‘Er’ Will Be Quiet For 5 Weeks Beginning March 6

Tue., Jan. 14, 1997

Bill Carter New York Times

NBC will remove “ER,” the most popular show on television, from its schedule for five weeks starting on March 6, network executives said here Saturday.

The network is to replace the show with a one-week tryout of a new drama, “Prince Street,” before giving another of its long-running dramas, “Law and Order,” the time period at 10 p.m. on Thursdays for four weeks starting on March 13.

NBC executives said that they decided to pull “ER” off the air for the first time since its premiere two seasons ago for several reasons, beginning with the concerns of John Wells, the executive producer of “ER,” that his show had irritated many of its fans last season by running a string of repeats starting in March.

“John asked for this,” said David Nevins, senior vice president for prime-time series for NBC.

NBC also wanted to reward “Law and Order” for its remarkable success after seven seasons on the air, Nevins said. The show has improved its ratings this season in its regular spot, Wednesday at 10 p.m.

NBC program executives asked the executive producer, Dick Wolfe, to come up a with some special shows to make the temporary shift to Thursday into an event.

“Law And Order” has prepared a three-part episode about the murder of a female movie-studio president. Another stand-alone episode will be shown on the final Thursday of the “ER” hiatus.

The network was clearly concerned about handing the highest-rated time period on television to a new show.

“You could get a rating there that would be a hit on any other night, but next to what ‘ER’ does it would look like a failure,” said one senior NBC executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“Prince Street,” a police drama about a undercover unit in New York City, will have a six-week run, once on Thursday at 10 and then on Wednesdays at 10.

NBC has only 22 episodes of “ER” this season and is saving the last four for the season’s final sweep month, the special ratings period, in May.

With another sweep in February, the network simply has no original episodes left to run in March.

But even repeats of “ER” usually score the highest ratings of any drama series, so the network has been loath in the past to pull it off the schedule.

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