‘ER’ Writers Reunion on WGA Picket Line Puts Sharp Focus on What TV Has Lost Amid the Streaming Boom
variety.comCynthia Littleton Business Editor In its heyday, “ER” would keep about 75 background actors on hand per episode to be called up as needed to fill out scenes in hospital corridors and whatnot.
On Tuesday, about 75 “ER” alumni filled the sidewalks outside the show’s old studio on Olive Avenue in Burbank. Writers, actors and crew members who worked on the beloved NBC drama series rallied behind the Writers Guild of America on Day 29 of the strike called against Hollywood’s major employers.
Many of those who gathered for the “ER” reunion-themed picket on the day after the Memorial Day holiday weekend were emotional about what “ER” represented in their professional careers.
It’s an apt symbol for the WGA strike because “ER” is the kind of long-running scripted series that television networks don’t seem to make anymore. “There was a communal aspect to watching television that I think, largely, is lost, partially because the shows don’t run as long and become ingrained in our lives like they used to,” said David Zabel, who was a writer-producer on the show from 2001 to 2009, rising to showrunner for its final seasons. “And also because people don’t watch [episodes] at the same time.
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