Twenty-six years ago tonight, on November 19, 1999, NBC aired the 100th episode of its groundbreaking medical drama ER. Titled “The Peace of Wild Things,” the hour-long installment (Season 6, Episode 6) became one of the most emotionally devastating and critically acclaimed episodes in the show’s storied 15-season run.
You can find ER on Amazon HERE or on HBO Max.
Written by John Wells and directed by Richard Thorpe, the episode centered on the County General staff grappling with an overwhelming night in the ER. The centerpiece was the heartbreaking story of Dr. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards) and Dr. Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) caring for a terminally ill elderly couple who wished to die together on their own terms. Meanwhile, Dr. Peter Benton (Eriq La Salle) faced a moral crisis over whether to perform a risky surgery on a baby with Down syndrome against the parents’ wishes, and Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) made the life-altering decision to keep her unborn twins after almost leaving Chicago.
The episode drew 28.6 million viewers and ranks among the highest-rated hours of the series’ later seasons. It is perhaps best remembered for the final scene: Greene sitting alone in an empty trauma room at dawn, quietly weeping after pronouncing the elderly husband dead—an understated moment of raw vulnerability that many fans and critics still cite as one of television’s most powerful silent performances.
Created by best-selling author and former physician Michael Crichton, ER premiered on September 19, 1994, and almost single-handedly redefined the one-hour drama. Filmed with a revolutionary documentary-style approach—handheld cameras, long tracking shots through crowded hallways, overlapping dialogue, and real-time medical chaos—the show made viewers feel like they were inside Chicago’s fictional County General Hospital.
Early cast members George Clooney (Dr. Doug Ross), Anthony Edwards (Dr. Mark Greene), Sherry Stringfield (Dr. Susan Lewis), Noah Wyle (John Carter), Eriq La Salle (Peter Benton), and Julianna Margulies (Nurse Carol Hathaway) became overnight sensations. The pilot famously opened with the entire staff discovering that Carol had attempted suicide—an audacious choice that immediately set the tone for a series unafraid to tackle addiction, death, ethics, and human frailty head-on.
Over its 15 seasons and 331 episodes (1994–2009), ER earned 124 Emmy nominations—the most ever for a drama series at the time—and won 23, including Outstanding Drama Series in 1996. It launched or boosted the careers of dozens of stars (Clooney, Margulies, Maura Tierney, Goran Višnjić, Parminder Nagra, John Stamos, Angela Bassett, and many others) and became a global phenomenon, airing in over 60 countries.
By the time the 100th episode aired in 1999, ER was still averaging over 30 million viewers a week and remained NBC’s Thursday-night juggernaut. Though George Clooney had departed the previous season, the show proved it could evolve while staying true to its unflinching, character-driven roots.
Twenty-six years later, “The Peace of Wild Things” endures as a reminder of why ER is widely regarded as one of the greatest television dramas ever produced—a series that didn’t just entertain, but changed the way medical stories were told on the small screen forever.
You can find ER on Amazon HERE or on HBO Max.
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