Speaking on the Still Here Hollywood podcast, Wyle reveals why a reboot of ER never got off the ground. According to the actor, there were talks about reviving the show back in 2020, when Wyle was "getting all this mail from first responders." As a result, he sent a note to former ER producer John Wells, thanking him for his time on the show and wondering whether Wells would be interested in making "something much smaller, and much more contained" as an ER revival. Check out the full quote from Wyle below:

That’s kind of the road we had started down in 2020. I was getting all this mail from first responders and I had this desire to pivot the compliments to John Wells, so I emailed him and I said, ‘Hey, I’m getting all this lovely mail from people that are thanking us for keeping them entertained, or inspired them to go into the careers that they’re in in the first place, and I just have to say thank you. Except for my children, [ER] is probably the best thing I’ve ever done with my life, and I just want to say thanks.’ Then I went on and I said, ‘I know you don’t want to reboot the show. I don’t either. I thought it was very smart not to franchise and dilute what we did… but if you’ve ever wanted to do something much smaller, and much more contained — more of a character piece catching up to an old character and just finding out how they feel about what’s happening right now in healthcare, and use them as a jeremiad opportunity to say what you want — I would vote for that. I’d be on board for that.’

[Wells] thought about it, and we talked about it, and then we ended up bringing in a couple of the old ER writer. We came up with a concept, and it really never got out of the starting gate. And the negotiations... became a non-starter.

In a lot of ways, it was a dodged bullet and a blessing, because that would have been the focus. It would have been, ‘Hey, it’s the brand again, and who’s coming back to play…,’ and I really want the focus to be on the content of what we’re trying to put across.

Why It's Good That The ER Reboot Did Not Happen

ER Avoided Producing Spinoffs

Wyle also spoke about why he and Wells did not want a straight-up reboot of ER to happen. According to Wyle, they did not want to "dilute what [they] did" and over-franchise it to the point of undermining all the greatness of the original series. Furthermore, Wyle pointed out that the return of the ER "brand" and "who's coming back to play" might have been too heavily emphasized should the series get a simple reboot. Instead, Wyle preferred a more character-focused story to maintain the series' integrity.

In some ways, Wyle's concerns about reviving ER can be seen in another major medical franchise, Grey's Anatomy. The ABC show is now 20 seasons in and has produced two spinoffs, Private Practice and Station 19. The latter received mixed reviews over the course of its run and was cancelled after seven seasons. Station 19 arguably falls into the trap that Wyle worries about for an ER franchise, in that the excitement of seeing crossover characters such as Miranda Bailey, who is a ing character in Station 19, takes precedence over deeper plot points.

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Those who appreciate Wyle as a main player in a medical procedural should not fret over the nixing of the ER reboot. This year, it was announced that Wyle will star in a Max series called The Pitt, which focuses on the healthcare workers in a hospital in Pittsburgh. Therefore, even though ER will not see the light of day again, a show with a similar (and hopefully character-driven) spirit will return to the air soon.

ER is available to stream on Max and Hulu.

Source: Still Here Hollywood