Fan Fare

Clooney returns to “ER” — did he bring his bedside manner?

George Clooney finally did put his scrubs on again for ”ER” — but only faithful viewers of the hospital drama would have known because of a curious lack of promotion over what had been a long-hoped for return by the show’s biggest star.

Clooney’s turn as (Dr Doug Ross) — still happily married to Nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Marguiles) — brought struggling NBC a welcome ratings boost. 

But how many more millions would have tuned in had they known that George  was putting in an appearance that night?

Robert Seidman  on the TV by the Numbers Web site  speculated that Clooney may only have agreed to do the show again if NBC promised not to use him for promotional purposes.  But Clooney’s people denied that, while NBC were tight-lipped.

For those that did catch a glimpse of arguably the world’s most eligible movie star  bachelor (SPOILER: bare-chested in bed)  was Dr Ross still in touch with his bedside manner? Or did he disappoint?

And will he be back again before the show’s cast deal with their final emergency on April 2? 

We’ve asked, but no-one’s saying.

One last emergency for “ER”s Clooney and Margulies?

Have the producers of  hospital drama “ER” finally manged to entice George Clooney back for the closing episodes of the final season?

If celebrity Web site reports are true — and NBC is firmly declining to confirm them so far — Clooney’s heartthrob Dr. Doug Ross has been spotted filming scenes for “ER” in Los Angeles this week, and so has his old on-screen flame,  nurse Carol Hathaway, played by Juliana Margulies.

The reports follow months of denials from the Clooney camp that the actor, who launched his Oscar-winning career on the hospital soap 10 years ago, was prepared to put his scrubs on one more time.

Clooney,  we were assured, had  been there, done that, and was busy making movies.

Actors Anthony Edwards, whose character Dr Mark Greene died of brain cancer in 2002, has already appeared in flashback and Laura Innes (Dr. Weaver) , Noah Wyle (Dr. John Carter) and Paul McCrane (Dr. Romano) agreed to return months ago.

“ER” closes its doors for good on April 2 after 15 seasons, with a reunion and a two-hour final episode. 

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

Dr. Greene back from the dead on “ER”

(Reporting and writing by Alex Dobuzinskis)

Actor Anthony Edwards will return for one episode to the long-running NBC show “ER” as the hospital drama that began in 1994 hits its last season. Edwards’ popular character, Dr. Mark Greene, died of brain cancer back in 2002, but on Nov. 13 the slightly nerdy doctor will return in a flashback involving Angela Bassett’s character, Dr. Banfield.      Edwards, 46, left “ER” to spend more time with his wife and four young children after finishing out a lucrative contract on the show.

Edwards told reporters on a conference call that he will ask NBC to donate his $125,000 salary to a project to build a hospital in Kenya. The project is part of the actor’s work with the nonprofit Shoe4Africa, a group dedicated to improving Africans’ health by donating shoes and sponsoring athletic events.       The actor, who in 2007 starred in the thriller movie “Zodiac,” lives in New York. He said he spends his days taking his kids to school and jogging in Central Park, and that he has no regrets about being off weekly television.      “When you’re not in that factory that’s on every week, and if you do a movie a year or two movies a year, it seems to the audience and to people as if you’ve quit,” Edwards told reporters in a phone call on Monday.      Edwards also said he understands why Dr. Greene become so popular and remains well-liked among long-time program viewers.      “It’s that thing that when you get on an airplane you hope that the pilot really loves flying, and I think that’s what Greene had,” Edwards said. “You want to go to a hospital and have the doctor really love being a doctor there.”      Apart from Edwards, original “ER” cast member Noah Wyle has also signed on to appear in the series’ last season. But NBC has not announced if George Clooney, the biggest star to come out of the series, will guest-star in an “ER” episode.