For those of you who watched last week's ER and thought, "Whoa! Weaver got fired?!", you're not alone. But if you also thought that there might be an opening for Laura Innes' character to stick around, you'd be wrong. Innes tells TVGuide.com that she's definitely leaving the show after tonight's episode; she may come back for an episode or two next year, but that's about it.

Basically, after playing Kerry Weaver for over eleven years, she just felt it was time to go. That's kind of a surprise to me, because for the first time in a few years, the Weaver character was actually going in a good direction, with a new hip, a new girlfriend, and that TV job. And, because she was just a plain attending and not management, her power-hungry side was gone. But that was part of the plan to have her leave, according to Innes, as well as making it a mid-season surprise.

She's going to do more directing -- she's directed episodes of House and Studio 60 this year in addition to ER -- and may act if the right thing comes along. In the interview, she also discusses being a role model for disabled people, being one of the first main lesbian characters on TV, and who she still hangs out with from amongst the massive set of ER alumni. What she doesn't talk about was playing Bunny, Lowell's girlfriend on Wings. But you can't cover everything, I guess.

She hints that other cast members will leave at the end of the year. There are rumors that Goran Visnjic might go, but I haven't heard about anyone else. Any ideas out there? Let me know in the comments.