PARMINDER NAGRA WILL JOIN 'ER' TEAM OM NBC AS NEW SERIES REGULAR IN 2003-2004

Published: April 30, 2003

Parminder Nagra, the young actress who scored with critics and audiences alike in the recent feature film “Bend It Like Beckham,” will join next year’s regular cast of NBC’s “ER” (Thursdays, 10-11 p.m. ET) as an Indian medical student.

In Nagra’s feature-film debut and breakthrough role in the Fox Searchlight production of “Bend It Like Beckham,” she plays a teenaged English girl whose unexpected talents on the soccer field - inspired by her idol, international soccer star David Beckham - do not endear her with her traditional Indian family.

Nagra’s other credits include the upcoming Miramax film “Ella Enchanted.” She recently completed “Twelfth Night” for UK Channel 4 and also stars in the leading role for the channel’s two-part drama, “Second Generation.” In the United Kingdom, she also appeared in “A&E,” “Donovan Quick” and “Turning World.”

“ER” is a production of Constant c Productions and Amblin Television in association with Warner Bros. Television. Michael Crichton, John Wells and Jack Orman are the executive producers.

NBC Media Village

WEAKENED UPDATE

ER
(10 pm/ET, NBC)

Published: December 12, 2002

Doctors, I'm worried about this one. Vital signs are dropping and the pulse is weak and thready. I'll be honest: It's not looking good.

Once the picture of healthy TV drama, this formerly vibrant hour of bloody bodies, a swoon-worthy Clooney and breathless twists has not so much flatlined as it has gone into arrest, creative arteries clogged by creaky plots and cranky characters. And even if it has survived numerous cast transfusions and still does sweet numbers (though CSI is the ratings champ these days), this show remains in critical condition.

Age has a lot to do with it. Back in the day, this was once groundbreaking stuff. Everything went down so fast and everyone was so lovably flawed. George Clooney's Doug the dawg, Julianna Marguilies's Carol the fragile doll with all the curls, Eriq La Salle's Benton the grump. Even Anthony Edwards's Mark Greene had that balding loser thing going on, like Moby in scrubs. And the plots turned on a dime! Who saw Lucy's murder coming? Or Kerry's lesbianism? The shock treatments kept us tuning in.

Now I'm ready to check out.

Why? Well, what was once cutting-edge is now routine procedure. The envelope can only be pushed so far before the relentless traumas and romance rotations become trite. That smallpox Outbreak rip-off wasted May's season finale, only to return in September and infect the season opener — which covered three months in one hour! Now that's stretching. Not to mention the fact that half of County General walked away from being exposed to a deadly virus (and Romano's removable arm) without ever visiting a therapist to shake off the shock. The show has ventured into the unbelievable and has brought a cast of wholly unlikable characters with it.

Truthfully, I would fight a bear to defend Maura Tierney, but her boozy nurse Abby has become TV's biggest bitch since Simon Cowell. Why someone hasn't slapped her sober and shipped her to rehab yet is beyond me, as is why Carter (Noah Wyle), a recovering addict himself, endures her nonsense. And Lewis? Hello, Sherry Stringfield left a romantic heroine and returned a blousy matron. What the hell happened to this woman in Arizona?

As for the new class, Mekhi Phifer is such a strong actor (his 8 Mile turn will change anyone's contrary opinion) that it's hard to watch his Pratt become the Angry Black Man formerly known as Benton. Sharif Atkins's Gallant is just Carter from the old days, all naiveté and raised eyebrows, while Leslie Bibb's med student Harkins is so poorly developed, who knows what her deal is. But Bibb is not to blame: She was sublime as a blonde prom queen on Popular. Now that she's a glammed-down brunette, here's hoping she gets some material worthy of her "serious" new look.

Actually, that material may arrive this evening. In a move encouragingly reminiscent of the old days when tales twisted so much our heads spun, we get a gutsy hour that plays out almost entirely in reverse. So pay close attention.

As the faithful know, the ongoing undoing of Goran Visnjic's Luka Kovac has reduced the heart-stopping Croatian from a damaged widower to Abby's ex to an unrepentant smooth operator. Once hot, he's now a chilly anti-hero whose bitter bad-boy behavior has made him as hateful as County's Boris and Natasha, Romano and Corday (Paul McCrane, Alex Kingston). At first it seemed a sex-addiction plot was forming, with him bedding nurses, hiring hookers and offering a patient's mom the sort of grief counseling most HMOs frown upon. Tonight, we realize that something more is plaguing Kovac.

Starting with a car crash involving Kovac and Harkins, the tale uses Memento-like flashbacks to explain how and why these two wound up in peril. As with the series' best efforts (think the slightly stoned Doug in the flooded drainpipe or a sleep-deprived Mark torn between saving a mother or her unborn child), it all hinges on a compromised doctor trying to do his best. This time, it's Kovac, still hung-over from Lewis's holiday bash and too arrogant to accept help, racing to undo the damage of his own bad call after a patient proves to have more than just the flu.

Since we know what the outcome is at the start, the fascination here is watching everything fall apart. Free of the myriad guest stars who've come and gone this year (Don Cheadle, Sally Field, Tom Everett Scott), tonight's episode implicates almost every major player in the Kovac crisis. Abby and Carter, Lewis, Pratt, even Kerry (Laura Innes) all walk away with blood on their hands, either literally or figuratively. And once the dust settles, at least one career is in shambles, another looks to be cut tragically short and the rest of County is in shock. And that's just the beginning. (Or in this case, the end.) After tonight, things will only get worse for Kovac.

Which means things can get a lot better for the rest of us. The episode sets the stage for a full-on rehabilitation, not just for Kovac but for the show as a whole. And as long as the writers work this hard at redeeming the rest of County's crew and continue to tell stories instead of stunts, there's no reason not to hope for a full recovery. — Damian J. Holbrook

TV Guide.com

NBC TOPS OTHER NETS AT PEOPLE'S CHOICE NOMINATIONS

Published: December 04, 2002

NBC has once again emerged as the hottest network with the viewers’ favorite programming as confirmed by The People’s Choice Awards nominations which were announced earlier this morning in a press conference at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

NBC walked away with nine nominees in six different categories and also dominated three - Favorite Female Television Performer, Favorite Television Dramatic Series and Favorite Television Comedy Series - with two of the top three vote getters in each.

NBC Media Village

NOAH WYLE PLAYS PAPA

Mon Nov 11,8:15 PM ET---E! Online Gossip/Celeb

By Marcus Errico

Dr. Carter spent the weekend out of the ER and in the DR--as in delivery room.

ER dweller Noah Wyle and his wife, Tracy, are officially on diaper duty, after welcoming their firstborn on Saturday.

Tracy gave birth to a son, Owen Strausser Wyle, in a Los Angeles-area hospital, the actor's publicist, Eddie Michaels, announced Monday.

"The three are home, healthy and very, very happy," adds Michaels.

Healthy and happy indeed, considering Baby Wyle and his folks have one solid medical plan, thanks to Dad. Noah Wyle is signed on to ER through 2004 in a megabucks deal valued at $400,000 per episode, making him one of TV's highest-paid stars.

Michaels didn't divulge the tyke's birth dimensions, but the publicist did offer up one bit of Wyle family trivia: Owen's middle name is the maiden name of Noah's paternal great-grandmother. Both father and son share the Strausser mid-moniker.

Noah Wyle, 31, and his 34-year-old makeup-artist wife celebrated their second wedding anniversary in May. They've been inseparable since 1996, when they met on the set of the indie film The Myth of Fingerprints, in which Wyle costarred.

Wyle recently doffed his stethoscope for a role opposite Michelle Pfeiffer and Renée Zellweger in the recent Warner Bros. drama White Oleander. He also appeared in the underperforming Jennifer Lopez summer thriller Enough.

Yahoo! News

SALLY FIELD RETURNING TO 'ER'

Thu Aug 29,3:51 AM ET---HOLLYWOOD (Variety)

By Melissa Grego

 Sally Field will return to "ER" this fall to reprise the guest role that earned her an Emmy Award.

The veteran actress will appear in a multiepisode arc on "ER" as Maggie Wyczenski, a character who appeared only during the 2000-01 TV season.

Maggie is the bipolar mom of Maura Tierney's character Abby Lockhart. She will reappear on the series in an episode scheduled to air on the network Nov. 21.

Field's most recent network television appearance was her starring role in midseason ABC entry "The Court," which was dismissed earlier this year after struggling to find an audience.

Field recently signed on to make her Broadway debut in Edward Albee's "The Goat" alongside Bill Irwin. Starting Sept. 13, the duo replaces Mercedes Ruehl and Bill Pullman in the drama about a man who confesses a barnyard affair to his wife.

Yahoo! News

OSCAR WINNER SALLY FIELD REPRISES EMMY-NOMINATED ROLE AS BI-POLAR MOTHER ON NBC'S 'ER'

Published: August 29, 2002

BURBANK, Calif. -- August 29, 2002 -- Two-time Oscar winner Sally Field reprises her Emmy Award-winning role on NBC’s “ER” (Thursdays, 10-11 p.m. ET) this fall in the first of multiple episodes in which she portrays the mentally ill and problematic mother of Nurse Abby (Maura Tierney).

Field will resume filming in September in the role she first originated on the popular drama series during the 2000-01 season over an arc of high-profile episodes. Her character -- who suffers from a bi-polar disorder -- will be reunited with her distrustful daughter as well as her son (recurring guest star Thomas Everett Scott, “That Thing You Do”), an Air Force veteran who is visiting Abby.

Field won Academy Awards as Best Actress for her performance in “Norma Rae” and “Places in the Heart” and received her first Emmy Award for the TV movie “Sybil” in 1977. Field also was Emmy-nominated for her work in the cable movie “A Cooler Climate” and the miniseries “A Woman of Independent Means.” She made her directorial debut in the feature film “Beautiful,” starring Minnie Driver and starred as a United States Supreme Court Justice in the TV drama “The Court” last spring.

Among its previously announced roster of guest stars for the new season, “ER” also will feature Don Cheadle (“Ocean’s Eleven”) as a guest star in an arc of episodes.

For an unprecedented eighth year in a row, Emmy Award-winning drama series “ER” was television’s highest-rated drama among adults 18-49 during the 2001-02 season. The series is a production of Constant c Productions and Amblin Television in association with Warner Bros. Television. Michael Crichton, John Wells and Jack Orman are the executive producers.

NBC Media Village

DR. CARTER, ABBY TO HOOK UP ON 'ER'

Thu Aug 29,11:03 AM ET---PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - Noah Wyle seems to get a new girl every season on "ER," but this year he'll be getting the girl of his dreams.

Wyle says Dr. John Carter and nurse Abby Lockhart will be starting a romantic relationship this season.

Wyle tells AP Radio that the 2002 season begins right where last season left off, with the hospital in a lockdown because of a possible smallpox outbreak. When Wyle's and Maura Tierney's characters are quarantined together they finally face their feelings for one another and kiss.

"That will be the beginning of this relationship which I'm fairly confident will go the duration of the season, although nothing is set in stone," Wyle said.

The shows writers have been creating romantic tension between the two for the past couple of seasons and audiences have been expecting Carter and Abby to get together.

But Wyle says that even though audiences are used to seeing them together, there will be obstacles for the couple to overcome.

"While these two people are very right for each other for many reasons they're also very wrong for each other for many reasons," Wyle points out. "They both bring to the table a tremendous amount of baggage. They are going to have to stay on each other to make sure they are living true."

The new season of "ER" begins Sept. 26 on NBC.

Yahoo! News

SCOTT CHECKS IN FOR MULTIEPISODE STORY ARC ON 'ER'

By Nellie Andreeva  -- August 8, 2002 --

LOS ANGELES (The Hollywood Reporter) --- Tom Everett Scott is moving from the City of Brotherly Love to the Windy City for his next TV series gig.

Scott, star of last season's ABC's legal drama "Philly," has signed on to do at least five, and possibly as many as eight, episodes of NBC's hit medical drama "ER," from John Wells Prods. and Warner Bros. TV.

He will play Eric Wyczenski, an Air Force air traffic controller who comes to Chicago to visit his sister, nurse Abby Lockhart ( Maura Tierney).

Scott will first appear in the third episode of "ER's" ninth season this fall. Don Cheadle and Leslie Bibb also are set to do multiepisode arcs on the Emmy-winning drama in the upcoming season (HR 8/5).

Scott's TV credits also include Darren Star's short-lived Wall Street drama "The $treet," the hit comedy "Grace Under Fire" and the telefilm "Inherit the Wind."

On the features side, Scott has starred in such movies as the Tom Hanks-directed "That Thing You Do!" "An American Werewolf in Paris," "Dead Man on Campus" and "Boiler Room."

Scott is repped by the Gersh Agency and Anonymous Content.

Yahoo! News

DON CHEADLE ('OCEAN'S ELEVEN') GOWNS UP TO GUEST STAR AS SURGICAL INTERN IN FOUR-EPISODE ARC ON NBC'S 'ER'

Published: August 05, 2002

Don Cheadle (“Ocean’s Eleven,” “Traffic”) will make a rare series appearance when he guest-stars in a four-episode arc of NBC’s “ER” (Thursdays, 10-11 p.m. ET) as a medical student on a surgical internship.

The first of Cheadle’s episodes would be broadcast on Halloween -- Thursday, Oct. 31 (10-11 p.m. ET).

Since the mid-1990s, Cheadle has amassed an extensive list of feature-film credits. In addition to “Ocean’s Eleven” and “Traffic,” he has starred or appeared in “Rush Hour 2,” “Swordfish,” “Things Behind the Sun,” “Mission to Mars,” “A Lesson Before Dying,” “Bulworth,” “Boogie Nights,” “Rosewood,” “Volcano” and “Devil in a Blue Dress,” among others.

In addition, Cheadle has also starred in such high-profile television movies as “Fail Safe,” “The Rat Pack” (as Sammy Davis Jr.) and “Rebound: The Legend of Earl ‘The Goat’ Manigault” (directed by former “ER” cast member Eriq La Salle).

Cheadle also previously starred in the drama series “Picket Fences.”

For an unprecedented eighth year in a row, Emmy award winning drama series “ER” was television’s highest-rated drama among adults 18-49 during the 2001-02 season. The series is a production of Constant c Productions and Amblin Television in association with Warner Bros. Television. Michael Crichton, John Wells and Jack Orman are the executive producers.