Here's the original review of "ER" that ran in the Deseret News on Sept. 19, 1994. It's a rave that also indicates just how much the show has changed in 15 years — from a show that centered on the medical action to a show that centers on the personal lives of the medical staff.
Hop on board and take the roller-coaster ride that is "ER" tonight.
This new NBC medical drama has more thrills, chills, ups and downs than the Fire Dragon at Lagoon. It will make you laugh. It will make you cry. It will make you think. And, if you're squeamish, it might make you sick.
There's not necessarily a lot of depth to "ER," but the ride is certainly wild enough.
As is fairly obvious from the title, this show is set in a hospital emergency room. In this case, the hospital is in Chicago.
The show features an attractive, appealing cast. If there's a central character, it's Dr. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards), the chief resident and a family man whose obsession with work isn't doing much for his marriage.
George Clooney plays Dr. Douglas Ross, a pediatrician who balances a rather wild social life with his dedication to his patients.
Sherry Stringfield is the most prominent woman in the cast, playing Dr. Susan Lewis, who may be the most together of the doctors.
Eriq LaSalle is Dr. Peter Barton, an almost obnoxiously self-confident surgical resident.
And Noah Wyle is John Carter, the rather naive young medical student who shares with the audience a fresh, sometimes frightened outlook on the chaos that surrounds the emergency-room doctors.
But what makes "ER" particularly good is the stream of patients that flows through the show. With superior writing, supervised by creator and executive producer Michael Crichton, even the briefest of scenes brings the patients to life.
It's not hard for the audience to identify with these characters, to feel for them, even to cry for them.
Whether it's a relatively minor complaint or a life-threatening injury, it's the patients who drive "ER" along. There's some hint of the personal lives of the doctors — particularly of Dr. Greene's life in tonight's pilot — but this is a show about medicine, not a soap opera about the doctors.
Which is not to say it's not a very human drama. It's the people that count here.
The action in "ER" is almost nonstop. "An average show will have 30 to 40 patients who come through the door," said executive producer John Wells.
It's that pace, that frenetic energy, that lifts "ER" well above the television crowd. This is a show that almost needs commercial breaks, just to give you a chance to catch your breath.