Subject: ER FAQ 5.00, Section 1: The Show (1/8)
From: "Rose \"MotherFAQer\" Cooper" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 04:46:48 -0500
Newsgroups: alt.tv.er,rec.arts.tv,alt.answers,rec.answers,news.answers

Archive-name: tv/er-series/show-info
Posting-Frequency: monthly
URL: http://www.digiserve.com/er/erdex.html

ER FAQ 5.00: The Show

Asterisks (*) below denotes information updated or added since the last
version of the FAQ.

MeMiceElfAnI Productions Copyright 1997-99 by Rose Cooper; content cannot
be used without expressed written permission of the author.

Last Updated: 11/27/98 by Rose "MotherFAQer" Cooper

SECTION ONE: THE SHOW

 1.1  What is "ER"?
      "ER" is a weekly one-hour television drama on NBC that takes place
in the emergency room of a Chicago hospital.  The show`s stories focus
primarily on the staff of the ER: doctors, nurses, medical students
and assorted personnel.  The stories secondarily deal with the medical
problems of patients.  "ER" is unlike most other medical dramas in that
its emphasis is often on a very fast-paced style of action, typically
when a patient or patient(s) is/are rushed into the emergency room for
treatment.  It does share some similarities with other medical dramas,
however, particularly St. Elsewhere, in that stories in the lives of
the main characters are told over the course of many episodes, rather
than being self-contained to one episode.

[Given the general direction that Season Four veered toward, it remains to
be seen whether the above will still hold true for Season Five--and beyond...]

 1.2  What does "ER" stand for?
[Truth, Justice, And The American Way.  Oh, sorry.  That`s "CCH Pounder".
 But I digress...]

      Emergency Room.  Not to be confused with "OR", which is
Operating Room.

[Or, for that matter, "E/R", which was inoperable.  But I digress
again...]

 1.3  When does "ER" come on television?

[Note on time zone abbreviations--

      "10E/9C/8M/7P" means:  10:00 Eastern
                              9:00 Central
                              8:00 Mountain
                              7:00 Pacific.]

      1.31  American network television:

            "First-run" "ER" comes on Thursday nights at 10:00 p.m. Eastern
      and Pacific time, 9:00 p.m. Central and Mountain time, on NBC, the
      National Broadcasting Company.  For the specific channel in your
      area, check local listings.

            1.311  Syndicated cable television:

                  On Sunday, September 6, 1998, 8pm Eastern, the US version
           of cable channel TNT <http://tnt.turner.com/series/er> (Turner
           Network Television) started broadcasting "ER" reruns, beginning,
           appropriately, with the 2-hour pilot, "24 Hours"; it was shown
           again at 5pm Eastern on September 7, followed by the next episode
           in the series,  "Day One", at the regularly scheduled 7pm Eastern
           rerun slot.  It is supposed to be shown in consecutive order every
           weekday (Monday-Friday) in that time period.  Watch this space,
           FAQ section 5 <http://digiserve.com/er/erfaq5.html>, and the
           ER Episode List <http://digiserve.com/er/erlist.html#tnt>, for
           more details.

      1.32  Satellite dishes:

            If you have a satellite dish and live in North America,
      you can watch "ER" at 10E/9C/8M/7P on Satcom C1 (also called F1),
      transponder 8.  This is the NBC East Coast feed and is unscrambled.
      Those times also apply to WXIA (Galaxy 4, 22) and WHDH (Spacenet 4,
      2); these channels are scrambled, however, and you must have a
      subscription with a dealer that provides them.

            "ER" also airs on the subscription channel KUSA (Satcom
      C1, 14) at 11E/10C/9M/8P; and on the subscription channel KNBC
      (Spacenet 4, 6) at 1:00AM-E/12C/11M/10P.

            All of the above are on Thursday nights, when NBC normally
      airs "ER".  However, for weeks when a new episode is airing, you
      can see an early feed on Wednesday nights.  It can be seen on
      Telstar 401, transponder 7, at 12:00PM-E/11:00PM-C/10M/9P.  This
      version of the show is completely commercial free, and airs the
      full opening and closing (full-screen credits & no voice-over
      announcer), as opposed to the half-screen credits and voice-over
      that most NBC affiliates use.

            If you have Ku band capability, you can also watch ER on K2,
      transponder 1 at 10 PM E/9C/8M/7P, and on K2, transponder 3 at
      1 AM E/12 Midnight C/11M/10P.

     *1.33  International television

            [NOTE: The information here is only as good (or bad) as the
      international ER viewers who notify me of schedule changes, make it.
      I will be glad to revise it when I get those viewers' email, but
      unless the information can be verified through "official" sources,
      the listings below will stand as written]:

     *CANADA
            "ER" is broadcast on the Canadian Televison Network (CTV)
      via affiliates throughout Canada at 10:00 pm on Thursday in all
      respective time zones.

            A French-language version of "ER" ("Salle d'urgence"),
      which is one season behind its English-language counterpart, is
      currently broadcast on the Quebec channel TQS on Sunday nights; as
      soon as the new episodes begin in September, it will be on Monday
      nights at 9:00 pm.
      -(Information courtesy Talitha Cumi).

            In Saskatchewan, CBS is rerunning ER on Saturdays and Sundays
      at 9:37 CST. [What a *weird* time to start]...According to a TV
      Times (the Canadian TV guide) schedule, this Saturday and Sunday bit
      will be a continuing thing.  I am thrilled about this because we
      don't get TNT in Canada, and are missing out on the reruns during
      the week.
      -(Information courtesy Vanessa Rey).

      An addendum to the above, from Vanessa:
            "Uh-oh.
            I read the FAQ update today.....oops.  The information on the FAQ
            in regards to the international ER showings in Canada is now
            incorrect because of the time change.  Here's all I know:

            I am getting ER now Saturdays and Sundays.  On Saturdays, we used
            to get ER at 5:00 P.M.  Now, because of the time change we get it
            at 6:00 P.M. On Sundays, we get ER at 10:37, previously 9:37.
            When I last e-mailed you around the beginning of October, we
            were getting ER 9:37 on both Saturday and Sunday.  This lasted
            for a few weeks, and then for some unknown reason, ER on
            Saturdays was bumped to 5:00 P.M. The Sunday time remained the
            same (9:37).

            Confusing, eh?
            [Nahhhh...I followed...every...word...of...thaaaaa...]
            Saskatchewanians (I luv that word) are the only people who do not
            switch their clocks back to Standard time.  No one here changed
            their clocks on Saturday.  This does affect our TV schedule.
            During Daylight Savings time, I get ER at 8:00 on NBC and at 9:00
            on CTV, but during standard time, I get ER on both NBC and CTV at
            9:00.

            The way I look at it, during DST, American programs on American
            networks (NBC, CBS, ABC) come on an hour earlier.  During ST, the
            come on one hour later.  Canadian networks stay the same all year
            long. So, because CBS is an American network, all their programs
            are an hour later here.

            Because Saskatchewan is the only one to whom this applies to, the
            above info  might not be that all that important for the FAQ.  You
            will Definitely want to check with some official sources.  A good
            one might be the TV Times website": <http://www.tvtimesonline.com>

            [Thanks Vanessa.  I think.]

     *UK (SKY ONE AND CHANNEL 4)
      [NOTE: detailed UK-specific information is now available in the
      ERuk FAQ <http://freespace.virgin.net/e.griffiths/faq.html>, created
      and maintained by Ed Griffiths, my "UK Man On The Scene"]

          In England, ER can be seen on SKY One (satellite) on Thursdays
      at 10pm (Channel 4 is not currently showing repeats, but).  According
      to both Katy Lindemann and Ed Griffiths, SKY One's Season Five premier
      "has been confirmed as 'end of October, beginning of November'."
      Though Ed reports "Channel 4 will not confirm schedules until 2 weeks
      in advance", both Ed and Katy suggest that the logical pattern should
      mean Season Five "will begin on Channel 4 at the beginning of January
      1999"; "...as it has always gone out the first Wednesday after New Year
      before."

     *[Note: "Day For Knight", the 5th Season Premiere, will be shown
      7th January, 1999 on SKY .]

           Check the SKY and Channel 4 UK schedules on the
      ER Episode List <http://www.digiserve.com/er/erlist.html#uk> regularly
      for up-to-date timelines.
      -(UK schedule courtesy Katy Lindemann).

           In Wales, "ER" airs at 10:30 on Wednesday nights on S4C.

      AUSTRALIA
           Australian television airs "ER" on Channel 9 on Thursdays
      at 9:30 pm.  Their second season run appears to be about five
      episodes behind the U.S.

      LATIN AMERICA
           Some (possibly most) Latin American countries show a
      "ER" dubbed in Spanish on open-air television, and an English
      version with Spanish subtitles on cable (Sony).

      [NOTE: Since I have received conflicting information from multiple
       sources about "ER" in Latin American countries, and this is the
       only agreed-upon information, this is how I will leave it].

     *EUROPE
           German television is currently showing the second season
      of "ER" on a channel called Pro7.  It airs Wednesdays at 8:15 pm.
      Pro7 is currently showing "ER" reruns in its original timeslot,
      which is unusual due to the competitive state of German
      primetime.

           Called "Urgences" in France, the French version of "ER"
      is shown at the rate of two episodes a week (!) on France 2
      every Sunday at 8:50 pm.  This is also not the same dubbed
      version as the French Canadian version that airs in Canada.
      The third season has just ended on France 2; the fourth will
      be shown during 1998.
      -(Information courtesy Antonello Migliorini and Didier
       {aka Mash}).

      [A bit of a different take on the above]: it is written
      in the section International Television that the French dubbed
      version shown in France isn't the same shown in French Canada,
      but it is. The dubbing is made in France and there is only one
      version made in French, so that's the one we get here in Quebec.
      However, the title has been changed (it's called Urgences in
      France and Salle d'urgence in Quebec) because there was already
      a series called Urgence in Quebec. So the opening credits aren't
      exactly the same from France to French Canada, even if the dubbed
      version is the same.
      -(Information courtesy Talitha Cumi).

[I understand now why Scott was hesitant on trying to keep up with
 international TV...]

           Iceland's RUV (National Television) shows "Bradavaktin" (ER)
      on Wednesdays at 10pm. The fourth season started on January 25.
      -(Information courtesy Antonello Migliorini).

           Ireland`s RTE shows "ER" on Mondays at 9:30 pm.

           TV3 Norway shows ER (called "Akutten") on Mondays at 9:30pm,
      starting from early 1998 with the fourth season, one episode per
      week. Now TV3 is showing reruns on Sunday late-afternoons
      -(Information courtesy Vala Olafs).

           TV3 Sweden <http://www.tv3.se> shows ER [called "Cityakuten"]
      reruns every weekday.  New episodes (the middle of season 4) will start
      week 48.
      -(Information courtesy Johanna Theng).

           TV3 Denmark shows "Skadestuen" on Mondays too, at 8 pm,
      and as its scandinavian counterpart it will start on 1998 with the
      fourth season. Now it is showing reruns on Fridays at 10:30 pm.
      -(Information courtesy Antonello Migliorini).

           In Spain, "ER" is shown in TVE1 on Mondays at 9:45.  TVE1
      is currently wrapping up broadcast of the first season.

          *Portugal is currently showing the third season of ER, which started
      on October 16th, on its main state channel, Radiotelevisao Portuguesa
      (RTP)-Channel 1.  The Portuguese title is "Servico de Urgencia", all
      programs are subtitled and aired every Friday at about midnight.
      -(Information courtesy Isabel Fajardo).

           Polish television is showing the fourth season of this
      excellent show on a channel called Polsat. It airs Wednesdays at
      9:00pm.
      -(Information courtesy Adas, "Polish fan of ER", and Agnieszka).

           In Finland, MTV3 will show the fourth season beginning
      Thursday 7th May, with no reruns. The fourth season finale should
      come out in early October.
      -(Information courtesy Simo Heiskanen).

           In Switzerland, "ER" is broadcast on two of the four
      national television stations.  TSR (French-Swiss) shows two
      consecutive episodes of ER every Sunday at 8:00 pm.  Schwiez 4
      (German-Swiss) shows one episode on Mondays at 7:55pm.
      (Schwiez 4 is about a season behind TSR.)

           Italy's RAIDUE is now showing season four, showing two
      episodes of ER per week on Thursdays at 8:50pm.  It's called
      "E.R.: Medici in Prima Linea" ("E.R.: Frontline Doctors") and
      they show two episodes concurrently -(Information courtesy
      Antonello Migliorini and Federico "faith" RUSSO).

           Belgium`s Flemish-language channel VTM shows "ER" on
      Thursdays at 10:15pm.  A Walloon (French-language) channel
      there recently ceased showing ER on Wednesdays at 9:00pm.

           Holland television airs a subtitled "ER" every Friday
      at 9:35pm, with the week`s repeat on Sundays at 7:00pm.

           "ER" is shown in Slovenia on POP TV, and airs every
      Friday at 8:00 pm.

          *"In Russia, 'ER' is currently shown on NTV channel at 22.45
      four times a week (they promise to show 2nd and 3rd season; 1st has
      been shown a year ago)."
      -(Information courtesy Mikhail E. Veselov).

      JAPAN
           Japan`s NHK began showing "ER" in April `96.  It airs
      every Monday at 11:00 pm.

      ELSEWHERE
           In the Philipines, "ER" is shown on Saturdays at 8:00 pm.
      The episodes there are roughly three months behind.

           In Hong Kong, "ER" airs every Tuesday at 9:30pm
      -(Information courtesy Karen Lee).

           In Israel, "ER" airs Sundays at 9:10pm on cable channel 3.
      -(Information courtesy Shlomi Codish, MD).

           In Taiwan, the CTS Channel shows "ER" on Sundays at 4:30pm.

           Singapore television airs "ER" every Tuesday at 9:30pm and
      is currently broadcasting the fourth season.
      -(Information courtesy Corrine Hoo)

           In Kuwait, "ER" can be viewed on the ORBIT Sattelite Network
      <http://www.orbit.net> on the channel "America Plus", which is
      currently broadcasting the third season..
      -(Information courtesy Fares)

 1.4  Who produces the show?

      Created by: Michael Crichton
      Executive producers: Michael Crichton, John Wells, Lydia
       Woodward
      Co-executive producer: Carol Flint
      Supervising producer: Paul Manning
      Co-producers: Neal Baer, Wendy Spence, Lance Gentile
      Produced by: Christopher Chulack
      Staff writers: Jason Cahill and Samantha Corbin
      Unit production manager: Michael Salamunovich
      Medical consultant: Lance Gentile
      Technical Advisor: Dr. Joe Sachs and Dr. Fred Einesman
      Director of photography: Richard Thorpe
      Film editors: Randy Morgan, Jacque Toberen, Kevin Casey
      Production design: Ivo Cristante
      Produced by: Constant c Productions and Amblin Television in
       association with Warner Bros. Television

      (from the show`s web page)

--
Rose "MotherFAQer" Cooper,
Keeper Of The Mostly New And Somewhat Improved ER FAQ
EMAIL: [email-masked]    ICQ: 7760005
http://www.digiserve.com/er/
http://manetheren.cl.msu.edu/~bambam/