TVSquad

NBC doctors may have already called the time for ER, setting next season for the end of the enduring medical drama, but the final year will go out with fire and brio. That was made abundantly clear by casting dynamic actress Angela Bassett as a series regular for the 15th season of ER. Despite rumors, Anthony Edwards may or may not return, and Noah Wyle's back for just four shows, but Angela can be counting on to carry the load.

This is the first full-time series for Ms. Bassett, an Oscar-nominated actress for What's Love Got to Do With It? (1994). Who will ever forget her playing Tina Turner in that film? She made muscular arms on a woman sexy, in addition to providing a terrific performance as the musical star. In 2006, she was superb in the indie hit Akeelah and the Bee, and on TV, she did a short stint on Alias in 2005 as a CIA director.

OK, we can put all of those "George Clooney is going to make a cameo appearance on ER next season!" rumors. You know, the rumors I helped fuel last week.

Clooney himself tells Extra that he is not going to make an appearance on the show. He says that not only would they not ask him to appear on the show, there would be no reason to do it.

It's not something that is definitely going to happen, but ER producers are trying to get as many former cast members to make appearances on the show next season, which looks like a go now and will probably be the NBC show's final season.

So...how exactly do you make a dead (really dead, not soap opera/body never found dead) character like Mark Greene come back to life? Executive producer David Zabel says that they've kicked around the idea of airing a so-called "lost episode" from 1996 featuring Edwards and Noah Wyle, who has agreed to come back to the show for several episodes next season. I guess the other choices are flashbacks, Greene's twin brother, or appearing as a ghost.

When you think of Revenge of the Nerds what comes to mind? Classic 80's movie? Naked sorority sisters? Morality story on how the meek can inherit the earth? Bush (and not the president)?

That's what came to my mind when I recently saw the film. However, something else popped into my brain as well while I was watching the end credits. Not only did a number of Nerds stars go on to other successful movies, but they also went and became fairly big television stars as well. Here are five who went onto small-screen fame.

Of course, getting George Clooney to come back would be a dream come true for ER producers, but they are trying to bring back old favorites for the final season (probably) of the hit NBC drama.

So far, only Noah Wyle has officially signed to come back to the show. He'll be on for several episodes, and in the ER not Africa (thank God). But producers have also talked to Julianna Marguiles and Gloria Reuben about coming back, and would love to also grab Eriq LaSalle, William H. Macy, and Laura Innes.

Last year I introduced the term "fanesia" on this blog. It's a word that means "fan amnesia," those moments of a TV show that you simply forget ever happened, because they're illogical, hurt the show, or just make you feel bad and/or angry. I think it's time for another five:

1. Toby was the leak (The West Wing): I don't know what happened here. Whether the character was written off because actor Richard Schiff wanted to leave or NBC wanted to cut some payroll, the way it happened was a real kick in the stomach to longtime fans of the show. Not only that Toby would leak info about a secret military plane (he wouldn't), but that President Bartlet would just fire him so coldly and bring up their history in such a nasty way. Sure, these two butted heads many times, but it was always out of caring and love for each other. Great to see Bartlet pardon him as his last act as President and invite him to the opening of the library, but still. Aaron Sorkin must have thrown something at his TV when this happened.

In my mind, Toby just quit the White House to go teach at Columbia.

Hi again. No new ER this week due to America's national pastime (the World Series, for the confused). So, I thought I'd take my usual Thursday night spot to pose a question to all fans of the show, past and present. Who do you miss from County General? There have been plenty of doctors and nurses who have come and gone through the doors of the emergency room. Some of them we were glad to see go, and we wish others would return for at least a guest appearance.

While I wait for your comments on the subject, here are the five ER cast members I miss.

John Carter (Noah Wyle) -- All right, I admit it, I had a "man crush" on Dr. Carter. In the very beginning of the series run I always felt the show was a bit empty when he wasn't around. Carter was the face of how things changed in the emergency room. Plus, he was one of those characters that we could root for, especially with events such as his stabbing and drug addiction and his rocky relationship with Abby. I wouldn't mind at all if he returned to ER for a few episodes this season.

Abby  Lockhart has become the new Mark Greene.

As fans of the long-running ER know, Dr. Greene (Anthony Edwards) had some of the worst luck and unhappiness in the emergency room staff of County General. First, his wife leaves him, then he gets beaten up in the ER bathroom by a unknown assailant. Both his mother and father die in the same year, he's diagnosed with a brain tumor (which was successfully removed), his daughter feeds his newborn child Escasty, his brain tumor comes back, and he dies while in Hawaii. Needless to say, the man had no luck.

And now Abby (Maura Tierney) looks like she's wearing the albatross around her neck. Well, actually, she's been wearing it for several seasons now. It began when she was kicked out of medical school after her ex-husband failed to pay her tuition. Then, she had a rough set of relationships with Doctors Luka Kovac and John Carter. Her bi-polar mother stop taking her meds and her brother was diagnosed with the same mental disease as her mother. Last season she was kidnapped by a drug dealer who wanted Abby to treat an injured comrade.

 

What's happening on ER these days? It must be something big because the NBC hospital drama made a huge comeback last week, beating out a repeat of Without a Trace with 15.4 million viewers. Yes, it was a repeat. But, even the repeats on CBS have been kicking NBC's butt lately.

I gave up on ER years ago, even before George Clooney left, because I couldn't handle having a major emotional breakdown each week. I tuned in for a couple of key episodes over the years: i.e. when Lucy and Carter got stabbed in the kidneys, when Doug left, when Carol left, and when Dr. Green died.

So tell me, is it any good?