E R

  ER

     My first job on, “ER,” I got booked as an EMT. Short for ambulance driver, or personnel. I thought I might be working outside, on, or near an ambulance. Perhaps I would be in the loading/unloading area, for ambulances, at the Warner Bros. set, that looks like “County General” hospital, in Chicago. I never went anywhere near this area. I walked around the inside of the hospital, in my EMT uniform, and I also pushed an empty gurney around. I never really talked with anyone, or interacted with any of the principle actors. My calling service had gotten me the job, but my paperwork was from Central Casting. I ended up working on ER many times. My calling service said they liked me. I have no idea why. 

     Sometimes the cast, and crew would play basketball, across the street from the soundstage, where the interior hospital sets, were located. I was present one day when they were all trying to make “trick” shots. George Clooney stood atop a large generator, outside the soundstage, and launched the ball at the basket. He did not make the basket, but nobody else tried, because someone pointed out the sign, on the generator, that read, “Danger - High Voltage!” Noah Wyle then stood in the doorway of the soundstage, and threw the basketball, across the street. He made the basket! Much later, I said to him, “Anybody ever beat that basket you made, from inside the doorway?” He smiled, and said, “Oh, you were here for that?” I nodded, and he said, “I’m glad there is still a witness around.” At the time, Mr. Wyle was one of the few, if not the only, original cast member, still working, on the show. I worked on ER, for several different years. 

     On one occasion, I was dressed in a hospital gown, and placed on a gurney. One of my fellow extras, dressed as a nurse, was directed to push me around the set. I had seen her, on this show, many times before. She told me they liked her because she had previous, real life experience, as an ER nurse. She knew the correct names, of all the instruments, how they were placed, and how they were used. If a principle actor asked for something, she knew what it was, and how to hand it over. She was getting SAG money, and she said she was a regular extra, on the show. She averaged 3, or more days, per week. Nice work, if you can get it! A year, or so later, I ran into her, on the set of ER again. I said to her, “Got your house paid for yet?” She smiled, and replied, “No, but I drive a really nice car.” I know the show is not filming anymore, but I hope she is well wherever she is.

     Another time, I was lying on a gurney, under a bank of very bright lights. I closed my eyes, and the thought occurred to me, that getting paid to sleep, was something that rarely happened, except in show business, and in congress. While I was resting, I got the feeling, I was being watched. I opened my eyes, and there stood George Clooney, in full doctor costume, with a clipboard, in his hands. When he saw me open my eyes, he placed the clipboard across my legs. Then he pulled a pen out of his lab coat, and touched the bottom of my feet, with it. “Did you feel that?,” he asked. I nodded, and he said, “Good. You can go home today.” Then he smiled at me. “Thanks Doc.,” I said, as he walked away. There were no cameras rolling. We were not being filmed, at all. Mr. Clooney was just playing doctor. This is why I liked ER. Nobody walked around with their nose, in the air. Suit up, show up, do your job, and don’t cause trouble. You will get the same respect, as everyone else. This was my experience. Small wonder, so many of us, liked working on ER.

     Most of the time, we filmed on the Warner Bros. lot, in Burbank, CA, at the ER soundstage. Because of this, production did not have to provide lunch. We could leave the lot, and fend for ourselves, or we could eat at the Warner Bros. cafeteria. The craft service department, for ER, provided so much food, and so many choices, that many times, “Going to Lunch,” was not necessary. I remember hot soup, deli sandwiches, and designer chocolate, being provided, for everyone, for free, on set, all the time. Lunch? Fuggetaboutit! One time we worked late into the night. Production arranged to have the Warner Bros. cafeteria, open up, after hours, and feed us, like kings! Unbelievable! Most of the other TV shows, I worked on, could not compare to ER, when it came to how we were treated, by production.

     Whenever I went to ER, I never knew what to expect. “Here. Put on this hospital gown, and walk around the set, with this IV pole. Oh yeah, here’s a bloody bandage, for your head.” I walked around set all morning, like this. After lunch, they took away the IV pole, and put me in a wheelchair. I got to keep the bloody bandage, and I got a fellow extra, who was assigned to, “push me around.” He liked to race up, and down the hospital hallways. We almost knocked over a shelving unit, full of medical supplies, but we caught it, before it reached the point of no return, and kept it upright. 

     I got booked as a hospital visitor once, and production placed me standing in front of the elevators, with direction to walk inside, when the doors opened. The camera was positioned so you could not see inside the elevators, because they were fake. Behind the doors was another set. I’m sure the more realistic elevators were around somewhere, but they were not there, on this day. A couple of crew members were pulling the doors apart, on cue, and they were having quite a bit of trouble. Eventually the doors opened smoothly, and production, “got the shot.”

     Then I got booked as a surgeon. I was placed in an operating room, in full surgeon get up, with a fake person, who had a big hole, in his chest. It looked pretty real. Fake flaps of skin, being held back by hemostat clamps. Fake blood, fake organs, and real intestines. I can’t remember if they were pork, or beef, but they were real, and they didn’t smell very good. Production put some bloody latex gloves, on me, and directed me to reach into my “patient’s” chest, when the cameras rolled, and pretend to operate. Part of my surgeon’s uniform included a cloth skullcap, and I took it home with me. I kept it, as a memento of my days on ER, for many years, but I do not have it anymore. This was the only time, I played doctor, on TV.

     ER is set in Chicago, and as I have mentioned before, anytime you work, on a show, set in the Midwest, sooner, or later, you get to do an episode dealing with weather. We were all on “Chicago street,” at the studio, dressed in winter clothes. We were pedestrians, on the sidewalk, and all night long, the production company blew fake snow, on us, with giant movie fans. I think it was just shredded bits of white paper. They did a real good job, of making it look like a typical Midwestern blizzard.

     There is a scene in the film, “True Lies,” where the terrorists are filming their demands. The bad guy, who is filming his leader, suddenly drops his camera, because the battery is dead, and says, “Battery Aziz.” This same actor was on the set of ER, one day, when I showed up, to work. All day long, whenever there was a problem, a holdup, or a glitch, someone would yell, “Battery Aziz.” Everyone was good natured about it. No one was accused of being racist, and a good time was had, by all. In addition to the aforementioned work, I was also booked as a member of the hospital housekeeping staff, and a Chicago cop. I still have a picture of myself, in my Chicago police uniform. I have many fond memories of working on ER. It was a good show, and a lot of fun, to work on.