‘Er’ Was Originally Going To Be a Steven Spielberg Movie

The Big Picture

• Before becoming a full-time writer, Michael Crichton studied medicine at Harvard and wrote a 150-page screenplay,
  Code Blue
  , based on his experiences working in an emergency department.
• Having befriended Steven Spielberg in the 1970s, Crichton pitched the idea of Spielberg directing
  Code Blue
  as a feature film.
• After collaborating on the hugely successful
  Jurassic Park
  , Crichton and Spielberg dusted
  Code Blue
  off and sold it to NBC, which turned it into the iconic series
  E.R.

From history to dinosaurs and viruses to time travel, Michael Crichton delivered all manner of thrills throughout his prolific career in literature, film, and television. Among his most fruitful and lasting collaborations was with Steven Spielberg, who worked with Crichton on Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and Twister. But many years before they revived dinosaurs for the enjoyment of global audiences, the iconic pop culture figures forged a professional relationship after a chance meeting at Universal Studios, when Spielberg was tasked with giving the author a personal tour of the lot.

Sowing the seeds of a decades-long creative partnership, Spielberg and Crichton quickly hatched a plan to bring one of the author’s recently written works to the screen. Code Blue, an original screenplay, was inspired by the author’s time as a medical student and followed the daily experiences of emergency room staff members, and Spielberg hoped to direct it as a feature film. Though development on the project went forward, it would be decades before Code Blue would see the light of day and, in an unexpected turn of events, shift from the big screen to the small screen to become one of television’s most iconic series.

Michael Crichton Studied Medicine at Harvard University

He may have become one of the most popular authors of his generation, but before turning his knack for the written word into a renowned literary empire, Michael Crichton embarked on a decidedly different path in his early 20s. In 1964, he enrolled in Harvard University’s medical school, where he’d spend the next four years studying medicine and, to support himself, wrote a handful of short stories and novels. However, as Crichton trudged through a rigorous education, he found himself more interested in translating his knowledge of medicine, treatment, and hospital protocol into a screenplay.

“I had spent time in the ER during my medical training,” remembers Crichton, “and I felt that environment had never really been portrayed on film.” Seeking to shed some realistic light on the harrowing nature of emergency medicine and procedures, he penned a 150-page screenplay that would “show the hectic pace and the quiet heroism of the physicians who do this work.” While he’d ultimately lose interest in practicing medicine while a student at Harvard, Crichton graduated with his MD in 1969 and pursued a career in writing and filmmaking. After the release of his first feature, 1973’s Westworld, he took a stroll through Universal Studios and, as fate would have it, crossed paths with a young, aspiring filmmaker.

Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg Developed What Became ‘ER’ as a Feature Film

The genesis of what would become ER kicked off when Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg became friendly in the early 1970s. Having sold his novel The Andromeda Strain to Universal Pictures, he was introduced to Spielberg, who had secured a seven-year contract directing television and gave Crichton a personal tour of the studio’s production facilities. “He was very shy,” Spielberg remembers of his new acquaintance, “but he seemed to be taking everything in.” The two men hit it off and Crichton had Spielberg read his screenplay for a medical drama titled Code Blue. According to Vanity Fair, Crichton told his friend, “I want you to read a first draft of something I’ve written, kind of about myself when I wanted to be a doctor.”

The entertainment heavyweights ultimately went their separate ways, churning out hit after hit for the next several years, but Code Blue remained a topic of interest as they occasionally reconvened to further develop the project. According to Spielberg, “Michael and I started working on the re-writes, and I didn’t know much about medicine.” It was during this period that the filmmaker first caught wind of what would arguably become Crichton’s most celebrated and well-known novels. Poking and prodding the author over what his next book would be about, Spielberg finally got Crichton to admit he was working on a story “about dinosaurs and DNA.” Intrigued and persistent, Spielberg ultimately got his friend to spill the beans on Jurassic Park, later revealing, “When he finished telling me, I committed to direct it…”

‘Code Blue’ Became ‘ER’ After the Success of ‘Jurassic Park’

Code Blue may have taken a back seat to Jurassic Park, but the latter’s massive success in 1993 helped pave the way for Spielberg and Crichton to revive their creative plans for a medical drama. Per The Independent, the idea of reworking Code Blue into a television show wasn’t an obvious one at first, with executives at NBC reportedly hesitant over the screenplay’s similarities to St. Elsewhere, which had a successful six-year run on the network. But despite their reservations, the brass at NBC, seeking to partner up with one of the world’s most in-demand and popular writers, gave the prospective series a chance. Warren Littlefield, then-in charge of NBC Entertainment, saw promise in adapting Crichton’s screenplay for television, which would allow for the opportunity to flesh out characters and explore a variety of stories based on the multifaceted world of medicine. “Here we had this screenplay from a very hot author that was very long and dusty and all over the place,” Littlefield remembers. “There were all of these heroic characters who were very flawed. There was a density to it that was dizzying. But it was memorable.”

Upon its debut in the fall of 1994, ER quickly ascended the rankings to become one of television’s most successful new series and garnered largely positive reviews, with The Hollywood Reporter referring to its brisk pace and cinematic sensibilities as examples of “blockbuster television.” The series also amassed a devoted fan base and did wonders for several careers, including those of Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Noah Wyle, and Julianna Margulies. For his part, Michael Crichton remained closely involved with ER as a producer and editor during the show’s first two seasons, while Spielberg’s Amblin Television served as one of several production companies.

After a whopping 331 episodes, ER finally capped off its impressive 15-year run on April 2, 2009. According to The Independent, since ER began streaming on Hulu in 2018, an estimated 35,000 viewers streamed the entire series within two months, displaying its long-term admiration by die-hard fans and casual viewers alike. While it’s hardly doubtful that Crichton and Spielberg would’ve put together a compelling feature film based on the former’s 150-page screenplay, the enduring appeal of one of television’s most iconic series proves that some ideas are better suited for the long-form structure of the small screen.

ER is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.

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