14. The War Comes Home (S14 E1) Under new ER Chief Kevin Moretti, the ER deals with the aftermath of the trampling incident at a peace rally. Neela suffers major injuries at the rally; the team rallies to save her. Gates confronts the perp, prompting Moretti to exile him to ICU

No. 13: Four Corners (S8 E1) The ER tells the story from the vantage point of the show’s 4 chief characters: Green, Weaver, Carter and Benton. The ER deals with the aftermath of a talk show gone awry, while each of the protagonists deal issues in their lives

No. 12 “One For the Road” (S11 E1) Synopsis: Pratt, Chen and Elgin’s lives hang in the balance after the road rage incident at the end of the S10 finale. Chen and Pratt survive with serious injuries, but Elgin dies. Carter says goodbye to Kem as she returns to Africa. (Contd)

11. Welcome Back Carter” (S2) Carter returns late to his 1st day of his internship. Susan tries to help Chloe, who is struggling with motherhood. Carol pairs with Shep on her medic rotation. Carter meets fellow med student Harper, the 1st of a string of Carters love interests…

No. 10 “Dr. Carter, I Presume” (S3) Carter returns to start his surgical rotation, where he quickly learns how difficult working under Benton in this capacity will be. Jeanie learns how difficult life will be with HIV as she tries to keep it from the rest of the staff…

No. 9: “Now What?” S10 Carter returns from Africa, but finds that his trouble with Abby has become a full-out breakup. We are introduced to med student Neela Rasgothra (Parminder Nagra), who will become one of the show’s focal points during the final five seasons…

No. 8 “Leave it to Weaver” (S6) Mark and Kerry discover that Anspaugh is stepping down and Romano is considered a candidate to replace him. Mark speaks out against the move, while Kerry endorses him, and is rewarded by Romano by being named permanent ER chief

No. 7 “Ambush” (S4) The “Live” episode. The cast - and an impressive slate of guest stars - told the ER story in real time twice - once for the East Coast and once for the West. A documentary crew films the ER and ambushes Mark with questions about his recent attack…

No. 6: “Day For Knight” (S5) It’s Lucy Knight’s (Kellie Martin) first day in the ER as a med student, as she introduces herself to the rest of the staff and is paired off with a now bearded John Carter, who is still reeling from the sudden departure of Anna Del Amico…

No. 5, “Homecoming,” (S7) Carter’s return from rehab is overshadowed by chaos in the ER after a fracas at a HS football game. Mark and Elizabeth (fresh off a Poison Ivy-filled getaway) try to save a young football player whose injury set off a rumble between the two schools.

No. 4 “Chaos Theory” (S9) Synopsis: The ER is under lockdown in the wake of the smallpox scare, doctors frantically rally to the aid of hospital chief Robert “Rocket” Romano after a devastating accident on the hospital roof involving a helicopter and Romano’s arm…

No. 3 “Life After Death” (S15) It takes a lot of chutzpah to start off the show’s final season by killing off one of the archetype characters, but that is exactly what they did in this well-paced, completely tragic and somber episode…

No. 2 “Bloodline” (S13) Coming off of one of the biggest cliffhanger finales (Abby and Jerry’s lives hanging in the balance), ER delivers a force of an episode that sees Abby give birth prematurely, the ER rally to save Jerry and a violent, shocking end to the Sam-Steve arc.

And the No. 1 Premiere… 24 Hours (S1) Welcome to Cook County General, where you are introduced to 5 underpaid doctors working in an busy inner city ER: Mark Greene, Doug Ross, Susan Lewis, Peter Benton and med student John Carter.

You learn a little about each of them: Greene is the chief resident trying to balance his family and work obligations; Lewis to beautiful doctor who is trying to find her voice; Benton the talented and ambitious surgical resident, Carter his neophyte student…

And Doug, the heartthrob pediatrician who is hung up on the ER’s charge nurse, Carol Hathaway, who tragically overdoses halfway through the 2 hour premiere. Additionally, you’re introduced to the character that holds the show together over 15yrs: the ER itself

Why it’s No. 1? In terms of series premieres, ER’s ranks in the pantheon of the greatest. Few shows give you as comprehensive an introduction to its main characters and wrap you into their respective stories as ER did in the 2-hour movie premiere.

ER premiered 30 years ago today. Crazy. Love this show.

If you’re an ER fan like me, the folks at Setting The Tone: An ER Retrospective are hosting a premiere watch party at 6 pm eastern time, with a live chat occurring on Discord! discord.gg/hcZA7yhB

Your 2024-25 ISU Bengals 🐅🐅🐅