BURBANK, Calif. — "ER" has been called many things in its 15-year run. Groundbreaking. Heart-rending. Award-winning. Life-saving. Life-saving?
As it turns out, the NBC medical drama — in addition to achieving remarkable success both creatively and commercially — saved at least one life.
"We never intentionally put health-care tips into a show," said executive producer Joe Sachs. "What we did do is we've always been current and accurate with our medical information, and because we are current and accurate, as a side effect, people learn."
One study by public health organizations found that half of "ER" viewers learned things from the show, and a third learned specific things that helped them or their family.
And one plotline saved the life of a young mother.
The story involved Dr. Mark Green (Anthony Edwards), who suffered the recurrence of a brain tumor. And the writers needed to "come up with a way to dramatize it."
The first time around, Green had seizures. The second time, he bit his tongue because it was protruding to the side and he couldn't control it.
"About a year after that episode was written, I got a letter from a young woman in Texas who was having terrible headaches, and none of the doctors were taking her seriously," Sachs said. "They said, 'It's stress. You've got two little kids.' And her tongue was protruding to the side.
"So when she saw that, she went to the ER and demanded a CAT scan. She had a huge tumor growing behind her nose that was a millimeter away from her spinal cord. Two weeks later she would have been dead. She had surgery. She's still alive. She had another kid and considers me her guardian angel."
That's perhaps the most startling example, but "ER" — which signs off Thursday night after 15 seasons and 331 episodes — touched an enormous number of lives.
The show averaged more than 30 million viewers for its first four seasons — an enormous number. It was among the four most popular shows on TV for nine years; was eighth in its 10th year and 16th in its 11th season.
The ratings have slipped markedly since its glory days. The show is averaging about 9 million viewers a week this season — but it's still among NBC's most popular shows.
"We've told stories we wanted to do and tried not to really keep track of too many of those statistics," said executive producer John Wells. "It kind of makes me tired to think about it — how much work it's been.
"But, yeah, it's been a great run with a wonderful cast, and we've been very proud that we've been able to keep up the quality of actors and storytelling. And the writers and directors that we've been able to have over the years has been a testament to NBC and to Warner Bros., who have given us the money to be able to do a lot of the things that we wanted to do.
"I mean, those things are connected to being able to get the cast members you want, the guest cast members, keep the quality high. There was never a point at which Warner Bros. said to us, 'Let's get all the costs down so we can make more money.' They've always been very supportive of us."
There's no doubt that "ER" has changed a great deal. And not just because the original cast — Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Eriq LaSalle, Noah Wyle, Sherry Stringfield and Julianna Margulies — is long gone.
Heck, the actors who followed the original stars are gone, too.
But while "ER" began as a frenetic roller coaster ride that was mostly about the patients, it developed into a character drama in which the personal lives of the medical staff played out before a medical backdrop. Midway through the show's run, Wells readily admitted the show had undergone a major shift in focus.
"At the beginning, we were going through eight or 12 (medical cases) and, on some of the big episodes, we did 20, 22 stories," he said. "And what we discovered is that, truthfully, there aren't that many stories in the ER medically. They kind of fall into a few categories, and we really ran through them all in the first season.
"But those stories aren't as interesting as the characters and how our (regular) characters, in particular, become involved in those stories."
But the show's hit status, along with the fact that it launched Clooney into superstardom, made it possible to keep replenishing the acting pool.
"We were able, because of the success of the show, to replace the actors who were leaving with really extraordinary actors," Wells said. "So when we look back at the list, we've had 26 regulars on the show now over the 14 or 15 years. … They were and have been just an extraordinary group of actors."
It's a list that includes Gloria Reuben, Laura Innes, Maria Bello, Alex Kingston, Kellie Martin, Goran Visnjic, Maura Tierney, Paul McCrane, Michael Michele, Erik Palladino, Ming-Na, Sharif Atkins, Mekhi Phifer, Parminder Nagra, Linda Cardellini, Shane West, Scott Grimes, John Stamos, David Lyons and Angela Bassett.
And all of them have been given some great storylines to deal with.
"There's no question that, over the 15 years of the show, we have done storylines that are certainly at least reminiscent of other storylines we've done. There's just no escaping it," said executive producer David Zabel.
"But what we're always trying to do is say, 'How can we tell the story differently just on an objective level?'
"We're trying diligently, really diligently, to differentiate some. And usually the best way to differentiate them is through a character and the actor. To me, it all comes down to character. That's why it's a character show."
In a way, this 15th season has been sort of a victory lap for "ER."
The show has had plenty of time to build toward a finale, plenty of time to bring back departed stars, and the writers/producers have had plenty of time to think about how the show will end.
While he didn't want to spoil that ending by giving too much away, Wells made it clear that life will go on for the "ER" characters.
"I would hate to give the impression that the difficulties of running a county hospital and the problems within the system come to an end because, conveniently, the hospital gets closed for a new one or something like that," he said.
"I think that the only way to really do justice to the show is to continue what has worked on it, which is we just sort of showed up on one day in 1994 as an audience and caught what was happening that day. Then every Thursday you kind of show up, and there's other stuff happening."
When it's all over, viewers will "feel as if we've simply walked away from the hospital with the cameras."
If you watch
What: The series finale of "ER"
When: Thursday, 8-10 p.m., following an hourlong "ER" retrospective at 7 p.m.
Channel: NBC/Ch. 5
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com