Adam & I are back, and we’re taking a look at George Clooney in E/R this time around. No, not the show you’re thinking of. That was ER. This is E/R. See the difference? There’s a slash and everything! Early in his acting career, George Clooney was a midseason addition to the cast of this 1984 CBS sitcom, which was set at a hospital, and starred 70s leading man Elliott Gould.
Despite the fact that there are lists we’ve created for choosing show topics, this was on none of them. Then, we were invited to our pal Gerry’s podcast, Totally Rad Christmas, where our assignment was to watch the “Christmas” episode of the series. I put that in quotes because, as we discuss on that show, there weren’t really any references to Christmas other than snow on the ground. While doing the homework for that appearance, I messaged Adam, saying “I think there’s meat on this bone!” The whole thing was just sort of fascinating to watch, and then further research revealed that Sherman Hemsley makes an appearance – as George Jefferson – and that’s when we knew we had to cover it for our podcast, as well.
E/R aired for one season, from 1984 to 1985, and hasn’t really left much of a dent in pop culture other than the trivia question of “Did you know George Clooney was on TWO different shows named ER?” As I discuss on the show, I only knew Elliott Gould as Ross and Monica’s dad on Friends, and it’s only recently that I discovered he used to be Kind of a Big Deal. I recently bought a bunch of blu-rays from Kino Lorber, many of which starred Gould. So, I began to wonder what happened to his career. When did he “fall off”? Was it E/R? Well, I guess you’ll just have to listen to find out if this was the nail in the coffin for his career. You can find the episode here, or all fine purveyors of podcasts!
