Lynette Rice, in conversation with Ellen Crawford, discusses & signs ER: The Oral History

ER: The Oral History is a deep dive into the show that began the modern medical drama phenomenon, and it contains new interviews with over 60 people, including John Wells and Noah Wyle (showrunner and star of the original ER, respectively, and executive producers of HBO's The Pitt), Eriq LaSalle, Laura Innes, Ming-Na Wen, Paul McCrane, Rick Rossovich, and Goran Visnjic. Long before Jurassic Park was the embryo of an idea in Michael Crichton's mind, there was ER. A medical student who dreamt of a career in Hollywood, Crichton did what any aspiring writer would: he created a script based on time working in a high-octane hospital emergency department. Of course, nobody wanted it. It wasn't until Crichton turned his attention to dinosaurs and his 1990 novel Jurassic Park became a megahit - and a mega-movie franchise - that Steven Spielberg's camp asked the former doctor what other ideas he was kicking around. Producers weren't interested in Crichton's dream to make a hospital film. But, they were looking for new television series programming and thought there might be something even bigger in the concept than a movie. And, thus, ER was born. Despite some resistance from NBC's top brass, the Warner Bros. Television drama became an overnight hit with its high-adrenaline storylines, realistic dialogue, and bona fide (not to mention hot) stars in the making in the cast, including Julianna Margulies, Noah Wyle, Anthony Edwards, and an actor who didn't end up amounting to much named George Clooney. ER premiered opposite the popular CBS drama Chicago Hope and quickly cannibalized its competition. It would, in its heyday, average 35 million viewers per season (in an era before streaming and DVRs), and was either the number one or number two most watched show on television for six years. Over the course of its fifteen years on air ER would feature weddings, births, break-ups, death, and medical conundrums in just about every form you could imagine. Although stars like Clooney and Margulies would come and go, ER introduced (or, in some cases, re-introduced0 the world to actors like Maura Tierney, Mekhi Phifer, Linda Cardellini, Ming-Na Wen, and Scott Grimes. It won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series and was nominated a staggering 124 times. As popular as Grey's Anatomy is now, there would be no Grey Sloan Memorial without County General. Bios: As the efficient Nurse Lydia Wright on the NBC series ER, Ellen Crawford had the distinction of uttering its first line. Her character went on to marry Sgt. Al Grabarsky, played by her real-life husband, Mike Genovese. Nurse Lydia was on staff at fictional County General Hospital for ten seasons, then returned for the series finale in an homage to the first scene of the pilot. Ellen received four SAG Awards for Best Ensemble and the TVLand Icon Award for ER. She was reunited with George Clooney as her director in Suburbicon, and also is known for her role in the indie cult hit, The Man From Earth. Other television work includes The Rookie, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, CSI and Boston Legal. LYNETTE RICE is the New York Times bestselling author of How to Save a Life, her oral history of the hit medical show, Grey's Anatomy. Previously, she was a senior writer at Deadline, as well as an editor-at-large for Entertainment Weekly and a writer covering TV for The Hollywood Reporter. Lynette wrote about “ER” during its heyday and forged many relationships with some of the most important players on the drama both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. She lives in Los Angeles, CA.