ER Creator Michael Crichton Wanted To Kill A Major Character, But Everyone Else Overruled Him

In the success of the 1994 freshman season of Michael Crichton's "ER," Julianna Margulies as Carol Hathaway played a pivotal part (just like she did in the next five seasons until her character was written out of the show). What many people may not know, however, is that she wasn't supposed to be a series regular. In the original pilot script, Carol was meant to die of a drug overdose in a scene that was actually filmed, according to showrunner John Wells. As he revealed in the oral history of that first episode, "Hathaway was dead at the end of the pilot. Her death scene was shot. It exists" (via Television Academy).

However, due to the way that director Rob Holcomb shot the scene where Carol is brought in having overdosed from the perspective of Doug Ross (George Clooney), her character became too valuable to sacrifice and had to be brought back. As Margulies put it, "It was all through his [Ross's] lens, and that's what elevated the character. It wasn't anything I did in the pilot. It was the way it was shot, and it elevated the importance of [Carol] to the Doug Ross character." Thanks to Wells and Clooney, Crichton's choice to kill Carol off in the first episode was eventually overruled, and Margulies became a series regular on the groundbreaking medical drama.

Every fan of "ER" remembers vividly the push-and-pull romance between George Clooney and Julianna Margulies' characters, Doug and Carol. It's pretty evident from the get-go that the two were meant for each other and had to end up together before their time came to a close on the series. The smooth, lovey-dovey, and at times poignant chemistry between Clooney and Margulies was always the core of their relationship, which made it one of the most enticing romances to root for on television at the time — a major factor as to why Margulies' character was kept alive in the first place.

Although Clooney left a year earlier than Margulies did in Season 6, the two got their pitch-perfect happy ending, with Carol running into the arms of Doug to find out if he's still in love with her. It was the satisfying denouement that the characters and the viewers deserved, even if it meant saying goodbye to two of the most engaging and likable cast members who were part of the show since the pilot. After they left, Margulies and Clooney both went on to have great careers with quality roles on both the small and the big screen. But Margulies was the one who stayed closer to her roots in television, becoming the star of "The Good Wife" in the same year "ER" finished its 15-year run.