Wells comes not to bury George Clooney but to praise him, despite the fact that the actor is leaving the show at the end of the upcoming season.
Wells lauded Clooney for actually honoring the five-year contract he signed with the show."George has done the thing that so few people do, which is why I am very pleased to call him my friend and to have been in business with him for the last five years," Wells said. "He had a feature career that took off (and) he lost literally millions of dollars by staying on the show and not following what could happen for him in the feature career because he shook my hand and said, `I will do this show.'
"That ethic is something that has been less and less present over the last few years. We will miss him greatly as a friend and as a part of the ensemble. And, at the same time, I have nothing but admiration for the way in which he's handled himself through the whole process."
And Wells certainly doesn't sound particularly worried that "ER" will suddenly lose its appeal when Clooney leaves the show.
"He is one part of a very large ensemble," Wells said. "We have nine characters this year. And while we will miss him, we've had many, many episodes where he's not been very prevalent, and I hope that people believe that the show remains interesting when he's not there."
We know that Clooney is going at the end of the upcoming season, but we don't know how. Wells knows, but he's not telling.
"It is very much in line with the nature of the independent character he's created," the producer said. "We're not going to take any easy roads out. He's not going to get hit by a bus or suddenly develop testicular cancer."
Which, apparently, was a major fear for Clooney.
"It's been a fear (of his) for three years," Wells said with a laugh. "He's always coming to me and saying, `I just don't want to get testicular cancer.' "
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MARTIN COMES ABOARD: When "ER" returns in September, one of last season's regulars will be gone. Maria Bello has left the series to pursue movie roles.
(She, apparently, wasn't paying any attention to Clooney's example.)
And she'll be replaced by a familiar face. Kelli Martin of "Life Goes On" and "Christy" will join the cast as a third-year medical student.
"We started doing a show five years ago about medical students in residence," Wells said. "And to stay true to them kind of moving through the system, they're all becoming (attending physicians) and finishing their residencies. So as we bring new characters onto the show, I think they're almost all going to be coming up as younger characters and sort of join the cast the way the show was originally conceived."
And, sooner or later, Clooney will also be replaced.
"At some point over the next couple of years, we'll be bringing in another male character because the balance will be wrong between the men and the women," Wells said.
Four of the main characters will be men this coming season, all of whom are played by actors who have been with the show since it premiered - Clooney, Anthony Edwards, Noah Wyle and Eriq LaSalle. And the other five main characters will all be played by women - Martin, Julianna Margulies, Gloria Reuben, Laura Innes and Alex Kingston.
"When we go down to three and five, that'll be the wrong balance," Wells said. "So we'll be looking to bring in another male character.
"But we haven't even begun to think about who that will be or what sort of niche they would fill in the show. I can say I believe that it will be someone coming in as a medical student or a first-year resident to kind of continue that teaching tradition, which makes it a lot easier to tell stories."
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HOW DISAPPOINTING: John Wells, the man who has executive produced "ER" to five extraordinarily successful seasons, is busy these days with his new show, the upcoming NBC drama "Trinity." And he admits that, now that he's not involved in the day-to-day operation of "ER," he's more than a bit disappointed in the way things have gone with that show.
But not for the reasons you might think.
"I'm still very much involved in the stories and in the cuts and some of the casting choices we're making," Wells said. "But Lydia Woodward is running it day to day, along with Chris Chulak and Carol Flint. And they were doing it most of the end of last year, when we were in New York shooting the (`Trinity') pilot.
"Really, I have to say that, much to my irritation, it was very well done and I was nowhere near it for about three months. And my ego was really hurt. I kept waiting for the phone call (with news) it had collapsed in on itself and couldn't go on for another moment - and it never came. And I expressed to Lydia my real irritation with the whole thing, and I hoped she was really going to screw it up this year so that I could ride to the rescue."