Noah Wyle explains why talks of an ER revival fell through
Noah Wyle as John Carter in ‘ER’ in 1999 (Getty Images)
ER star Noah Wyle has revealed that he tried to revive the show in 2020.
However, due to issues with the estate of the show’s creator Michael Crichton, Wyle gave up trying and began working on another healthcare show called The Pitt instead.
Wyle played John Carter on the long-running medical series from 1994 to 2005, and returned for the final season in 2009. Wyle revealed on Steve Kmetko’s Still Here Hollywood Podcast that there were talks of bringing back the show during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I was getting all this mail from first responders and I had this desire to pivot the compliments to John Wells [the showrunner of ER],” he said.
“So, I emailed him and I said, ‘Hey, I’m getting all this lovely mail from people that are thanking us for keeping them entertained, or inspired them to go into the careers that they’re in in the first place, and I just have to say thank you. Except for my children, [ER] is probably the best thing I’ve ever done with my life, and I just want to say thanks.’”
This fanmail inspired Wyle and Wells to brainstorm ways to revive the show without doing a direct reboot..
Wyle wrote to Wells: “I know you don’t want to reboot the show. I don’t either. I thought it was very smart not to franchise and dilute what we did.
’But if you’ve ever wanted to do something much smaller and more contained – more of a character piece catching up to an old character and just finding out how they feel about what’s happening right now in healthcare, and use them as a jeremiad opportunity to say what you want – I would vote for that. I’d be on board for that.’”
Wyle and Wells assembled a team of former ER writers, including David Zabel and R Scott Gemmill. However, their plans didn’t come to fruition.
“We had some issues with the Crichton estate and the negotiations became a non-starter,” Wyle explained.
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Wyle doesn’t regret that the revival never happened, stating: “In a lot of ways, it was a dodged bullet and a blessing.”
Wyle felt that if ER returned, all the focus would be on the actors, and not on the medical stories he wanted to tell.
Instead, Wyle, Wells and Gemmill began working on a new medical drama called The Pitt.
The streaming service Max has ordered 15 episodes of the new show. The drama will take place in a hospital in Pittsburgh. Wyle will star in the series and serve as an executive producer. Wells will also executive produce, and Gemmill will be the showrunner.
The show is described as following “the daily lives of healthcare professionals in a Pittsburgh hospital as they juggle personal crises, workplace politics, and the emotional toll of treating critically ill patients, revealing the resilience required in their noble calling”.
ER ran for 15 seasons on NBC from 1994 to 2009. It has won more awards than any other medical drama, including a Golden Globe and 23 Emmys.
Crichton, who also wrote the novel Jurassic Park, based the original screenplay on his own experiences as a medical student.