Last year NBC announced the 2007-2008 season would be the series last but because of the shortened season due to the writers’ strike the network delayed the end until the sweeps period in February 2009; the finale season will run 19 episodes.

The series follows the medical professionals and patients in the emergency room of a fictional Chicago hospital. Themes include family, romance, action and even the mundane centered on health and medical ethics and realities. Many entertainment magazines like Entertainment Weekly and People magazine have praised the television show.

The Emmy Award-winning drama remains one of the highest rated dramas going into its finale season. Michael Crichton, author of “Jurassic Park” among other works and John Wells, are the series creators and executive producers. Throughout its run “ER” has been popular with critics and viewers alike. It won the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award in for excellence in broadcasting and has earned 22 Emmy Awards including “Outstanding Drama Series” in 1996 and has a total of 117 Emmy nominations among its 257 awards nominations.

The series premiered in 1994. The original cast included an ensemble of relatively unknown actors including Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Sherry Stringfield, Noah Wyle, Eriq La Salle and Julianna Margulies. For most of its run, “ER” has been the final show in the highly popular “Must-See TV” line-up on Thursday nights on NBC. Many of these stars have been featured in celebrity magazines like People magazine, GQ magazine, In Style magazine and Cosmopolitan magazine.

Starting in 1996 with Sherry Stringfield, the original cast started departing the show. While some characters’ departures were barely mentioned, others were major events like George Clooney’s 1999 departure that marked the end of a major story line. Other characters have been killed off the series including Anthony Edwards’ popular character Dr. Mark Greene who died from a brain tumor, Paul McCrane’s Dr. Robert Romano killed by a helicopter accident, Sharif Atkin’s Dr. Michael Gallant killed by explosives.

A long list of notable guest-stars, many who were unknowns when they appeared on the show, has included Lucy Liu, Kirsten Dunst, Mariska Hargitay, Rebecca De Mornay, Shia LaBeouf, Ewan McGregor and Omar Epps. Other guest stars were television veterans like Sally Field, Hal Holbrook and Alan Alda.

Currently the stars of the series are Goran Visnjic, Maura Tierney, Mekhi Phifer, Parminder Nagra, John Stamos, Linda Cardellini and Scott Grimes. For more on the current cast of “ER” read Entertainment Weekly magazine.

NBC recently announced the finale season will be a star-studded one. Angela Bassett and her husband Courtney B. Vance will guest-star in a multiple-episode story line. This will be the first time the wife-husband duo has appeared on screen together. The finale season will also include many returning characters; Noah Wyle and Shane West have already committed. For more on “ER”’s finale season read Entertainment Weekly magazine.