Laura Innes Movies
Television audiences know award-winning actress Laura Innes as ER's angry Dr. Kerry Weaver. She is also an accomplished stage performer and an Emmy-nominated director with writing credits on some of the most heralded television shows.Innes was born on August 16, 1959, in Pontiac, MI. She was raised in Birmingham with her parents, Laurette and Robert, and five older siblings. When Innes was growing up, her father, a college English professor, insisted that the family attend the heralded Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada. Innes grew more and more interested in acting with each performance. In 1977, she graduated from Birmingham Seaholm High School and, with her father's encouragement to follow her heart, enrolled in Northwestern University's theater arts program.
In 1978, while still in college, Innes made her film debut in Brian De Palma's The Fury with Kirk Douglas and John Cassavetes. After graduation, the actress went straight to the stage. She performed at Chicago's Goodman Theatre for four years, where she played Stella opposite John Malkovich's Mitch in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire and portrayed Glenna in the original cast of David Mamet's Edmund. Innes also worked at the Body Politic and Widsom Bridge theaters, and then took her theater career on the road. She appeared as Glenna in the traveling production of Edmund, joined Eric Stoltz in Two Shakespearean Actors at Lincoln Center, starred in Our Town with Campbell Scott at the Seattle Repertory Theater, and performed in Three Sisters at the La Jolla Playhouse with Nancy Travis and Phoebe Cates.
In 1987, Innes met her future husband, actor David Brisbin, while doing summer stock in Woodstock, NY. Days later, Innes' appendix burst and she was brought to the hospital. Brisbin remained by her side during the episode and the two were engaged shortly afterward. In 1989, Brisbin began work on Nickelodeon's children's comedy Hey Dude, as the owner of the fictional Bar None Dude Ranch. Innes made two guest appearances on the show and wrote one episode before its cancellation in 1990. Also in 1990, Innes gave birth to their son, Cal. Having a child influenced the couple to try and boost their income and they made a permanent move to Los Angeles in 1991.
Innes made several television appearances throughout the early '90s. Besides landing a reoccurring role as Thomas Haden Church's flighty ex-wife on Wings, she guest starred on Rugrats, Brooklyn Bridge, Bakersfield, P.D., Party of Five, The Good Life, and My So-Called Life. Innes worked on a host of television movies -- including Desperate Rescue: The Cathy Mahone Story (1992), Telling Secrets (1993), and Torch Song (1993) -- and appeared in HBO's Emmy-winning adaptation And the Band Played On (1993).
In 1994, Innes auditioned for a minor speaking role as George Clooney's girlfriend on NBC's top-rated series ER. She did not land the part and, in 1995, signed on to play a Midwest housewife in the Louie Anderson sitcom The Louie Show. Before that series began production, ER's casting directors called Innes back to read for the guest spot of Dr. Kerry Weaver. Producers hired Innes to portray the stern redheaded doctor for six episodes. She appeared in 14, and then became a regular cast member. The Louie Show, which aired in 1996 as a midseason replacement, was canceled. Innes won two Screen Actors Guild Awards as part of the ER ensemble and garnered two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Dr. Weaver. Her ER co-star, Anthony Edwards, suggested that Innes try directing an episode. Innes made her television directorial debut during the 1999 May sweeps with the episode "Power," in which an electrical failure compromises the functioning of the ER. Innes' work greatly impressed the show's producer, John Wells. Not only did he hire her to direct additional episodes, but he also invited Innes to direct an installment of his other hit series, The West Wing. Her episode of The West Wing, titled "Shibboleth," earned Innes her first Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series.
While enjoying her success on ER, Innes appeared in several feature films and television movies. In 1998, she worked on Deep Impact with Morgan Freedman and Elijah Wood. In 1999, she performed in Can't Stop Dancing with fellow ER cast member Noah Wyle. She also appeared in television's The Price of a Broken Heart (1999) and Taking Back Our Town (2001). In addition to being a celebrated actress/director, Innes is the first female celebrity Jeopardy champion and was voted one of People magazine's "Ten Most Beautiful People" in its yearly online poll in 2001. The actress left ER after 12 seasons in 2007, though she would return briefly for the series finale. Innes returned to television in 2010 to take on the role of Police Captain Tricia Harper in NBC's Awake. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, Rovi
- 2006
House (Hugh Laurie) doesn't have too many idols, but 71-year-old cancer researcher Ezra Powell (Joel Grey) can qualify as one of them. After collapsing in his lab, Powell is rushed to the clinic,, where the staff can't agree whether he is suffering from a heart ailment or lung disease. Frankly, Powell could care less: He simply wants to die--and demands that the staff assist him in his demise. Much to the horrified astonishment of his colleagues, House tells Powell that he'll do anything he asks! And in another development, a congestion patient's 17-year-old daughter (Leighton Meester) develops a crush on House and refuses to leave him alone...on or off the job. This episode was directed by ER regular Laura Innes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Season ten of ER finds Dr. John Carter (Noah Wyle) returning to Chicago County after a brief sojourn with a Doctors Without Borders project in a war-torn Congolese field hospital. Reportedly, Carter's co-worker in this project, Dr. Luka Kovac (Goran Visnjic), was killed in the fighting -- but this report proves to be slightly exaggerated when Kovac himself reappears at the ER. In a related development, the romance between Carter and nurse Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney) is stifled by the news that Carter has had a fling with his Doctors Without Borders co-worker Kem Likasu (Thandie Newton), who is carrying his baby. Elsewhere, Parminder Nagra joins the cast as nervous new med student Neela Rasgotra, who is mentored by Michael Gallant (Sharif Atkins), who in turn is now a doctor. Neela catches the eye of Gallant's longtime rival Dr. Pratt (Mekhi Phifer), arousing the jealousy of Dr. Deb Chen (Ming-Na). Later on, Neela passes her medical boards, but the more experienced Abby does not. Another newcomer to the cast is Glenn Howerton as Dr. Nick Cooper, a second-year resident. This season marks the departure of Paul McCrane as irascible Dr. Robert Romano, who has become all the nastier since being fitted out with a prosthesis after losing his hand and forearm in a helicopter accident; ironically, it is another helicopter, this one crashing off the hospital roof, which ultimately seals Romano's doom. Even more ironically, Romano's death saves the job of Dr. Archie Morris (Scott Grimes), whom Romano had just caught smoking pot on the job. In other developments, Dr. Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) recovers sufficiently from the death two seasons ago of her husband, Mark Greene, to enter into a hot-and-heavy romance with Dr. Eddie Dorset (Bruno Campos), who happens to be married; later on, she is made head of surgery and juggles dating two other men at the same time. Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) strikes up an unusual friendship with a suicidal architect (brilliantly portrayed by Bob Newhart). And Kerry Weaver's (Laura Innes) parter, paramedic Sandy Lopez (Lisa Vidal), gives birth to a baby boy, Henry; however, Kerry's euphoria is tragically cut short when Sandy later dies in a fire and Kerry ends up in a bitter custody battle with Sandy's family over the child. The season ends on another cliffhanger, as doctors Pratt and Chen are seriously wounded in a particularly nasty case of "road rage." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Noah Wyle
- 2002
Don Cheadle makes his first series appearance as Paul Nathan, an overaged med student who chose to enter school only after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. During his first shift, Nathan plunges in to help the other staffers treat the victims of a Halloween party fire -- whereupon his colleagues notice that he doesn't react all that well to intense pressure. In other developments, Corday (Alex Kingston) and Romano (Paul McCrane) battle over a patient who may be facing an amputation; despite her recent erratic behavior, Weaver (Laura Innes) tries to save a baby who was all but killed in a home birth gone awry; and the romance between Chuny (Laura Ceron) and Kovac (Goran Visnjic) is sabotaged by his insatiable addiction to sex. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
As season nine of ER opens, a grieving Dr. Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) elects to return to the ER after the death of her husband, Mark Greene. Meanwhile, Dr. John Carter (Noah Wyle) and Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney) have survived the smallpox scare that caused the lockdown and riot at Chicago County at the end of season eight -- and as a bonus, they have fallen in love. Elsewhere, lesbian Dr. Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) comes to grips with her pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage, and puts her job on the line by giving secret medical treatment to an alderman who still hasn't "come out." Dr. Romano (Paul McCrane) becomes even more irascible after losing his right hand and forearm in a helicopter mishap; no longer able to operate, he is placed in charge of the ER, where his erratic behavior soon proves to be not only annoying but dangerous. Troubled East European émigré Dr. Luka Kovac (Goran Visnjic) is accused of hitting on a nurse, becomes involved in a fatal traffic accident, and puts his job in jeopardy with a disastrous misdiagnosis. The tensions escalating between African-American ER staffers Gallant (Sharif Atkins) and Pratt (Mekhi Phifer) explode when both are temporarily held as suspects in a murder at the doctors' favorite watering hole, Magoo's -- and later, Pratt is on the verge of exiting the ER, but he redeems himself by saving the life of a mother whose baby was cut from her womb. Mercurial Dr. Chen (Ming-Na) reveals that she once gave up a child for adoption. Plagued by the psychological problems of her mother and brother, recovering alcoholic Abby begins drinking again. Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) returns from a brief holiday with a new husband (Donal Logue) in tow. And several episodes are built around Paul Nathan, an overaged medical student (Don Cheadle) suffering from Parkinson's disease. The year's most noteworthy newcomer is Leslie Bibb as brash, outspoken med student Erin Harkins. Season nine ends with the culmination of a story arc begun when Carter finds himself re-examining his priorities after a brush with a dedicated storefront-clinic doctor (Ed Asner). Ultimately, Carter joins Kovac in a Doctor Without Borders project, tending to the sick and wounded in a dismal Congolese field hospital while a political revolution rages around them. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Noah Wyle
- 2001
Abby (Maura Tierney) is forced to leave Chicago to retrieve her bipolar mother, Maggie (Sally Field), who has squirreled herself away in an Oklahoma motel room and has refused to seek out treatment for her mental condition. When Carter (Noah Wyle) offers to accompany Abby on her trip, he inadvertently stokes the flames of jealousy amongst the other ER staffers. Meanwhile, back in Chicago, victims of a college hazing prank gone bad are brought in, and Corday (Alex Kingston) goes into labor. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Based on a true story, Taking Back Our Town is a Lifetime original movie. Laura Innes plays Pat Melancon, a housewife and environmental activist. She forms a coalition to stop the chemical corporation Shintech from building a plant in her town. Already overly polluted, her township is known as "cancer alley." Fighting against the wealthy company brings Pat and her coalition all the way to the Governor. Also stars Ruby Dee and Hallee Hirsh. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Laura Innes
- 2001
Sharif Atkins joins the series as Michael Gallant, a new medical student assigned to Carter (Noah Wyle). While making the rounds with Gallant, Carter learns to his chagrin that his grandmother (Frances Sternhagen) is now a "high-risk" patient who may die at any moment; he also helps Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) treat another med student who has been cutting herself. Elsewhere, a mall security guard is driven to desperate measures after accidentally injuring a skateboarder; Elizabeth (Alex Kingston) tries to determine the identity of the person responsible for euthanizing four of her patients in post-op; and, claiming to be Reese's (Matthew Watkins) biological father, Roger (Vondie Curtis-Hall) demands custody of the boy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Resolving the cliffhanger ending of season seven, season eight of the award-winning hospital drama ER surveys the damage done when the emergency room of Chicago County was besieged by a gun-wielding lunatic whose son Dr. Greene (Anthony Edwards) had put in foster care. In subsequent episodes, two new characters are introduced: medical student Michael Gallant (Sharif Atkins) and intern Dr. Gregory Pratt (Mekhi Phifer), two polar-opposite personalities whose only common bond is the fact that they are both African-Americans. Under normal circumstances, the season's most dramatic development might have been the return after a five-year absence of Dr. Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield), who finds herself re-upping with the ER even though that hadn't been her original intention (the fate of Susan's troublesome sister Chloe and Chloe's daughter, Suzy, would be explained in a "crossover" episode with another NBC series, Third Watch). However, too much happens this season for any one plot strand to predominate. For starters, Dr. Benton (Eriq La Salle) enters into a bitter custody battle over his son, Reese, with Roger (Vondie Curtis-Hall), the widow of Reese's late mother, who had previously been helping to raise the boy, during which Benton's paternity is called into question; this and other crises ultimately inspire Benton to leave the ER and go to work in a small clinic with his current girlfriend, Dr. Cleo Finch (Michael Michele) -- who, ironically, has become exposed to the HIV virus, just like Benton's former sweetheart Jeanie Boulet. Elsewhere, nurse Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney) tries to mediate an argument between her neighbors, only to get beaten up for her trouble; though East European émigré Dr. Luka Kovac (Goran Visnjic) seizes upon this incident to appoint himself Abby's "protector," she is still sweet on Dr. John Carter (Noah Wyle). As for Carter, he is burdened with family problems brought about by his estranged parents -- especially his guilt-tripping mom. On a lighter note, a case of on-the-job political incorrectness gets several of the ER doctors "sentenced" to a weekend sensitivity-training session, which evolves into the series' own version of The Breakfast Club. In addition to the departing Eriq La Salle, season eight of ER marks the exit of Anthony Edwards as Dr. Mark Greene. After learning that his tumor has returned and is now truly inoperable, Greene slowly loses his faculties and wastes away, as his new wife, Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston), and daughter Rachel (Hallee Hirsh) stand by helplessly. Greene's final episode, largely told in flashback, is one of the series' most poignant moments. Curiously, however, the demise of Dr. Greene does not take place in the season finale; that particular episode is reserved for a cliffhanger situation involving a smallpox scare, a lockdown at the ER, and a riot -- not to mention a passionate kiss between two of the principal characters. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Noah Wyle, Anthony Edwards, (more)
- 2000
In the first episode of a two-part story, Valentine's Day has a strange effect on Greene's (Anthony Edwards) cantankerous dad (John Cullum) and Corday's (Alex Kingston) judgmental mom (Judy Parfitt), who find themselves attracted to one another. Back at the ER, a private quarrel between Chen (Ming-Na) and Malucci (Erik Palladino) may have adverse consequences on a patient (Lenny Wolpe). A grim Kovac (Goran Visnjic) must tell two youngsters that both of their parents have been killed. Abby (Maura Tierney) treats one of Carter's patients. And Carter (Noah Wyle) brusquely brushes off Lucy (Kellie Martin) when she asks his help in dealing with a patient named Sobricki (David Krumholtz), whose "headache" may be linked to a more serious mental illness. The episode ends on a sudden and shocking note of tragedy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Curiously, there were no major cast defections during the seventh season of the award-winning hospital drama ER. However, two new characters make their first appearances this season: psychiatrist Dr. Kim Legaspi (Elizabeth Mitchell), who coerces ER chief Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) to admit that she is a lesbian; and 19-year-old pediatrics intern Rena Trujillo (Lourdes Benedicto), who latches onto Dr. John Carter (Noah Wyle) -- who in turn is trying to wean himself from a dangerous dependency on drugs and booze, brought about by a double tragedy in the previous season. The season's predominant plotline involves Dr. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards), whose romance with Dr. Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) results in a baby and a marriage -- and who, in a more disturbing development, is diagnosed with a brain tumor. Another subplot concerns the ongoing feud between doctors Romano (Paul McCrane) and Peter Benton (Eriq La Salle), culminating in Benton being fired from the ER and blacklisted throughout the Chicago medical world; though he is eventually reinstated, Benton is saddled with additional problems vis-à-vis his gangbanger nephew Jesse (Andrew McFarlane) and Jesse's girlfriend, Kynesha (Toy Connor). Also, OB nurse Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney) finds herself strapped for cash in her efforts to enter medical school, and is drawn to Carter -- though their budding relationship is sorely strained when she becomes his AA sponsor. Meanwhile, East European émigré Dr. Luka Kovac (Goran Visnjic) continues to suffers flashbacks to past tragedies in his war-torn homeland. Among the season's notable guest stars as Sally Field, in an Emmy-winning turn as Abby's bipolar mother, and John Cromwell as a dying Catholic bishop who tries to reawaken the embittered Kovac's faith in God. The unforgettable season seven finale finds the ER under siege by the homicidally vengeful father of a child whom Greene had removed to foster care. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Noah Wyle, Anthony Edwards, (more)
- 1999
During a power outage at the ER, Greene (Anthony Edwards) is forced to improvise to treat an injured utilities repairman. Elsewhere, a helpful neighbor brings in an elderly couple suffering from suspicious injuries. Carol (Julianna Margulies) tries to send word to Ross about her pregnancy, despite a total shutdown of communication within the building. Romano (Paul McCrane) finds himself in the position of begging to Corday (Alex Kingston). And a rapist is on the loose somewhere in County General. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Inspired by actual events, The Price of a Broken Heart tells the tale of a marriage shattered, and a wife who refuses to play the victim. Joe (Timothy Carhart) and Dot (Park Overall) have been married for nineteen years: They've got three sons, a lovely home, and Joe's career is on the upswing. But Joe's office assistant Lynne (Laura Innes) has always wanted a perfect family of her own, and now she's convinced that her dream is finally within reach. With cool calculation, Lynne lures Joe into an extramarital affair that spans a passion-fueled three years. Eventually, Joe breaks down and reveals the affair to Dot. Enraged at the betrayal and determined to strike back at the women who tried to break up her family, Dot sues her husband's mistress for $1 million under an archaic North Carolina law known as "alienation of affection." The law was designed to protect husbands and wives from predatory home wreckers, but can it still be enforced in an era where fifty percent of marriages fail anyway? As the trial gets underway, Dot endures humiliation and the media frenzy in a noble bid to show Lynne just how strong true family ties can be. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Laura Innes, Park Overall, (more)
- 1999
Actor Ben Zook co-wrote and co-directed this broad comedy, in which he stars as Randy Rubio, the leader of a small-time dance troupe who hasn't let his 260-pound girth get in the way of his dreams. When Randy and his fellow hoofers are told their 15-year run at a Topeka, Kansas theme park has come to an end, they decide to pack up their bus and move to Hollywood, where he's convinced fame and fortune await them. Randy's dance partners include Saturday Night Live's Melanie Hutsell and comic Margaret Cho; Janeane Garofalo, Illeana Douglas, Noah Wyle and Laura Innes also make cameo appearances. Satirizing sad-sack showbiz hopefuls and 1980's pop musicals such as Flashdance and Footloose in equal measure, Can't Stop Dancing milks its characters' big ambitions and small talent for all they're worth. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ben Zook, Melanie Hutsell, (more)
The impossibly obstreperous Dr. Robert Romano (Paul McCrane) matriculates from recurring to regular character as the Chicago-based hospital drama ER enters its sixth season. Other incoming cast members include Maura Tierney as OB nurse Abby Lockhart, who is introduced when she delivers the twin babies of Nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies); Goran Visnjic as troubled Eastern European émigré and war veteran Dr. Luka Kovac, Erik Palladino as zany Dr. Dave Malucci; and, back after a lengthy absence, Ming-Na as former intern and now full doctor Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen, who in her med-student days had been a formidable competitor to Dr. John Carter (Noah Wyle). Conversely, a number of familiar characters make their exits this season, most notably George Clooney as maverick Dr. Douglas Ross and Julianna Margulies as long-suffering Nurse Carol Hathaway; the season's penultimate episode, detailing with the ultimate fates of Ross and Carol, is among the series' most famous sequences -- and one which was surprisingly kept secret until the very night of the telecast. Additional "defectors" include Gloria Reuben as HIV-positive Jeanie Boulet, who has gotten over her earlier romance with prickly Dr. Peter Benton (Eriq La Salle) and has wed police officer Reggie Moore (Cress Williams); and Kellie Martin as med student Lucy Knight, who is stabbed to death by a deranged patient, an attack that also seriously imperils the life of Lucy's erstwhile lover Carter -- who even upon recovery endangers himself by turning to drugs. Season five plot developments include Romano's ascension to chief of staff, a promotion given as part of a deal whereby Dr. Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) would be appointed ER chief; Romano's subsequent and surprising appointment of his verbal sparring partner Dr. Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) as his assistant; Corday's blossoming romance with her colleague Dr. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards), and the reciprocal love affair between Corday's mom and Greene's dad (who dies later in the season); Benton's affair with Dr. Cleo Finch (Michael Michele), counterpointed by his incessant squabbling with his sister Jackie (Khandi Alexander); and guest star Alan Alda, who in a poignant story arc plays a celebrated surgeon in the first stage of Alzheimer's. The traditional season-ending cliffhanger finds Carter facing a crucial decision: seek out treatment for his ever-growing drug dependency or destroy whatever career he has left. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Noah Wyle, Anthony Edwards, (more)
Mimi Leder (The Peacemaker) directed this science-fiction disaster drama about the possible extinction of human life after a comet is discovered headed toward Earth with the collision only one year away. Ambitious MSNBC reporter Jenny Lerner (Tea Leoni) stumbles onto the story, prompting a White House press conference. United States President Beck (Morgan Freeman) announces the government's solution: a team of astronauts will travel to the comet and destroy it. The team leader aboard the spaceship Messiah is Spurgeon Tanner (Robert Duvall), who was once the last man to walk on the moon. However, the mission fails, splitting off a chunk of the comet, now due to land in the Atlantic with the impact sending a 350-foot tidal wave flooding 650 miles inland, destroying New York and other cities. The larger part of the comet, hitting in Canada, will trigger an E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event), not unlike a "nuclear winter" as dust clouds block out the sun and bring life to an end. President Beck reveals Plan B: a cavernous underground retreat constructed to hold one million Americans, with most to be selected through a national lottery. Since teenage amateur astronomer Leo Biederman (Elijah Wood) discovered the comet, his family gets a pass to enter the cave, but his girlfriend Sarah (Leelee Sobieski) and her parents will be left behind. Meanwhile, still in space, Spurgeon Tanner devises a plan for a kamikaze-styled operation that could possibly save the Earth. Special visual effects by Scott Farrar and Industrial Light & Magic. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Morgan Freeman, Robert Duvall, (more)
It's another year of triumph and tragedy in the emergency room of Chicago's County General Hospital as ER enters its fifth season. New to the cast this year is Kellie Martin as inexperienced and somewhat klutzy medical student Lucy Knight, who soon proves to be a major thorn in the side of her supervisor, Dr. John Carter (Noah Wyle). Even so, Carter and Lucy grow quite fond of one another, with the possibility of a serious relationship waiting in the wings. The season's major plot developments include the decision by British doctor Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) to remain in the U.S. as intern for the prickly Dr. Robert Romano (Paul McCrane), a career move she soon has cause to regret; Romano's later brush with sexual-harassment charges; the efforts by Dr. Benton (Eriq La Salle) to find proper treatment for his hearing-impaired son and the tempestuous relationship between Benton's HIV-positive former girlfriend Jeanie (Gloria Reuben) and police officer Reggie Moore (Cress Williams); Benton's later, epiphany-sparking odyssey at a backwater clinic in Mississippi; another career-threatening crisis for Dr. Ross (George Clooney), who must shoulder much of the responsibly of the death of an ALD patient; a mini-tragedy involving Greene and his profoundly disturbed patient, a Nigerian-born janitor (Djimon Hounsou) who cannot overcome memories of torture at the hands of his countrymen; and the ascension of abrasive Dr. Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) to ER chief, after the first candidate turns out to be a phony physician. ER makes media history this season, first by reaching its 100th episode (which, appropriately enough, deals with a woman who was born 100 years earlier at Chicago County), then by emerging as the most expensive weekly TV drama series in history, budgeted at 13 million dollars per episode. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Noah Wyle, Anthony Edwards, (more)
Season four of ER opens with the famous "live" episode, which was originally telecast in "you are there" documentary fashion (with two separate stagings, one each for the East and West Coasts). This episode serves to introduce a new regular, British doctor Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston). Within a few weeks, Elizabeth has inaugurated a romance with irascible Dr. Peter Benton (Eriq La Salle), who is presently occupied with caring for his deaf son, Reese. Another character, overachieving pediatrician Dr. Anna Del Amico (Maria Bello), graduates from recurring to regular status just in time to enter into a relationship with Dr. John Carter (Noah Wyle). Also joining the cast this season is the obnoxious, obstreperous Dr. Robert Romano (Paul McCrane), whose dislike of Dr. Corday borders on the obsessive; and Carter's fabulously wealthy grandmother, played by Frances Sternhagen. Dr. Greene (Anthony Edwards) spends much of the season trying to overcome the physical and emotional scars after being severely beaten by an unknown assailant near the end of season three. When Dr. Ross (George Clooney) heads to California to handle funeral arrangements for his ne'er-do-well father, Greene accompanies him, and along the way he endures a painful reunion with his own parents. Elsewhere, Nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) breaks off her rekindled romance with Ross; gruff ER head Dr. Anspaugh (John Aylward) is "humanized" by the serious illness of his son; Dr. Weaver (Laura Innes) is appointed new acting chief of emergency services, leading to a brief fling with the CEO in charge of the cost-cutting organization that has purchased Chicago County; Greene makes a bid for the position of pediatrics attending physician, causing a sharp divide between those for and against his promotion; and Benton's ex-girlfriend Jeanie (Gloria Reuben) tries to lead a normal life and career despite her AIDs. The season closes with Ross in deep trouble (again!), this time over his unauthorized treatment of a drug-addicted baby. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Noah Wyle, Anthony Edwards, (more)
Season three of ER marks the (temporary) exit of Chicago County emergency-room doctor Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield), whose ever-increasing emotional problems are exacerbated when her romance with Dr. Greene (Anthony Edwards) fails to take off. It also marks the begining of John Carter's (Noah Wyle) medical career, as he starts off the season now a doctor, but still low on the food chain as a first-year intern. New to the series this season are head of surgery Dr. Donald Anspaugh (John Aylward), pediatrician Dr. Abby Keaton (Glenne Headley), and oversensitive intern Dr. Dennis Gant (Omar Epps), who, unable to withstand the incessant hectoring of hard-driving supervisor Dr. Peter Benton (Eriq La Salle), commits suicide. Benton has problems on other fronts as well: Dr. Keaton dismisses him from the prestigious pediatrics team; his current girlfriend, Jeanie Boulet (Gloria Reuben), is diagnosed as HIV-positive; and his former sweetheart Carla Reese (Lisa Nicole Carson) prematurely delivers Benton's baby son, who is born deaf. Elsewhere, womanizing Dr. Ross (George Clooney) has another scandal on his hands when his latest one-night stand (whose name he doesn't even know) drops dead; unfortunately, his attempt to redeem himself by rescuing a 14-year-old prostitute from a life on the streets ends disastrously as well. Long-suffering Head Nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) is torn between staying in her current job and entering med school. And newly divorced Dr. Greene nervously re-enters the dating scene, even while his ongoing war of nerves with the abrasive Dr. Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) intensifies. As the season rushes to a climax, Greene is accused of allowing a black patient to die while caring for a white patient -- and shortly afterward, he is severely beaten by an unknown assailant. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Noah Wyle, Anthony Edwards, (more)
Having all but forced its CBS medical-show competition Chicago Hope off the Thursday-night schedule, NBC's ER reigned supreme as the series entered its second season. Having wrongly assumed that he would leave Chicago County after his third year of med school, John Carter (Noah Wyle) remains on staff as a surgical sub-intern, and by and by is given a promotion; later on, he follows the example of his sexually supercharged colleagues by getting involved in a romantic triangle. Carter's short-tempered supervisor, Dr. Benton (Eriq La Salle), likewise enters into a relationship, with divorcée Jeanie Boulet (Gloria Reuben) -- who may or may not be entirely free of her troublesome ex, Al (Michael Beach). Left standing at altar by her fiancée at the end of season one, Head Nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) falls for Ray "Shep" Shepard (Ron Eldard), a rather reckless paramedic. And Dr. Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) has become quite comfortable caring for her irresponsible sister Chloe's baby, Suzy -- until Chloe (Kathleen Wilhoite) pops up out of nowhere to demand custody. Season two marks the introduction of Laura Innes as Dr. Kerry Weaver, whose brusque, fingernails-on-the-blackboard attitude gets on everyone's nerves. In other developments, Dr. Ross (George Clooney), facing dismissal because of his maverick behavior, redeems himself by saving a boy trapped in a culvert during a torrential downpour; Shep goes over the edge when his paramedic partner is killed in a fire; and, in the season-ending cliffhanger, Benton discovers that Jeanie's former husband, Al, has infected her with the HIV virus. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Noah Wyle, Anthony Edwards, (more)
- 1993
Cybill Shepherd takes a ride into the dark side in this two-part TV movie, purported based on a true story. Shepherd is cast as wealthy and seductive Phoenix socialite Faith Kelsey, who opts not to get mad but to get even when her husband, Terry (Christopher McDonald), enters into an affair with Stacey Eckhart (Denise Gentile), herself a married woman with children. When Stacey is brutally murdered, the police have great difficulty linking either of the Kelseys to the crime -- and no one has more difficulty than Detective Jay Jensen (Ken Olin), who, entranced by Faith's beauty and charm, concludes that she is as "much a victim" as the dead woman. But as the story unfolds, it becomes painfully clear that Faith has hatched an elaborate scheme to get away with murder, and to cover her tracks by persuading a number of people -- mostly male people -- to help her cover her tracks and leave the dots unconnected. But will Jensen finally wrest free of Faith's alluring spell and see to it that justice is done? And of more importance, can this be done before Faith makes her good her plan to leave the country and totally escape extradition? Telling Secrets was originally seen over NBC on January 17 and 18, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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