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Kem expected to return
Topic Started: Dec 19 2004, 01:29 PM (309 Views)
ERfool89
Resident (500+ posts)
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Quote:
 
An ER tries to treat and discharge patients quickly. ER tries to hold on to viewers as long as it can.

Posted 11/10/2004 9:51 PM    Updated 11/10/2004 10:11 PM
'ER' tries fresh treatments to keep viewers glued
By Bill Keveney, USA TODAY

Longtime ER staple Noah Wyle,  has said this is likely his last season, but he'd return for final rites. 
NBC

Occasional special episodes, such as tonight's examination of one patient (guest star Ray Liotta) in real time, offer one way for the longtime hit NBC drama to keep viewers engaged and stave off sameness in its 11th season.

"That's always the worry. We're trying very hard to tell new stories," says John Wells, executive producer since ER's start in 1994. (Related story: ER fights signs of aging)

Ways ER (Thursday, 10 ET/PT) tries to stay invigorated include:

•Variety. So many patients give ER the chance to create many plotlines, although a 225-episode history means greater chance of repetition or exaggeration. ER also mixes in the occasional digression, such as tonight's stand-alone episode, the latest in a line that includes a live episode, shows set in Africa and a Rashomon-like effort with multiple points of view.

On the personal front, both John Carter (Noah Wyle) and Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney) will have love interests, played respectively by Madchen Amick and Eion Bailey. But Carter still will miss last season's love, Kem (Thandie Newton), who is expected to return.

•Advances and complications in medical treatment. Later this season, ER will deal with questions regarding the pricing and approval of pharmaceuticals, an issue that has been in the news.

•Cast changes. Actors have come and gone, creating new possibilities, professionally and personally. New characters such as Neela Rasgotra (Parminder Nagra) let ER reinvent a staple, the first-time doctor, that started with Wyle's Carter, now a senior member of the staff.

Alex Kingston left recently and Ming-Na (who plays Dr. Jing-Mei Chen) will leave in the coming weeks, but the departure of Carter, the only main character who has been with ER from the beginning, is no longer a certainty.

Wyle, who recently had said this was his last season, says he is still likely to leave, but that he will talk to producers first. One possibility would be a return for fewer than a full season's 22 episodes.

At times over the years, the show has been slowed by too many characters, and recent seasons have featured more disasters. "This year has been a little quieter," says director and executive producer Christopher Chulack, who aims for a documentary feel in tonight's episode.

After past episodes featured a tank and a helicopter crash, a number of this season's plots have followed the training of new doctors. "It brings it back to treating problems endemic to big-city hospitals," Wyle says.

Although it wasn't possible to arrange a single sponsor or rearrange commercials to maintain complete continuity in tonight's real-time episode, the opening theme was removed and NBC gave back some time to help the flow. Time is marked by a doctor's wait for a pizza order.

In the show, Charlie Metcalf (Liotta), an alcoholic and ex-jailbird, dies in less than an hour, but bonds with his caregivers in the process.

Metcalf's precipitous decline — Liotta expresses the terror through his eyes — connects with Abby, a recovering alcoholic.

When Metcalf talks of his wife's murder, another physician, Luka Kovac (Goran Visnjic), can relate. His wife was killed. And a third doc, Greg Pratt (Mekhi Phifer), the son of an absentee father, feels a range of emotions when contemplating Metcalf's self-destruction and estrangement from his son.

"Rarely do we get into a patient's psyche that much, because the show's moving so fast," Phifer says.

Although CBS' Without a Trace is pulling closer in the battle for the young adult audience (18 to 49), ER holds a wider edge when it comes to the younger part of that demographic (18 to 34). One reason may be that it has repopulated itself with young actors, including Phifer, Nagra, Linda Cardellini and Shane West, NBC program executive Ted Frank says.

Wells won't speculate on the longevity of ER, licensed through 2005-06, but Chulack and Wyle think it has a few more years. Whatever happens, Wyle says he'd like to be back to close the circle.

"I did promise John (Wells) that when the final episode (occurs), I'll be back to put my feet up on the admit desk," he says.




I just found this today but it is from a month ago. I dont want Kem to come back :(
Posted Image*~Grace~*
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Faith
Member Avatar
Hospital Chairperson (3,700+ posts)
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Yeah I want her to come back, to pack the rest of her stuff and take the plane back home. Bye bye Kem.

^Hmm when I look back that sounded kind of harsh, but I don't like her, she was annoying! Imo
There was a rabbit, in a bowler hat cooking an omelette...
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carby'n'samka
Medical Student (100+ Posts)
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i dont want kem to come back. i would much rather see carter with wendall. all last season i wanted kem gone...argghh she'll ruin everything if she comes back. noah wyle leaving is already bad enough :(
Posted Image
Carter:I spend 23 hours a day wondering whether we're wrong for each other. But in the 24th hour, I realize I've been thinking about her for 23 hours, and I come back to there's something about her that I can't stay away from. Something about her that makes me want to... love her

good carby site
http://www.mjgraphix.com/carby/
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carby'n'samka
Medical Student (100+ Posts)
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Quote:
 
table TV Guest Appearances

"ER" playing "Makemba 'Kem' Likasu" in episode: "One for the Road" (episode # 11.1) 23 September 2004
"ER" playing "Makemba 'Kem' Likasu" in episode: "Midnight" (episode # 10.21) 6 May 2004
"ER" playing "Makemba 'Kem' Likasu" in episode: "Abby Normal" (episode # 10.20) 29 April 2004
"ER" playing "Makemba 'Kem' Likasu" in episode: "Blood Relations" (episode # 10.15) 19 February 2004
"ER" playing "Makemba 'Kem' Likasu" in episode: "Impulse Control" (episode # 10.14) 12 February 2004
"ER" playing "Makemba 'Kem' Likasu" in episode: "Get Carter" (episode # 10.13) 5 February 2004
"ER" playing "Makemba 'Kem' Likasu" in episode: "Touch & Go" (episode # 10.11) 8 January 2004
"ER" playing "Makemba 'Kem' Likasu" in episode: "Makemba" (episode # 10.10) 11 December 2003
"ER" playing "Makemba 'Kem' Likasu" in episode: "Freefall" (episode # 10.8) 20 November 2003

I found this also on imdb and they always have upcoming movies/show appearances so hopefully this is updated and right
Posted Image
Carter:I spend 23 hours a day wondering whether we're wrong for each other. But in the 24th hour, I realize I've been thinking about her for 23 hours, and I come back to there's something about her that I can't stay away from. Something about her that makes me want to... love her

good carby site
http://www.mjgraphix.com/carby/
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