'ER' embracing its roots

Anthony Edwards never expected he would pop up on ER again.

"It's not like Grey's Anatomy, where you can do some surreal thing and viewers just accept it," said Edwards, whose character succumbed to a brain tumour after Season 8.

"I was dead."

The resurrection of physician Mark Greene takes place in flashback scenes that shed light on why ER chief Cate Banfield (Angela Bassett) returned to County General.

After 15 years, ER is closing shop, so story lines are wrapping up and original cast members such as Edwards, Noah Wyle and George Clooney will help send off the show in style.

Returning to the set brought back vivid memories of those first days on ER, Edwards said.

He came in with a box office resume (Revenge of the Nerds, Top Gun) but little TV experience.

Clooney liked to joke that he'd been in so many failed TV projects that this was his second stab on a show titled ER and set in Chicago.

But they all sensed that what they were doing could be ground-breaking.

"NBC felt we were doing something different, too, because they often said we were way too different for their comfort," executive producer John Wells said.

"But breakout hits only happen when you surprise the audience, and I think we did that."

Edwards said the series constantly challenged the actors, and he's proud of his work there, including an experiment in which the show aired live twice - once for the East Coast of the United States and once for the West Coast.

"I can point to a lot of those big episodes, like the live one, with pride," Edwards said.

"But what I'm most proud of is the consistent quality of the show."

When ER premiered in 1994, the series faced a challenge from another new hospital series set in the same city - Chicago Hope, which boasted a well-known cast and a well-known producer in David E. Kelley.

But ER drew more viewers, quickly becoming part of NBC's Thursday night juggernaut with established hit Seinfeld and another freshman series, Friends.

In its first seven seasons, ER was television's most watched drama.

"From the start, the series reflected the reality of the emergency room with a visual, writing and acting style that pays respect to that," Edwards said.

"You felt like you were watching a real world, with people coming and going, and the audience rewarded that with longevity."