Fans of the NBC medical drama "ER" who are expecting to tune in to the show's season finale in May and see Dr. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards) leave the hospital for good are going to be disappointed.
Oh, Greene is leaving. As just about everyone who's ever watched "ER" already knows, this is Edwards' last season on the show.
But by the time that season finale rolls around, Greene and Edwards will already be gone.
"We have never had an actor leave the show during the final episode of the season. We don't think that that makes sense for us," said "ER's" creator and executive producer, John Wells. "It leaves you with the question all summer long, 'Gee, I wonder what the show will be like without (that character).' "
As a matter of fact, Greene's last day of actually working at the hospital is in tonight's episode (9 p.m. on Ch. 5). But that doesn't necessarily mean that this will be the last we see of him.
Viewers will not, however, know exactly what becomes of him for several weeks. There isn't another original episode of "ER" scheduled until April 25.
Wells is right when he says it wouldn't make any sense to end the season leaving the viewers hanging. There's no real suspense, given that there's no chance that Edwards will return to "ER" in the fall. And it makes sense for both the show and the actors to avoid setting up situations where new actors are brought in to "replace" the old ones.
"We didn't want to be in a situation where a character has left and someone else came to the door that you hadn't met yet and you were sort of forced to like them or not like them," Wells said. "So we always try to introduce other characters so those transitions are not as much of a shock. And, frankly, so we don't put a tremendous amount of pressure onto the actor who is stepping into the role. . . .
"We didn't want to put the actor coming in under the pressure of feeling that, all right, here is the person who's replacing George Clooney or here is the person replacing Julianna Margulies, rather allow that character to find his or her own voice and see where the character was going before that happened."
"ER" is, however, introducing a new character tonight — Mekhi Phifer comes on board as the newest doctor. Which is just the latest new card in a deck that has seen considerable reshuffling this season. Not only did one former cast member (Sherry Stringfield) return, but other new actors (including Sharif Atkins as Michael Gallant) were added before either Eriq LaSalle or Edwards were written out. And the series bid farewell to both Erik Palladino and Michael Michele earlier this season without any fanfare at all.
(Which had something to do with how woefully underdeveloped their characters — Dr. Dave Malucci and Dr. Cleo Finch — actually were.)
Wells won't get specific about when Edwards is leaving, nor will he give details about how that departure will be accomplished. But it seems fairly obvious, since Dr. Greene's brain tumor is back and it's inoperable this time.
Which would be a bit of a departure for the show. Major stars of the ensemble show — including George Clooney, Julianna Margulies and Eriq LaSalle — have left before, but none of their characters have been killed off.
There have been deaths — med student Lucy (Kellie Martin) was stabbed to death by a mentally unbalanced patient; Carla (Lisa Nicole Carson), the mother of Dr. Benton's son, was killed in an accident — but none of the major characters has died to date.
And Wells is sending off mixed signals about exactly what Dr. Greene's fate will be. On the one hand, it seems clear he's facing death. On the other, Wells said Alex Kingston, who plays Greene's wife, Dr. Elizabeth Corday, will be staying with the show — but that she won't turn into a tragic, mourning character.
"We love Alex Kingston, and we're working on the ways in which we can do that, but it's always difficult," Wells said. "She's wonderful on the show and a wonderful person to work with, and we very much want to keep her. Her job is not, in any way, in danger because of Anthony's decision. At the same time, it will be complicated in our storytelling, and we hope that everyone will go with us."
Frankly, however, that's getting harder and harder to do. While "ER" is still a powerful force in the ratings — and basically unchallenged in its Thursday-night time slot — the ratings are down. And the quality is down even more.
The show, which was once about medicine, is now about the doctors. It's a weekly soap opera that pauses occasionally for bloody medical and surgical procedures.
If anyone had told me when "ER" was at its height that it would be doing a brain tumor story — a staple of daytime soaps — I would have scoffed. Probably laughed out loud.
But then who would have predicted that so much of this season would revolve around various love triangles and quadrangles involving Carter (Noah Wyle), Lewis (Stringfield), Lockhart (Maura Tierney) and Kovac (Goran Visnjic)?
It's difficult to argue with Edwards' decision to leave the show. It's too late to leave while "ER" is at the pinnacle of its creative power, but all indications are it's going to get worse before it gets better.
E-MAIL: pierce@desnews.com