1.
Television program
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It may be a single production, or more commonly, a series of related productions. A limited number of episodes of a show may be called a miniseries or a serial or limited series. Television series are without a fixed length and are divided into seasons or series. While there is no defined length, U. S. industry practice has traditionally favored longer television seasons than those of other countries, a one-time broadcast may be called a special, or particularly in the UK a special episode. A television film is a film that is initially broadcast on television rather than released in theaters or direct-to-video, a program can be either recorded, as on video tape, other various electronic media forms, played with an on-demand player or viewed on live television. Television programs may be fictional, or non-fictional and it may be topical, or historical. They could be primarily instructional or educational, or entertaining as is the case in situation comedy, a drama program usually features a set of actors playing characters in a historical or contemporary setting. The program follows their lives and adventures, except for soap opera-type serials, many shows especially before the 1980s, remained static without story arcs, and the main characters and premise changed little. If some change happened to the characters lives during the episode, because of this, the episodes could be broadcast in any order. Since the 1980s, there are series that feature progressive change to the plot. For instance, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere were two of the first American prime time television series to have this kind of dramatic structure. While the later series, Babylon 5 is an example of such production that had a predetermined story running over its intended five-season run. In 2012, it was reported that television was growing into a component of major media companies revenues than film. Some also noted the increase in quality of television programs. When a person or company decides to create a new series, they develop the elements, consisting of the concept, the characters, the crew. Then they offer it to the networks in an attempt to find one interested enough to order a prototype first episode of the series. They want very much to get the word out on what types of shows they’re looking for, to create the pilot, the structure and team of the whole series must be put together. If the network likes the pilot, they pick up the show to air it the next season, sometimes they save it for mid-season, or request rewrites and further review
2.
Television in the United States
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Television is one of the major mass media of the United States. The peak ownership percentage of households with at least one television set occurred during the 1996–97 season, individual broadcast television stations in the U. S. transmit on either VHF channels 2 through 13 or UHF channels 14 through 51. Over-the-air and subscription television networks, however, are not required to file for a license to operate, channels are usually sold in groups, rather than singularly. A la carte subscription services in the U. S, the United States has a decentralized, market-oriented television system, particularly in regard to broadcast television. The nation has a public television service known as the Public Broadcasting Service. Local media markets have their own stations, which may either be affiliated with or owned and operated by a television network. Arrangements in which television stations carried more than one network on its main signal were more common between the 1940s and the 1960s, although some continued as late as 2010. However unlike in other countries, to ensure local presences in television broadcasting, the international programming model is used in the U. S. The five major U. S. broadcast television networks are the National Broadcasting Company, CBS, the American Broadcasting Company, the Fox Broadcasting Company and the CW Television Network. The first and elder three began as radio networks, NBC and CBS respectively began operations in 1924 and 1927, weekday schedules on ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates tend to be similar, with programming choices sorted by dayparts. Network daytime schedules consist of shows and soap operas, although one network – CBS – still carries game shows. Syndicated talk shows are shown in the afternoon, followed by additional local newscasts in the early evening time period. ABC, CBS and NBC offer network news programs each evening, local newscasts or syndicated programs fill the prime access hour or half-hour, and lead into the networks prime time schedules, which are the days most-watched three hours of television. The traditional prime time runs from 8,00 to 11,00 p. m. in the Eastern. Hour and leave that hour for their affiliates to provide programming of their own, later in the evening, drama series of various types air. Sunday is the night on American television, with many of TVs most popular shows airing on that night. At the end of time, another local news program is broadcast. Saturday mornings usually feature network programming aimed at children, while Sunday mornings include a form of public affairs program known as the Sunday morning talk shows, both of these help fulfill stations legal obligations, respectively to provide educational childrens programs and public service programming
3.
I Love Lucy
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I Love Lucy is a landmark American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15,1951, to May 6,1957, after the series ended in 1957, however, a modified version continued for three more seasons with 13 one-hour specials, it ran from 1957 to 1960. It was first known as The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show and later in reruns as The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour. The show, which was the first scripted television program to be shot on 35 mm film in front of an audience, won five Emmy Awards. I Love Lucy was the most watched show in the United States in four of its six seasons, the show is still syndicated in dozens of languages across the world and remains popular with an American audience of 40 million each year. A colorized version of its Christmas episode attracted more than 8 million viewers when CBS aired it in time in 2013 –62 years after the show premiered. A second colorized special, featuring the L. A, at Last. and Lucy and Superman episodes, aired on May 17,2015, attracting 6.4 million viewers. I Love Lucy is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential sitcoms in history, in 2012, it was voted the Best TV Show of All Time in a survey conducted by ABC News and People Magazine. The Ricardos best friends, Fred and Ethel, are former vaudevillians, unfortunately, she has few marketable performance skills. She does not seem to be able to carry a tune or play anything other than off-key renditions of such as Glow Worm on the saxophone. However, to say she is completely without talent would be untrue, as on occasion, she is shown to be a good dancer, the show provided Ball ample opportunity to display her considerable skill at clowning and physical comedy. Character development was not a focus of early sitcoms, so little was offered about her life before the show. Her family was absent, other than occasional appearances by her bird-brained mother and she was also depicted as a devoted housewife and attentive mother. Lucys husband, Ricky Ricardo, is an up-and-coming Cuban American singer and bandleader with an excitable personality and his patience is frequently tested by his wifes antics. When exasperated, he reverts to speaking rapidly in Spanish. As with Lucy, not much is revealed about his past or family, Rickys mother appears in two episodes, in another Lucy mentions that he has five brothers. Ricky also mentions that he had practically raised by his uncle Alberto. The story, at least insofar as related to newspaper columnist Hedda Hopper, is that the met in Havana when Lucy
4.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
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The program featured American televisions first never-married, independent career woman as the central character. It is one of the most acclaimed television programs in US television history and it received high praise from critics during its run, including Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series three years in a row, and continued to be honored long after the final episode aired. In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked The Mary Tyler Moore Show No.6 in its list of the 101 Best Written TV Series of All Time. Mary Richards is a woman who, at age 30. She applies for a job at television station WJM. She is instead offered the position of associate producer of the stations Six OClock News and she befriends her tough but lovable boss Lou Grant, newswriter Murray Slaughter, and buffoonish anchorman Ted Baxter. Mary later becomes producer of the show, Mary rents a third-floor studio apartment in a 19th-century house from acquaintance and downstairs landlady, Phyllis Lindstrom, and she and upstairs neighbor Rhoda Morgenstern become best friends. Characters introduced later in the series are acerbic, man-hungry TV hostess Sue Ann Nivens, at the beginning of season 6, after both Rhoda and Phyllis have moved away, Mary relocates to a one-bedroom high-rise apartment. In the third season, issues such as pay for women, pre-marital sex. In the fourth season, such subjects as marital infidelity and divorce are explored with Phyllis and Lou, in the fifth season, Mary refuses to reveal a news source and is jailed for contempt of court. While in jail, she befriends a prostitute who seeks Marys help in a subsequent episode, Mary dates several men on and off over the years, two seriously, but remains single throughout the series. In 1995, Entertainment Weekly said that TVs most famous bachelorette pad was Marys apartment, the fictitious address was 119 North Weatherly, but the exterior establishing shots were of a real house in Minneapolis at 2104 Kenwood Parkway. In the real house, an unfinished attic occupied the space behind the window recreated on the studio set of Marys apartment. Once fans of the series discovered where exterior shots had been taken, according to Moore, the woman who lived in the house was overwhelmed by the people showing up and asking if Mary was around. To discourage crews from filming footage of the house, the owners placed an Impeach Nixon sign beneath the window where Mary supposedly lived. The house continued to attract 30 tour buses a day more than a decade after production ended, at the time of Mary Tyler Moores death, on January 25,2017, the Kenwood Parkway house was for sale at $1.7 million. Mary Richards, a single native Minnesotan, moves to Minneapolis in 1970 at age 30 and her sincere, kind demeanor often acts as a foil for the personalities of her co-workers and friends. Lou Grant is the Producer of the news and his tough and grumpy demeanor initially hides his kind-hearted nature which is gradually revealed as the series progresses
5.
The Dick Van Dyke Show
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The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on CBS from October 3,1961 to June 1,1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning over five seasons. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Larry Mathews and it centered on the work and home life of television comedy writer Rob Petrie. The show was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, the music for the shows theme song was written by Earle Hagen. The series won 15 Emmy Awards, in 1997, the episodes Coast-to-Coast Big Mouth and It May Look Like a Walnut were ranked at 8 and 15 respectively on TV Guides 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. In 2002, it was ranked at 13 on TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time and in 2013, the two main settings show the work and home life of Rob Petrie, the head writer of a comedy/variety show produced in Manhattan. Viewers are given a look at how a television show was written. Many scenes deal with Rob and his co-writers, Buddy Sorrell, Mel Cooley, a balding straight man and recipient of numerous insulting one-liners from Buddy, was the shows producer and the brother-in-law of the shows star, Alan Brady. As Rob, Buddy, and Sally write for a comedy show, Other scenes focus on the home life of Rob, his wife Laura, and son Richie, who live at 148 Bonnie Meadow Road in suburban New Rochelle, New York. Also often seen are their neighbors and best friends, Jerry Helper, a dentist. In the pilot, Carl Reiner, who created the show based on his own experiences as a TV writer, played Robbie Petrie, with a long first e, the pilot was unsuccessful, which led Reiner to rework the show with Dick Van Dyke playing the central character. The pilot was subsequently the basis of the series episode Father of the Week. Reiner considered moving the production of the series to full color as early as three, only to drop the idea when he was informed that it would add about $7,000 to the cost of each episode. On December 11,2016, two episodes from the series were presented on CBS-TV colorized, the Last Chapter was the last episode that aired, The Gunslinger was the last episode filmed. Main, Robert Simpson Rob Petrie – head writer for The Alan Brady Show, the role of Rob Petrie was almost given to Johnny Carson, but Sheldon Leonard, the shows executive producer, suggested Van Dyke. As a 17-year-old dancer in the United Service Organizations, she met, then, she became a stay-at-home mom. About 60 actresses auditioned for the part before Moore was signed, Moore later wrote that she almost skipped the audition. Maurice Buddy Sorrell – an energetic and at times sarcastic human joke machine, one of the comedy writers, Amsterdam was recommended for the role by Rose Marie as soon as she had signed on to the series. Buddy is constantly making fun of Mel Cooley, the producer, for being bald
6.
Cheers
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Cheers is an American sitcom that ran on NBC from September 30,1982 to May 20,1993, with a total of 270 half-hour episodes spanning over eleven seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association with Paramount Network Television, the show was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles. The show is set in a bar named Cheers in Boston, Massachusetts, where a group of locals meet to drink, relax, the shows main theme song, written and performed by Gary Portnoy lent its famous refrain Where Everybody Knows Your Name as the shows tagline. After premiering on September 30,1982, it was canceled during its first season when it ranked almost last in ratings for its premiere. Cheers, however, eventually became a highly rated show in the United States, earning a top-ten rating during eight of its eleven seasons. The show spent most of its run on NBCs Thursday night Must See TV lineup and its widely watched series finale was broadcast on May 20,1993, and the shows 270 episodes have been successfully syndicated worldwide. Nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series for all eleven of its seasons on the air, the character Frasier Crane was featured in his eponymous spin-off show, which aired until 2004 and included guest appearances by virtually all of the major and minor Cheers characters. During its run, Cheers became one of the most popular series of all time and has received critical acclaim. In 1997, the episodes Thanksgiving Orphans and Home Is the Sailor, aired originally in 1987, were respectively ranked No.7, in 2002, Cheers was ranked No.18 on TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked it as the eighth best written TV series, before the Cheers pilot Give Me a Ring Sometime was completed and aired in 1982, the series originally consisted of four employees in the first script. Neither Norm Peterson nor Cliff Clavin, regular customers of Cheers, were featured, in later years, Woody Boyd replaces Coach, who dies off-screen in season four to account for actor Nicholas Colasantos death. Frasier Crane starts as a character and becomes a permanent character. In season six, they added a new character Rebecca Howe, Lilith Sternin starts as a one-time character in an episode of season four, Second Time Around. After she appears in two episodes in five, she becomes a recurring character, and later featured as a permanent one for season ten. Ted Danson portrays Sam Malone, a bartender and an owner of Cheers, before the series began, he was a baseball relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox nicknamed Mayday Malone until he became an alcoholic, harming his career. He has an on-again, off-again relationship with Diane Chambers, his class opposite, during their off-times, Sam has flings with many not-so-bright sexy women, yet fails to pursue a meaningful relationship and fails to seduce other women, such as intellectuals. After Diane is written out of the series, he tries to pursue Rebecca Howe, at the end of the series, he is still unmarried and recovering from sexual addiction with a help of Dr. Robert Suttons group meetings, advised by Frasier. Shelley Long portrays Diane Chambers, an academic, sophisticated graduate student, in the pilot Diane is abandoned by her fiancé, leaving her without a job, a man, or money
7.
The Odd Couple (1970 TV series)
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The Odd Couple, formally titled onscreen Neil Simons The Odd Couple, is an American television situation comedy broadcast from September 24,1970, to March 7,1975, on ABC. It stars Tony Randall as Felix Unger and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison, the show is based on the play of the same name, which was written by Neil Simon. Felix and Oscar are both divorced and they share a Manhattan apartment, and their different lifestyles inevitably lead to conflicts and laughs. In 1997, the episodes Password and The Fat Farm were ranked #5 and #58, respectively, the show received three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Its fourth season, from 1973–74, remains the most recent nominee for a show aired during a Friday time slot. The original casting considerations for the TV show included Mickey Rooney or Martin Balsam as Oscar, eventually Tony Randall and Jack Klugman were hired. Both had starred in different productions of the play, Randall, who was hired first, had still wanted Mickey Rooney to play Oscar. The shows co-executive producer, Garry Marshall, had to lobby hard to get Klugman successfully hired, the show premiered September 24,1970 on ABC. During the first season it was filmed using the single-camera method, the apartment set was re-used from the 1968 film version. Thereafter, the show was filmed with three cameras and performed like a play in front of a studio audience. The apartment set was rebuilt and rearranged to allow more of the apartment to be seen by the audience while less important areas were moved out of audience view. Throughout its run, The Odd Couple was juggled around ABCs programming schedule, the show struggled in the Nielsen ratings and was canceled at the end of every season. However, ABC renewed the show for upcoming season because the ratings for the summer reruns were high. In the final episode, Felix Remarries, Felix finally wins Gloria back. The final scene unfolds in this way, as the two say their goodbyes, Felix, Your dinners in the oven, turn it off in 20 minutes, five years ago you took me in, a broken man on the verge of … mental collapse. I leave here a cured human being, Oscar, Felix, you know how Im gonna salute you. Felix, It has not been in vain, Oscar, Im not gonna clean that up. Felix, I knew he wouldnt clean it up, the 114 episodes went on to syndication and home video
8.
Breaking Bad
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Breaking Bad is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. The show originally aired on the AMC network for five seasons, from January 20,2008 and it tells the story of Walter White, a struggling high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. The title is from a Southern colloquialism meaning to raise hell, Breaking Bad is set and was filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Walters family consists of his wife Skyler and children, Walter, Jr. the show also features Skylers sister Marie Schrader, and her husband Hank, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent. Walter hires lawyer Saul Goodman, who connects him with private investigator and fixer Mike Ehrmantraut and in turn Mikes employer, the final season introduces the characters Todd Alquist and Lydia Rodarte-Quayle. Breaking Bad is widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time, by the time the series finale aired, the series was among the most-watched cable shows on American television. In 2013, Breaking Bad entered the Guinness World Records as the most critically acclaimed show of all time, Breaking Bad was created by Vince Gilligan, who spent several years writing the Fox series The X-Files. Gilligan wanted to create a series in which the protagonist became the antagonist, Television is historically good at keeping its characters in a self-imposed stasis so that shows can go on for years or even decades, he said. When I realized this, the next step was to think. He added that his goal with Walter White was to him from Mr. Chips into Scarface. The show title is based on a Southern colloquialism meaning, among other things, raising hell, according to Time entertainment editor Lily Rothman, the term has a broader meaning and is an old phrase which connotes more violence than raising hell does. As the series progressed, Gilligan and the staff of Breaking Bad made Walter increasingly unsympathetic. Gilligan said during the run of the series, Hes going from being a protagonist to an antagonist and we want to make people question who theyre pulling for, and why. Cranston said by the season, I think Walts figured out its better to be a pursuer than the pursued. Hes well on his way to badass, while still pitching the show to studios, Gilligan was initially discouraged when he learned of the existing series Weeds and its similarities to the premise of Breaking Bad. While his producers convinced him that the show was different enough to still be successful, the network ordered nine episodes for the first season, but the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike limited the production to seven episodes. Once Gilligan recognized that this would mean wed always have to be avoiding the Sandia Mountains in shots directed toward the east and it was shot primarily on 35 mm film, with digital cameras employed as needed for additional angles, point of view shots and time-lapse photography. Breaking Bad reportedly cost $3 million per episode to produce, higher than the average cost for a cable program
9.
The X-Files
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The X-Files is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter, which originally aired from September 10,1993 to May 19,2002 on Fox. The program spanned nine seasons, included 202 episodes, and a film of the same name. Later in 2008, a film was made and preceded a tenth season revival. The series revolves around FBI special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who investigate X-Files, early in the series, both agents become pawns in a larger conflict and come to trust only each other and a very few select people. The agents also discover an agenda of the government to keep the existence of life a secret. They develop a relationship which begins as a platonic friendship. In addition to the story arc, Monster-of-the-Week episodes form roughly two-thirds of all episodes. When creating the characters, Carter sought to reverse gender stereotypes by making Mulder a believer. The first seven seasons featured Duchovny and Anderson equally, in the last two seasons, Anderson took precedence while Duchovny appeared intermittently. New main characters were introduced, FBI agents John Doggett and Monica Reyes, Mulder and Scullys boss, Assistant Director Walter Skinner, also became a main character. The first five seasons of The X-Files were filmed and produced in Vancouver, British Columbia, the series later returned to Vancouver to film The X-Files, I Want to Believe as well as the tenth season of the series. The X-Files was a hit for the Fox network and received positive reviews. Initially considered a series, it turned into a pop culture touchstone that tapped into public mistrust of governments and large institutions and embraced conspiracy theories. Both the series itself and lead actors Duchovny and Anderson received multiple awards and nominations, the series also spawned a franchise which includes The Lone Gunmen spin-off, two theatrical films and accompanying merchandise. The revival premiered on January 24,2016, the X-Files follows the careers and personal lives of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Mulder is a profiler and strong believer in the supernatural. He is also adamant about the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life and this set of beliefs earns him the nickname Spooky Mulder and an assignment to a little-known department that deals with unsolved cases, known as the X-Files. His belief in the springs from the claimed abduction of his sister Samantha Mulder by extraterrestrials when Mulder was 12
10.
CBS
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CBS is an American commercial broadcast television network that is a flagship property of CBS Corporation. The company is headquartered at the CBS Building in New York City with major facilities and operations in New York City. CBS is sometimes referred to as the Eye Network, in reference to the iconic logo. It has also called the Tiffany Network, alluding to the perceived high quality of CBS programming during the tenure of William S. Paley. It can also refer to some of CBSs first demonstrations of color television, the network has its origins in United Independent Broadcasters Inc. a collection of 16 radio stations that was purchased by Paley in 1928 and renamed the Columbia Broadcasting System. Under Paleys guidance, CBS would first become one of the largest radio networks in the United States, in 1974, CBS dropped its former full name and became known simply as CBS, Inc. In 2000, CBS came under the control of Viacom, which was formed as a spin-off of CBS in 1971, CBS Corporation is controlled by Sumner Redstone through National Amusements, which also controls the current Viacom. The television network has more than 240 owned-and-operated and affiliated stations throughout the United States. The origins of CBS date back to January 27,1927, Columbia Phonographic went on the air on September 18,1927, with a presentation by the Howard Barlow Orchestra from flagship station WOR in Newark, New Jersey, and fifteen affiliates. Operational costs were steep, particularly the payments to AT&T for use of its land lines, in early 1928 Judson sold the network to brothers Isaac and Leon Levy, owners of the networks Philadelphia affiliate WCAU, and their partner Jerome Louchenheim. With the record out of the picture, Paley quickly streamlined the corporate name to Columbia Broadcasting System. He believed in the power of advertising since his familys La Palina cigars had doubled their sales after young William convinced his elders to advertise on radio. By September 1928, Paley bought out the Louchenheim share of CBS, during Louchenheims brief regime, Columbia paid $410,000 to A. H. Grebes Atlantic Broadcasting Company for a small Brooklyn station, WABC, which would become the networks flagship station. WABC was quickly upgraded, and the relocated to 860 kHz. The physical plant was relocated also – to Steinway Hall on West 57th Street in Manhattan, by the turn of 1929, the network could boast to sponsors of having 47 affiliates. Paley moved right away to put his network on a financial footing. In the fall of 1928, he entered talks with Adolph Zukor of Paramount Pictures. The deal came to fruition in September 1929, Paramount acquired 49% of CBS in return for a block of its stock worth $3.8 million at the time
11.
The Honeymooners
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The Honeymooners is an American television sitcom created by and starring Jackie Gleason, based on a recurring 1951–55 comedy sketch of the same name. The popularity of the sketches led Gleason to rework The Honeymooners as a filmed half-hour series, the final episode of The Honeymooners aired on September 22,1956, although Gleason revived the characters sporadically until 1978. The Honeymooners was one of the first U. S. television shows to portray working-class married couples in a gritty, the program is also popular internationally, particularly in Canada, Poland and Scandinavian countries Norway and Sweden. The majority of The Honeymooners focused on its four principal characters on fixed sets within a Brooklyn apartment building, played by Jackie Gleason—a bus driver for the fictional Gotham Bus Company based out of Brooklyn, NY. He is never seen driving a bus, but is shown at the bus depot. Ralph is frustrated by his lack of success, and often develops get-rich-quick schemes, Ralph is very short tempered, frequently resorting to bellowing, insults and hollow threats. Well-hidden beneath the layers of bluster, however, is a soft-hearted man who loves his wife and is devoted to his best pal. Ralph enjoys bowling, playing pool and being a member in the Loyal Order of Raccoon Lodge. Ralph was given membership in the union for real New York City bus drivers during the run of the show. Ralph Kramden is the inspiration for the animated character Fred Flintstone, Alice, played in the first seven episodes by Pert Kelton and by Audrey Meadows throughout the Classic 39, is Ralphs patient but sharp-tongued wife of roughly 15 years. She often finds herself bearing the brunt of Ralphs insults, which she returns with biting sarcasm and she has grown accustomed to his empty threats, One of these days. Right in the kisser. or BANG, ZOOM, to which she usually replies, Ahhh, shaddap. She studied to be a secretary before her marriage, and works briefly in that capacity when Ralph is laid off, wilma Flintstone is based on Alice Kramden. Another foil for Ralph is Alices mother, who is even sharper-tongued than her daughter and she despises Ralph as a bad provider. Alices father is mentioned but never seen. Alices sister, Agnes, appeared in one episode, Ralph and Alice lived with her mother for six years after getting married before they got their own apartment. Ralphs mother is mentioned, but appears in one episode. Ralphs father is mentioned in one episode as having given Ralph a cornet he learned to play as a boy
12.
ER (TV series)
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It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Television, in association with Warner Bros. ER follows the life of the emergency room of fictional County General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. The show became the longest-running primetime medical drama in American television history and it won 23 Primetime Emmy Awards, including the 1996 Outstanding Drama Series award, and received 124 Emmy nominations, which makes it the most nominated drama program in history. ER won 116 awards in total, including the Peabody Award, in 1974, author Michael Crichton wrote a screenplay based on his own experiences as a resident physician in a busy hospital emergency room. The screenplay went nowhere and Crichton focused on other topics, in 1990, he published the novel Jurassic Park, and in 1993 began a collaboration with director Steven Spielberg on the film adaptation of the book. Crichton and Spielberg then turned to ER, but decided to film the story as a pilot for a television series rather than as a feature film. Spielbergs Amblin Entertainment provided John Wells as the executive producer. The script used to shoot the pilot was virtually unchanged from what Crichton had written in 1974. Because of a lack of time and money necessary to build a set, the episode of ER was filmed in the former Linda Vista Hospital in Los Angeles. After Spielberg had joined as a producer, NBC ordered six episodes, ER premiered opposite a Monday Night Football game on ABC and did surprisingly well. Then we moved it to Thursday and it just took off, ERs success surprised the networks and critics alike, as David E. Kelleys new medical drama Chicago Hope was expected to crush the new series. Crichton remained executive producer until his death in November 2008, although he was credited as one throughout that entire final season. Wells, the other initial executive producer, served as showrunner for the first three seasons. He was one of the shows most prolific writers and became a director in later years. Lydia Woodward was a part of the first season production team and she took over as showrunner for the fourth season while Wells focused on the development of other series, including Trinity, Third Watch, and The West Wing. She left her executive position at the end of the sixth season. Joe Sachs, who was a writer and producer of the series, believed keeping a commitment to medical accuracy was important, Wed bend the rules. A medication that would take 10 minutes to work might take 30 seconds instead, a 12- to 24-hour shift gets pushed into 48 minutes
