I saw a similar post on another news group, but I couldn't answer, so I thought I'd bring the question over here.

If you had to eliminate the main characters down to seven and the supporting cast to three (not including the nurses) who would you choose and why?

Mine, in order of their importance to the ER:

1) Kerry Weaver, chief attending. Great actress, great character. 2) Mark Green, senior attending. Still the star of the show. 3) Luka Kovac, attending. So much background yet to be developed. Not to mention his soul searching eyes. 4) Lydia ____, head nurse. We have to have a main nurse character, and I think she's a good character to explore. 5) John Carter, chief resident. He's my daughter's fave and the best actor on the show. 6) Deb Chen, resident. She's a good friend and foil for Carter. 7) Abby Lockhart, med student. You have to have a med student, so let's keep Abby for now.

Supporting: a) Robert Romano, chief of staff. Great character, great actor. But best in small doses. b) Elizabeth Coday, assistant chief of surgery. Beautiful actress, nice romance with Mark Green, but not necessary to the ER, so not a major character. c) Peter Bentor, trauma fellow. Again, not absolutely necessary to the ER, but need him for his skills, dedication, and support of co-workers.

GET RID OF:

Cleo (the actress may be okay, but the writers have ruined the character by not developing her and making her flat - not the mention that horrible romance with Benton) Dave (just don't like him) Lucy (just don't like her - ooops, forgot, she's already gone)

My suggestion for med student would be to get one new med-student character each year and get rid of the previous one, unless a resident left. This is a teaching hospital, very few all med-students stay on.

And keep Donald Anspaugh, Steve (radiolist guy), Carl DeRaad as re-acurring characters.

Anyone else's thoughts?

-- AmyE (roamyn@aol.com), May 26, 2000

Answers

I couldn't possibly get rid of any of the nurses. I could happily live without Cleo; the problem is, they now have a pedes attending, so someone new would have to fill that position. I wouldn't miss Abby if they replaced her with another med student. They need to do more to develop Jing-Mei's and Dave's characters, but they both have a lot of potential. Paul McCrane is a fantastic actor, but Romano is so obnoxious it's best to just have him in small doses.

-- Felicity (felicity08@juno.com), May 26, 2000.