''Chicago Hope'' is an American
medical drama
A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the characters' jobs and portray som ...
television series, created by
David E. Kelley. It originally aired on
CBS from September 18, 1994, to May 4, 2000. The series is set in a fictional private
charitable hospital in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...
.
Overview
The show starred
Mandy Patinkin
Mandel Bruce Patinkin (; born November 30, 1952) is an American actor and singer, known for his work in musical theatre, television and film. He is a critically acclaimed Broadway performer, having received three Tony Award nominations, winning ...
as Dr. Jeffrey Geiger, a hot-shot
surgeon
In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...
with emotional issues stemming from the psychiatric condition of his wife (played by
Kim Greist), who drowned their infant son.
Adam Arkin plays Dr. Aaron Shutt, a world-renowned neurosurgeon and Geiger's best friend.
Thomas Gibson played Dr. Daniel Nyland, a promiscuous ER doctor and trauma surgeon who was later suspended due to his having an affair with a patient's family member and later was injured in a car crash. Dr. Keith Wilkes played by
Rocky Carroll, often clashed with Nyland and was known for his back-to-basics and rough demeanor. He was good friends with
Peter Berg
Peter Berg (born March 11, 1964) is an American director, producer, writer, and actor. His directorial film works include the black comedy ''Very Bad Things'' (1998), the action comedy ''The Rundown'' (2003), the sports drama '' Friday Night Lig ...
's character, Dr. Billy Kronk. Kronk was known for his cowboyish demeanor and known to be very cocky, as showed in an episode where he cuts off a man's injured leg with a chainsaw in a scene where Kronk helps out at an accident site.
Peter MacNicol,
Alan Rosenberg
Alan Rosenberg (born October 4, 1950) is an American actor. Rosenberg is perhaps best known for his character Eli Levinson which appeared in both the series ''Civil Wars'' and the popular ''L.A. Law''. From 2005 to 2009, he was president of the S ...
, and
Héctor Elizondo feature as the hospital's in-house attorneys and chief of staff, respectively.
Christine Lahti joined in the second season as Dr. Kate Austin, a talented
heart
The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as ca ...
surgeon with a chip on her shoulder, vying with Geiger for the chief of surgery position. She was known fighting in a custody battle with her malicious ex-husband and businessman, Tommy Wilmette, played by
Ron Silver. Mr. Wilmette did everything he could to get Austin to lose custody of their daughter. He purchased the hospital at the end of Season 2. Dr. Austin is suspended because she and her daughter go AWOL on a trip to
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
. Mr. Wilmette was upset because it took him three months to find his ex-wife and daughter. In Season 3, the doctors want Mr. Wilmette to sell the hospital and the doctors would run it. The doctors viewed that Wilmette didn't know how to run a hospital and cut too many costs that involved patient care. Mr. Wilmette later met with Senator Kennedy at the White House to talk about Healthcare Reform. In Season 2, Geiger resigns from Chicago Hope after trying to save Alan Birch from a deadly gunshot wound to his heart.
Geiger adopted Birch's baby daughter. Geiger later rejoins the doctors at the end of Season 5 when he becomes Chairman of the Board and fires half of the doctors. In Season 4, Dr. Shutt became a psychiatrist and temporarily loses his ability to operate after suffering from a brain aneurysm. In Season 6, Shutt returns to Neurosurgery and works alongside
Carla Gugino
Carla Gugino (; born August 29, 1971) is an American actress. After appearing in ''Troop Beverly Hills'' (1989) and ''This Boy's Life'' (1993), she received recognition for her starring roles as Ingrid Cortez in the ''Spy Kids'' trilogy (2001� ...
's character, Dr. Gina Simon.
Episodes
''Chicago Hope'' ran six seasons, airing a total of 141 episodes.
Crossovers
Fyvush Finkel
Philip "Fyvush" Finkel ( yi, פֿײַוויש פֿינקעל; October 9, 1922 – August 14, 2016) was an American actor known as a star of Yiddish theater and for his role as lawyer Douglas Wambaugh on the television series ''Picket Fences'', ...
and
Kathy Baker appeared as their ''
Picket Fences'' characters in the first season. Likewise,
Mandy Patinkin
Mandel Bruce Patinkin (; born November 30, 1952) is an American actor and singer, known for his work in musical theatre, television and film. He is a critically acclaimed Broadway performer, having received three Tony Award nominations, winning ...
and
Héctor Elizondo brought their ''Chicago Hope'' characters to ''Picket Fences'' that year. Both
Adam Arkin and
Lauren Holly had previously appeared on ''Picket Fences'' as a lawyer and as a deputy sheriff, respectively.
Mandy Patinkin
Mandel Bruce Patinkin (; born November 30, 1952) is an American actor and singer, known for his work in musical theatre, television and film. He is a critically acclaimed Broadway performer, having received three Tony Award nominations, winning ...
appears in an uncredited role as Geiger in a 1995 episode of NBC's ''
Homicide: Life on the Street''. ''Chicago Hope'' producer
John Tinker shot this footage as a favor to his ''
St. Elsewhere
''St. Elsewhere'' was an American medical drama television series created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey, that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982, to May 25, 1988. The series stars Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd, and William Daniels ...
'' colleague
Tom Fontana.
''Chicago Hope'' characters crossed over to ''
Early Edition'' early in that show's run.
Rocky Carroll,
Jayne Brook, and
Héctor Elizondo all guest-starred in scenes taking place in the hospital.
Characters
Production
With the exception of some infrequent on-location scenes, the vast majority of ''Chicago Hope'' was filmed on sound stages at the studios of Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, located in the
Century City area of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
.
Three of the cast (Harmon, Carroll and Holly) would later go on to star together in ''
NCIS''.
Firsts
The series broke a network television taboo by showing a teenager's breast after her character underwent reconstructive surgery. This was generally seen as relevant to the subject matter and went relatively uncriticized.
On November 18, 1998, ''Chicago Hope'' became the first regular series episode to be broadcast in HDTV. The episode was entitled "The Other Cheek".
Mark Harmon's character uttered the word "shit" during a trauma. Little criticism was made.
Broadcast
Domestic reruns
Reruns of ''Chicago Hope'' aired on
Pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* ''Pop'' ( ...
from 2010 to 2012. OWN also aired reruns of Chicago Hope on a semi-regular basis.
International
In the UK, seasons 1 and 2 originally aired on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
. More recently, all seasons of the show have been shown on
ITV3
ITV3 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. The channel was first launched on Monday 1 November 2004 at 9pm, replacing Plus (Granada). ITV3 is the sixth-largest UK television channel ...
. Starting on September 3, 2007, it began airing on
Zone Romantica in the UK and Ireland. It was also shown on
Sky One in the UK and Ireland in its prime time slots. In Australia, the series originally aired on The
Seven Network
The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...
. In Germany the first seasons were shown in the 1990s. In Hungary, the series aired on Viasat3.
In Indonesia, the series originally aired on
RCTI
RCTI (''Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia'') is a West Jakarta-based Indonesian free-to-air television network. It is best known for its soap operas, celebrity bulletins, news, and sports programmes. It was first launched in 1989, original ...
, starting from October 1998 ended from July 2002. As of November 2013 it is airing on UK Freeview/Freesat/Sky/Eutelsat 28A/Virgin Media/WightFibre television channel True Entertainment.
Home media
Revelation Films
Revelation Films is a British film and television production and distribution company delivering visual entertainment via cinema, television and digital platforms.
Tony Carne founded Revelation Films in 1992 as a video and television production ...
has released all 6 seasons of ''Chicago Hope'' on DVD in Region 2 (UK) for the very first time.
Reception
The
pilot episode of ''Chicago Hope'' was broadcast the day before
NBC's ''
ER'' in a special Sunday, 8p.m. time slot. After the first week, however, the two Chicago-based hospital dramas went "head to head" in their primetime 10p.m. Thursday night slot. ''ER'' was the victor: its first season proved a ratings winner. Despite receiving critical acclaim, ''Chicago Hope'' was shifted to 9p.m. Thursdays, and ultimately to Monday nights in 1995 in a bid for higher ratings, while ''ER'' remained in its time slot.
''Chicago Hope'' remained in the Monday slot and performed well, with
ratings peaking at 11.9, with a 20 share. In the second season, however, Kelley and Patinkin decided to leave the show. The show was moved to Wednesdays at 10p.m. in 1997 to make room for the
Steven Bochco drama,''
Brooklyn South
''Brooklyn South'' is an American ensemble police drama television series that aired on CBS for one season from September 22, 1997, to April 27, 1998. It was aired during the 1997–98 television season. The series was co-created by Steven Bo ...
'', on Mondays. In 1999, both Kelley and Patinkin returned, with a revamped cast now including
Barbara Hershey and
Lauren Holly, but excluding Lahti,
Peter Berg
Peter Berg (born March 11, 1964) is an American director, producer, writer, and actor. His directorial film works include the black comedy ''Very Bad Things'' (1998), the action comedy ''The Rundown'' (2003), the sports drama '' Friday Night Lig ...
,
Jayne Brook,
Vondie Curtis-Hall, and
Stacy Edwards. CBS also moved the show back to Thursday nights, against NBC's ''
Frasier'' and ABC's ''
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire''. The show was canceled in May 2000.
In 2007, former co-stars
Rocky Carroll (Dr. Keith Wilkes);
Mark Harmon (Dr. Jack McNeil) and Lauren Holly (Dr. Jeremy Hanlon) worked together on the series ''
NCIS''. Holly left the show after three seasons, while Harmon and Carroll remain with the cast today. Harmon would depart in 2021. In addition, Carroll has a recurring role as his ''NCIS'' character, Director Leon Vance, on that series's spin off, ''
NCIS: Los Angeles''. Jayne Brook (Dr. Diane Grad) and Stacy Edwards have also guest starred on ''NCIS'' as well.
Thomas Gibson would later star alongside Patinkin in the highly successful ''
Criminal Minds
''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis (writer), Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was r ...
'', as well as
Shemar Moore who was a guest star on ''Chicago Hope'' during Season 4. Patinkin later left the show early in its third season.
Nielsen ratings
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of ''Chicago Hope''.
Note: ''Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May
Nielsen ratings.''
Awards and nominations
Over its six seasons, ''Chicago Hope'' was nominated for many accolades and won several, including seven
Emmy Awards and a
Golden Globe Awards.
Emmy awards
Golden Globe Awards
Screen Actors Guild Award
Other awards
Notes
References
External links
Official Website*
*
{{GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series
1994 American television series debuts
2000 American television series endings
1990s American workplace drama television series
2000s American workplace drama television series
1990s American medical television series
2000s American medical television series
CBS original programming
English-language television shows
Fictional hospitals
Primetime Emmy Award-winning television series
Television series by 20th Century Fox Television
Television shows set in Chicago
Television series created by David E. Kelley