ER (season 6)

Plot

In the first major cast change in ER, the sixth season sees the addition of four new characters including long term cast members Dr. Luka Kovač and nurse, later third-year medical student, Abby Lockhart, also added are Dr. Cleo Finch and Dr. Dave Malucci. Paul McCrane is now billed as a series regular and the return of Deb Chen from season 1, now known as Dr. Jing-Mei Chen. Physician's Assistant Jeanie Boulet leaves to care for her HIV-positive child. Lucy Knight and John Carter are attacked and stabbed by a psychotic patient. They are unable to save Lucy who succumbs to her wounds and dies. Carol Hathaway leaves to begin a new life with Doug Ross.

In addition Croatian doctor Luka Kovač joins the team and struggles to gain the respect and trust from his new colleagues in the ER. Hathaway struggles to begin parenting on her own. Greene and Corday begin their relationship and he deals with the death of his father. Abby Lockhart begins her third-year-med-student rotation. While still recovering from the violent attack that left him near death and killed Lucy, Carter develops an addiction to pain medication, forcing Greene, Weaver along with Benton and the other doctors into an intervention to get Carter to realize that he's an addict. Carter then accepts that he's an addict and checks into a rehab in the season finale with Benton accompanying him.

Main cast

Supporting cast

Guest stars

Production

Original executive producers John Wells and Michael Crichton reprised their roles. Lydia Woodward also returned as an executive producer but left the crew with the close of the season. Long-time crew member and fifth season executive producer Christopher Chulack moved on to executive produce Wells' new series Third Watch but remained a consulting producer for ER. Fifth season supervising producers Jack Orman and Neal Baer were promoted to co-executive producers for the sixth season. R. Scott Gemmill joined the crew as a supervising producer and writer. Fifth season producers Penny Adams and Wendy Spence Rosato returned for the sixth season. Fifth season co-producers Richard Thorpe and Jonathan Kaplan were promoted to producers for the sixth season. They were joined by new producers Doug Palau and Patrick Harbinson. Palau left the crew mid-season and Adams and Harbinson left at the end of the season. Michael Salmunovich returned as a co-producer and Teresa Salamunovich joined the crew, initially as a production co-ordinator but was promoted to associate producer mid-season. She was joined by new associate producer Vicki Voltarel who was on staff for the second half of the season only.

Wells and Woodward continued to write episodes and Wells contributed two episodes while Woodward wrote three. Orman wrote four episodes and Baer, Harbinson, and Gemmill each wrote three. Series medical expert and fifth season story editor Joe Sachs was promoted to executive story editor for the sixth season and he wrote a further two episodes. Regular writer Linda Gase replaced him as story editor and contributed a further episode. New writer Sandy Kroopf wrote a single episode.

Producers Kaplan and Thorpe served as the seasons regular directors; Kaplan directed five episodes and Thorpe helmed three. Cast members Laura Innes and Anthony Edwards each directed a further episode. Returning directors were Lesli Linka Glatter, Félix Enríquez Alcalá, Christopher Misiano, David Nutter, and Steve De Jarnatt. New directors include Ken Kwapis, Marita Grabiak, medical consultant Fred Einesman, Kevin Hooks, and Peter Markle.