The Night That Changed Everything: Revisiting George Clooney in the ER Premiere
: The episode’s emotional core involved the suicide attempt of Nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies). Clooney’s raw chemistry with Margulies was so powerful that producers decided to save her character, who was originally scripted to die in the pilot. [S1E1] George Clooney
: Clooney was the set's resident prankster from day one. In one famous S1 mishap, he accidentally shocked himself with a defibrillator while messing around, much to the amusement of castmates like Noah Wyle and Julianna Margulies. The Night That Changed Everything: Revisiting George Clooney
: Establishing Doug Ross as the "bad boy" of the hospital. In one famous S1 mishap, he accidentally shocked
Thirty years ago, a relatively unknown actor with a history of short-lived sitcoms walked onto a chaotic hospital set in Chicago and changed the course of television history. Before he was an Oscar winner or a silver-fox icon, George Clooney was Dr. Doug Ross, the charismatic, rule-breaking pediatrician who made his debut in the landmark pilot episode of , titled " 24 Hours ". A Star is Born (Again)
: To avoid "screwing up" complex medical lines, Clooney reportedly wrote his dialogue on patient pillowcases so he could read them while looking intensely into his co-stars' eyes.