ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist and medical doctor Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994, to April 2, 2009, with a total of 331 episodes spanning over 15 seasons. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Television, in association with Warner Bros. Television. "ER" follows the inner life of the emergency room (ER) of fictional County General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, and various critical issues faced by the room's physicians and staff. The show became the longest-running primetime medical drama in American television history, also became the 2nd longest medical drama across the globe (behind BBC's "Casualty"). It won 23 Primetime Emmy Awards, including the 1996 Outstanding Drama Series award, and received 124 Emmy nominations. "ER" won 116 awards in total, including the Peabody Award, while the cast earned four Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Ensemble Performance in a Drama Series. As of 2014, "ER" has grossed over in television revenue.
The Early Show
It was during Joseph Benti's run (through August 28, 1970) that the program became the first regularly scheduled one-hour newscast ever on network television on March 31, 1969. Until 1981, it preceded "Captain Kangaroo" on CBS's morning schedule from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The new hour-long format featured John Hart reading the news headlines from Washington, D.C. and CBS News Moscow correspondent Hughes Rudd as an occasional contributor. After Hart replaced Benti as the main anchor in New York City, the Washington anchor desk was assumed by Bernard Kalb until 1972, and by Nelson Benton for a year afterwards.
On August 6, 1973, Hart was replaced (he eventually went to NBC). In an effort to emulate "Today", which had Barbara Walters as a co-anchor, Rudd was teamed up with former "Washington Post" reporter Sally Quinn. Unfortunately for CBS, within days, the hugely publicized pairing of what was dubbed by the press as "the beauty and the grouch" (respectively referring to Quinn and Rudd) turned out to be a disaster. Quinn was gone after six months, leaving after the February 1, 1974 telecast. A more experienced correspondent, Bruce Morton, later took over the Washington desk, remaining there until 1977. During that period, the newscast evolved into a straightforward delivery of the morning news, much like Cronkite's evening newscast. Despite the anchor turnover through the years, the broadcast set a consistent tone which emphasized news and ideas over celebrity gossip or self-help tips. The anchor desk was subsequently shared by the team of Lesley Stahl and Richard Threlkeld, while Morton and Rudd returned to provide feature reports and commentary.