"Ambush" is the premiere episode of the fourth season of the American medical drama '' ER''. Written by executive producer

Carol Flint Carol Flint is an American television producer and writer best known for her work on '' ER'' and ''The West Wing''. She studied at New College of Florida. Career Keshia Denise Campbell'Jackson, PhD also known as Carol Flint started her writing c ...

and directed by

Thomas Schlamme Thomas David Schlamme (; born ) is an American television director, known particularly for his collaborations with Aaron Sorkin. He is known for his work as executive producer on ''The West Wing'' and ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,'' as well as ...

, it was first broadcast on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

on September 25, 1997, as a live episode, filmed twice for the East and West Coast. The episode was also pre-filmed in the event a technical issue happened. Shown through the perspective of a

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

documentary film crew, the emergency room is filmed as a day in the life of the doctors. The episode introduced British actress

Alex Kingston Alexandra Elizabeth Kingston (born 11 March 1963) is an English actress. Active from the early 1980s, Kingston became noted for her television work in both Britain and the US in the 1990s, including her regular role as Dr. Elizabeth Corday in ...

Elizabeth Corday Elizabeth Corday, M.B.B.S., F.R.C.S. (married name Greene) is a fictional character in the medical drama series '' ER,'' portrayed by British actress Alex Kingston. She first appeared at the beginning of the fourth season and became a lead c ...

to the cast. Inspiration for the episode came from production staffers having worked in documentaries, with Anthony Edwards and

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...

suggesting to do it live. In its initial airing, "Ambush" received the highest rating of the week. Seen by a total of 42.71 million viewers, it became the most-watched season premiere episode for a drama series. Reception to the episode was mixed from critics. Praise was given to the live performances but the story and script writing was criticized being lackluster. "Ambush" received four nominations at the

50th Primetime Emmy Awards The 50th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 13, 1998. It was broadcast on NBC. When ''Frasier'' was announced as the winner of Outstanding Comedy Series, Emmy history was made. The NBC sitcom became the first show to win one o ...

, winning one.

Synopsis

The County General Hospital is filmed by a

documentary film crew, capturing the staff treating patients, ranging from a dog bite attack to a good Samaritan being thrown off a bridge for stopping a

gang initiation Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation ...

. During filming, chief of surgery and head of the ER

David Morgenstern ''ER'' is an American medical drama television series created by novelist and physician Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994, to April 2, 2009, with a total of 331 episodes spanning 15 seasons. It was produced by Consta ...

(

William H. Macy William Hall Macy Jr. (born March 13, 1950) is an American actor. His film career has been built on appearances in small, independent films, though he has also appeared in mainstream films. Some of his best known starring roles include those i ...

) suffers a heart attack and gets hospitalized. Newly hired British surgeon

(

) joins the hospital, while John Carter (

Noah Wyle Noah Strausser Speer Wyle (; born June 4, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as John Carter (ER), John Carter in the television series ''ER (TV series), ER'' (1994–2009), which earned him nominations for three Golden Glo ...

) learns he has to repeat his internship after switching from surgical to emergency medicine. The production crew hits a raw nerve with

Mark Greene Mark Greene, Doctor of Medicine, M.D. is a fictional character from the American medical drama series ''ER (TV series), ER,'' portrayed by actor Anthony Edwards (actor), Anthony Edwards. He first appears in the series' 24 Hours (ER), pilot epi ...

( Anthony Edwards), and he refuses to being interviewed after inquiring on his assault from last season. After Carter loses an elderly patient, Greene berates him for trying to be a hero. Greene allows the documentary crew to interview him on the condition they do not use the footage of him and Carter.

Production

"Ambush" was directed by

and written by executive producer

. Inspiration for the episode came from production staffers for the show having worked in documentaries and actors Anthony Edwards and

suggesting that they should do a live episode. The episode was filmed live twice for the East and West Coast of the United States. British actress Alex Kingston made her series debut as Elizabeth Corday. The episode was shot at

Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, formerly known as First National Studio (1926–1929), Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Studios (1967–1970) and The Burbank Studios (1972–1990), is a major filmmaking facility owned and run by Warner Bros. Entertainme ...

, using 11 cameras throughout, five

handheld A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...

. Rehearsals for the episode began a week before, with executive producer John Wells having been quoted that the process was "more exciting than daunting". A pre-filmed version of the episode was made in the event a technical issue happened on set. Flint remarked that if the episode was a success, it could lead to the rebirth of live television. Camera malfunctions and boom mics seen in the shot were said to be part of the episode. After its premiere,

Eriq LaSalle Erik Ki La Salle (born July 23, 1962), professionally known as Eriq La Salle, is an American actor, director, writer and producer. La Salle is best known for his performance in the film ''Coming to America'' (1988) and especially as Dr. Peter ...

admitted to forgetting one of his lines and

ad-libbed In music and other performing arts, the phrase (; from Latin for 'at one's pleasure' or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an adjective or adverb) or "ad-lib" (as a verb or noun), refers to various forms of improvisation. The r ...

Reception

Viewership

According to the ratings system developed by

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

, "Ambush" was the highest-rated television episode of the week from September 22 to September 28, 1997, in front of episodes from ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

'' (

The Butter Shave "The Butter Shave" is the 157th episode of the NBC sitcom '' Seinfeld''. It is also the first episode of the ninth and final season. It aired on September 25, 1997. In this episode, George gets a new job and preferential treatment due to his co-wor ...

) and the series premiere of ''

Veronica's Closet ''Veronica's Closet'' is an American sitcom television series created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, that aired on NBC for three seasons, from September 25, 1997, to December 7, 2000. The show stars Kirstie Alley as Veronica "Ronnie" Chase, ...

'' that aired the same week. the NBC episode was watched by 42.71 million viewers, making it the most watched season premiere of a drama series in television history. It also placed it among the top three most-watched dramas of all time, behind ''Dallas'' (''

Who Done It Who Done It? may refer to: * Who Done It? (1942 film), ''Who Done It?'' (1942 film), an Abbott and Costello film * Who Done It? (1949 film), ''Who Done It?'' (1949 film), a Three Stooges short * Who Done It? (1956 film), ''Who Done It?'' (1956 film ...

'', November 21, 1980) and ''

Magnum, P.I. ''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980 to May 8, 1988 during its first-run broadcast on ...

'' (''Resolutions'', May 1, 1988).

Critical response

The ''ER'' episode received mixed reviews from critics, praising the minimal gaffes during the episode. ''Variety'''s Ray Richmond, while finding the episode a bit contrived, considered it a "pretty impressive, oft-compelling" episode.

Caryn James Caryn A. James (born Caryn A. Fuoroli) is an American film critic, journalist, university lecturer and writer. Biography James is one of at least three children born to James M. Fuoroli Sr. and Joan A. Ford. A native of Providence, Rhode Islan ...

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

was critical of the writing, calling the script "hackneyed", and overall summarized the episode as "terminally dull". Steve Hall for ''

The Indianapolis News The ''Indianapolis News'' was an evening newspaper published for 130 years, beginning December 7, 1869, and ending on October 1, 1999. The "Great Hoosier Daily," as it was known, at one time held the largest circulation in the state of Indiana. ...

'', while finding a few moments to be "undeniably powerful", felt that the documentary crew plot device cheapened moments such as Dr. Morganstern suffering a heart attack.

Howard Rosenberg Howard Anthony Rosenberg (born June 10, 1942) is an American television critic. He worked at ''The Louisville Times'' from 1968 through 1978 and then worked at the ''Los Angeles Times'' for 25 years where he won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' was critical of the episode and its live format, calling it a cynical gimmick to attract viewers and "hardly the dramatic breakthrough and courageous theater that you would have thought from the gaseous hot air advertising it." Carol Flint and Thomas Schlamme would later write a rebuttal piece to Rosenberg's review, published in the October 6, 1997 issue of the ''LA Times''. A retrospective assessment by David Sims of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' listed it as one of the best episodes of the series. While Sims did not believe the story was memorable, he called the technical work for the episode a "substantial milestone". In 2019, ''

Gold Derby Penske Media Corporation (PMC) () is an American digital media, publishing, and information services company based in Los Angeles and New York City. It publishes more than 20 digital and print brands, including ''Variety'', ''Rolling Stone'', '' ...

'' ranked it as the 12th best episode in the series. At the

, it won Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Series and was nominated for Outstanding Lighting Design / Lighting Direction for a Variety Special and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One-Hour). Thomas Schlamme received a nomination for

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series is presented to the best directing of a television drama series, usually for a particular episode.Though this category is the dominant one in which dramatic directing has been ...

for his direction.

References

External links

* {{ER (TV series) 1997 American television episodes American live television shows ER (TV series) episodes