''Three Rivers'' 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 drama (film and television), dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the chara ...

television series that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

from October 4, 2009, to July 3, 2010, and starred

Alex O'Loughlin Alex O'Loughlin (born 24 August 1976) is an Australian actor, writer, director, and producer, who played Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett on CBS' remake of the TV series '' Hawaii Five-0'' (2010–2020). He had starring roles in the films ...

in the role of a famous transplant surgeon in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

."CBS picks up six new series"
''

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 ...

'', 2009-05-18."CBS's fall schedule: 'Three Rivers' runs through it"
'' Post-Gazette'', 2009-05-20. On November 30, 2009, after just eight episodes of the season had aired Sunday at 9:00 pm (EST), CBS announced that ''Three Rivers'' had been pulled from its schedule with no plans to have it returned, and the series was later officially cancelled. However, the remaining unaired episodes were burned off Saturdays at 8:00 pm (EST).

Development

With the long-running

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

drama '' ER'' coming to an end, CBS executives put out a call for a new medical show to fill the void.

Carol Barbee Carol Denise Barbee (born May 22, 1959, in Concord, North Carolina) is an Emmy winning American television writer, actress and producer.Curtis Hanson Curtis Lee Hanson (March 24, 1945 – September 20, 2016) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His directing work included the psychological thriller '' The Hand That Rocks the Cradle'' (1992), the neo-noir crime film ''L. ...

to a pitch by Steve Boman, a former transplant coordinator and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

newspaper reporter, for a drama about a transplant hospital. Barbee decided to undertake the project, telling it from three points of view: the donor's, the recipient's, and the doctor's. The location for the show's setting in Pittsburgh was decided based on a determination that the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) was the world's leading transplant center with the coincidence that the dominant topographical feature of the city, the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

rivers, would provide an allegory for the show's three points of view. Barbee did her research for the show at

The Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit American academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation established in 1921, it runs a 170-acre (69 ha) campus in Cleveland ...

with Dr. Gonzalo Gonzalez-Stawinski, who also tutored the show's lead star

. Dr. Robert Kormos, co-director of heart transplantation at UPMC, also provided input. Transplant pioneer

Thomas Starzl Thomas Earl Starzl (March 11, 1926 – March 4, 2017) was an American physician, researcher, and expert on organ transplants. He performed the first human liver transplants, and has often been referred to as "the father of modern transplantatio ...

, who visited the set, is the inspiration for the fictional transplant pioneer who is revealed to be the father of character Dr. Miranda Foster. The pilot for the Pittsburgh-set medical drama was filmed in

western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...

in March and April 2009 using the closed Brownsville Tri-County Hospital and the

David L. Lawrence Convention Center The David L. Lawrence Convention Center (DLLCC) is a convention, conference and exhibition building in downtown Pittsburgh in the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is served by two exits on Interstate 579. The initial David L. Lawrence ...

for hospital interior scenes. Post-pilot recasting resulted in actors

Julia Ormond Julia Karin Ormond (born 4 January 1965) is an English actress. She rose to prominence by appearing in ''The Baby of Mâcon'' (1993), '' Legends of the Fall'' (1994), '' First Knight'' (1995), '' Sabrina'' (1995), '' Smilla's Sense of Snow'' (1 ...

and

Joaquim de Almeida Joaquim António Portugal Baptista de Almeida (born 15 March 1957) is a Portuguese actor. Almeida began his acting career in theatre during the 1980s, he started his film career appearing on the 1982 action film '' The Soldier'', and later ach ...

departing and

Alfre Woodard Alfre Woodard (; born November 8, 1952) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including four Primetime Emmy Awards (tying the record for the most acting Emmys won by an African-American performer, along with Regina King), ...

and Amber Clayton joining the series."Recasting Season Claims Its Latest Victim: Julia Ormond"
''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...

'', 2009-05-28"Alfre Woodard joins 'Three Rivers'"
''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', 2009-07-28 Ultimately, the pilot was dropped and a new episode was shot for the television premiere. A high-tech, more visually appealing hospital set for the ER and ICU was built on sound stages 19 and 20 at

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, where interior scenes were thereafter produced, although location shooting still occurred in Pittsburgh for exterior shots.

Cast and characters

Main

as Dr. Andrew "Andy" Yablonski, a cardiothoracic surgeon being groomed by Dr. Jordan to take over the transplant department *

Katherine Moennig Katherine Sian Moennig (; born December 29, 1977) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Shane McCutcheon on ''The L Word'' (2004–2009), as well as Jake Pratt on ''Young Americans'' (2000). Moennig played the role of Lena in ...

as Dr. Miranda Foster, a surgical fellow from Philadelphia and daughter of Andy's former mentor Dr. William Foster *

Daniel Henney Daniel Phillip Henney (born November 28, 1979) is an American actor and model. He first came into international prominence with his television debut as Dr. Henry Kim on the Korean drama ''My Lovely Sam Soon'' (2005). He has gone on to star in f ...

as Dr. David Lee, an ophthalmology resident and ladies' man *

Christopher Hanke Christopher Jason Hanke, often credited as Christopher J. Hanke, (born March 18, 1976) is an American actor and singer known for his roles on Broadway and television. Early life Hanke was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the oldest of five childr ...

as Ryan Abbott *

Justina Machado Justina Milagros Machado (born September 6, 1972) is an American actress, known for her roles as Penelope Alvarez on the Netflix and Pop TV sitcom '' One Day at a Time'', Darci Factor in The CW dramedy ''Jane the Virgin'', Vanessa Diaz on the H ...

as Pam Acosta *Amber Clayton as Dr. Lisa Reed *

as Dr. Sophia Jordan, the no-nonsense head of transplant

Supporting

as Dr. Sophia Jordan, unaired pilot *

Britt Robertson Brittany Leanna Robertson (born April 18, 1990) is an American actress. She is known for her lead role in '' The First Time'' (2012), and has appeared in the films ''Tomorrowland'' (2015), '' The Space Between Us'' (2017), ''A Dog's Purpose'' ...

as Brenda Stark *

Nicholas Braun Nicholas Joseph Braun (born May 1, 1988) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Greg Hirsch in the HBO series ''Succession'' (2018–present), for which he has received two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supp ...

as Michael *

Devika Parikh Devika Parikh (born November 3, 1966) is an American actress, best known for her recurring role as Bonnie in the NBC political drama series ''The West Wing'' from 1999 to 2003. Life and career Parikh was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and rai ...

as Nurse Rekha/Nurse/ER Nurse/ER Nurse #2 * Owiso Odera as Kuol/Kuol Adebe Ketebo *Joe Holt as Bret/EMT/EMT Bret *Puja Mohindra as EMT/EMT Lori Goel/Goel/Lori Goel/Marilyn/Medic #3 *Claudia Choi as ICU Nurse/Nurse Chen * Sabra Williams as Nurse Williams/ER Nurse #1/ER Nurse #2 *

Teri Reeves Teri Lynn Reeves (née Kretz) is an American theater and television actress. Her television credits include '' Chicago Fire'', '' Battleground'', and '' NCIS''. Early life Reeves was born in Northern California but moved many times in her life. ...

as Nurse Alicia/Alicia/Alicia Wilson/Nurse *Bruce Katzman as Dr. Richard Strauss * Mercedes Masöhn as Vanessa *

Shiloh Fernandez Shiloh Thomas Fernandez (born February 26, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the television series '' Jericho'' and ''United States of Tara'', and the films '' Deadgirl'', ''Red Riding Hood'', and the 2013 remake of '' Evil ...

as Scott Barker/Scott *

Rizwan Manji Rizwan Manji (born October 17, 1974) is a Canadian actor. He is known best for his portrayals of Ray Butani on ''Schitt's Creek'', Tick Pickwick on '' The Magicians'', Rajiv Gidwani in the NBC Universal TV series '' Outsourced'', and Jamil in th ...

as Dr. Dev/Dr. Drev/Male Doctor *Louie Alegria as EMT/EMT #1/Medic #1 *Paull Walia as Dr. Inder Patel *Caryn West as Dr. Susan Heyworth * William Sadler as Michael Zelasko *

Oded Fehr Oded Fehr ( he, עודד פהר; born ) is an Israeli actor based in the United States. He is known for his appearance as Ardeth Bay in the 1999 remake of ''The Mummy'' and its sequel '' The Mummy Returns'', as well as Carlos Olivera in '' Resi ...

as Dr. Luc Bovell *

Kelly Overton Kelly Overton is an American actress. She is known for portraying Vanessa Van Helsing in the 2016 Syfy fantasy drama series ''Van Helsing''. Early life Overton grew up in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, and studied at the American Academy of Drama ...

as Det. Rena Yablonski *

John Bedford Lloyd John Bedford Lloyd (born January 2, 1956) is an American character actor. Life and career Lloyd was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Ann Storrs Lloyd and Edward B. Lloyd of Southport, Connecticut. His father was an architect. He has a s ...

as Dr. Yorn *

Omid Abtahi Omid Abtahi ( fa, امید ابطحی) is an Iranian-American actor. noorfilmfestival.com Accessed 2016-1-28 He is best known for his roles as Salim in Starz Original '' American Gods'', Doctor Pershing in ''The Mandalorian'' on Disney+, Saleem ...

as Dr. Yousef Khouri * B. J. Britt as Antoine/Anton Weathers *Stacey Scowley as Bullpen Nurse/Bullpen nurse * Brooklyn McLinn as ER Nurse/ER Nurse #1 *Page Leong as Dr. Margolis/Female Doctor *Kenny Champion as Eddie Baines/Pat *Kathleen M. Darcy as Hepatologist *Lynn Adrianna Freedman as ER Nurse #1/Nurse #1 *Mustafa Haidari as Doctor *Michelle Diaz as Nurse Liza Salazar/O.R. Nurse *Aisha Kabia as Melissa *

Noah Fleiss Noah Fleiss (born April 16, 1984) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor, making his film debut as the eponymous Sam Whitney in ''Josh and S.A.M.'' (1993). Subsequently, he played the title character in '' Joe the King'' (1999 ...

as Sam Heaton

Episodes

References

External links

* * {{Pittsburgh CBS original programming 2009 American television series debuts 2010 American television series endings Television shows set in Pittsburgh English-language television shows 2000s American medical television series 2010s American medical television series Television series by CBS Studios 2000s American drama television series 2010s American drama television series