Tuesday, January 18, 2000

"ER," "West Wing" rush to replace departing cast

   LOS ANGELES - On the sprawling Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, the White House Oval Office and Chicago's County General Hospital sit only a few blocks apart. The set of NBC's drama series "The West Wing," which takes place on a meticulous recreation of some 25 rooms of the famous residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., occupies 25,000 square feet of Stage 18. A short trek away on Stages 3 and 4, the dozens of operating rooms and crowded corridors of NBC's top-rated "ER" usually teem with actors portraying surgeons, nurses and traumatized patients.
   On this day, however, with the cameras not rolling, things are quiet on the sets as stars of both dramas step out of character to welcome television critics who have dropped by for a visit. Besides their location on the same studio lot, "West Wing" and "ER" have much in common. Both shows have garnered critical praise for fine writing and multiple storylines that is grounded in the realism of the locales. Both are filmed in a frenetic style that uses handheld cameras. Both series are produced and overseen by highly respected showrunner John Wells and feature huge ensemble casts of well-regarded character actors.
   And the two shows also share the problem of having to scramble soon to fill slots vacated by departing stars.
   Departures
   "ER" is losing two actresses: Emmy winner Julianna Margulies, who plays Nurse Carol Hathaway, and Kellie Martin, who joined the show 18 months ago in the role of a young medical intern.
   In a much-publicized career move, Margulies turned down a three-year contract worth $27 million if she'd stayed with the series. (Actors Eriq LaSalle, Anthony Edwards and Noah Wyle all accepted a similarly generous offer to stick around a few more seasons.)
   "I need to spread my wings as an actor," Margulies said. "It would have been a smart business move (to stay) but I don't know what else to do with the character and I would have ended up killing her."
   Kellie Martin said she simply felt her character, Lucy Knight, was lost amid the large ensemble. "This is a large cast and there are a lot of people on this show. It's time for me to move on," she said. Her options post-"ER" include completing her senior year of college and perhaps looking for another series to star in, she said.
   The departures come just as "ER" has begun to recover from the loss of actor George Clooney, who played Margulies' love interest, Dr. Doug Ross. Clooney left last season to pursue a feature film career and landed a hit with last summer's action drama "Three Kings."
   Later this spring, he's producing and starring in a live production of the old '60s film "Fail-Safe" for CBS.
   Although he still likes working in television, he probably won't return to "ER," he said, contrary to published reports that he'd come back for a guest shot for $2 million.
   "I've never been asked (to return)," Clooney said. "I've never talked to anyone about ever going back. Julianna and I had talked about my coming back and sort of getting her away from the show, but that was a discussion months ago and there's never been any follow-up on that."
   "ER" producer Wells said Margulies' leaving could actually rejuvenate the show in its seventh season, as it will finally put to rest the Doug/Carol storyline that has continued on and off for more than six years.
   "As much as we will miss (Margulies) I anticipate we'll be fine," said Wells, who compared Clooney's absence this year to "having a good friend move away ... you reorder the friendships of the people you still see every day."
   Meanwhile, "ER" got ratings bumps from story arcs featuring Alan Alda and Rebecca DeMornay. The show currently is building fresh storylines around newcomers Erik Palladino, who plays combative Dr. Dave Malucci, Maura Tierney as ICU nurse Abby Lockhart, Goran Visnjic as Dr. Luka Kovac and Alex Kingston as Dr. Elizabeth Corday. British actress Judy Parfitt joins the cast this spring as Corday's mother. And Ming-Na, who left the show after its first season, is back as third-year resident Dr. Jing-Mei Chen.
   Back in D.C.
   Over at the fictional White House of "The West Wing," the cast is just starting to settle into its roles some 12 episodes into the show's first season. Creator-writer Aaron Sorkin, who pens every script of "West Wing" and the ABC sitcom "Sports Night," said he has surprised himself at the way the plot has turned on the NBC show.
   Last week's episode revealed that President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) is suffering from multiple sclerosis, a condition that will be explored further later on. Sorkin said the plot twist occurred to him just days before the episode was filmed.
   Originally, Sorkin (who also wrote the feature film "The American President") envisioned the show as revolving only around a tight cadre of White House staffers, with the president seen only in passing or not at all.
   Actor Rob Lowe receives top billing among the dozen main cast members and was supposed to be the series' central character, playing a sort of hunked-up George Stephanopoulos-type named Sam Seaborn. Sheen was signed on for just four episodes.
   Then, appropriately for a show set in the nation's capital, the balance of power shifted and Sheen began to get more screen time than Lowe. Sheen is now signed for the entire season and will likely return if NBC renews the show. "I couldn't be happier," Sheen said.
   And Sorkin seems thrilled to be writing for him.
   "By the end of the first day of filming, as I saw Martin's work and heard him say the words, I knew I had to keep him," said Sorkin. As the plotline for President Josiah Bartlet expanded, Sorkin also wrote in roles for the First Lady (played by Stockard Channing) and the Vice President (Tim Matheson).
   That's left Lowe in the lurch. Hollywood trade papers have reported in recent weeks that the actor wants more to do on the show or he wants out of his contract.
   Lowe wouldn't address the matter directly during the set visit, saying only that he's "happy to be working on the show." And producer Wells only indicated that "we have never had that conversation."
   It was curious, however, as Wells and Sorkin went down the line praising cast members Sheen, Allison Janney (who plays the press secretary), John Spencer (chief of staff), Bradley Whitford (assistant chief of staff), Richard Schiff (communications director) and Moira Kelly (political consultant), that Lowe's name wasn't mentioned. Lowe was noticeably unhappy during the chat with critics and was the first to bolt from the room when the interview session concluded. A rehearsal, perhaps, of his imminent departure from the show.
  
  
  

 
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