Chicago Hope

Chicago Hope was a CBS network medical drama series created by David E. Kelley which aired from September 18, 1994 to May 4, 2000, lasting for six seasons & 141 episodes.

Plot
The series centered on the staff of Chicago Hope, a fictional private charity hospital located in Chicago, Illinois.

Cast

 * Adam Arkin as Dr. Aaron Shutt
 * Hector Elizondo as Dr. Phillip Watters
 * Mandy Patinkin as Dr. Jeffrey Geiger
 * Peter Berg as Dr. Billy Kronk
 * Vondie Curtis-Hall as Dr. Dennis Hancock
 * Jayne Brook as Dr. Diane Grad
 * Thomas Gibson as Dr. Danny Nyland
 * Roxanne Hart as Nurse Camille Schutt
 * Christine Lathi as Dr. Kate Austin
 * Rocky Carroll as Dr. Keith Wilkes
 * Mark Harmon as Dr. Jack McNeil
 * Jamey Sheridan as Dr. John Sutton
 * Stacy Edwards as Dr. Lisa Catera
 * Carla Gugino as Dr. Gina Simon
 * Barbara Hershey as Dr. Francesca Alberghetti
 * Lauren Holly as Dr. Jeremy Hanlon
 * Peter MacNichol as Alan Birch
 * E.G. Marshall as Arthur Thurmond
 * Eric Stoltz as Robert Yeats
 * Alan Rosenberg as Stuart Brickman

Reception
The pilot episode of "Chicago Hope" was broadcast the day before NBC's "ER" premiered in a special Sunday, 8:00 p.m. time slot.

However, after the first week, the two Chicago-based hospital dramas went "head to head" in their primetime 10:00 p.m. Thursday night slot; "ER" was the victor: its first season proved a ratings winner.

Despite receiving critical acclaim, the show was shifted to 9:00 p.m. on Thursdays, and ultimately to Monday nights in 1995 in a bid for higher ratings, while "ER" remained in its time slot.

"Chicago Hope" remained in the Monday slot and performed well, with ratings peaking at 11.9, with a 20 share.

In the second season, Kelley and Patinkin decided to leave the show. The show was moved to Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. in 1997 to make room for the short-lived Steven Bochco drama serie, "Brooklyn South" on Mondays.

In 1999, both Kelley and Patinkin returned, with a revamped cast now including Barbara Hershey and Lauren Holly (but excluding Lahti, Peter Berg, Jayne Brook, Vondie Curtis-Hall, and Stacy Edwards).

CBS also moved the show back to Thursday nights, against NBC's "Frasier" and ABC's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire". The show was canceled in May 2000.

The series broke a network television taboo by showing a teenage girl's breast after her character underwent reconstructive surgery. However, this was generally seen as relevant to the subject matter and went relatively uncriticized.

On November 18, 1998, "Chicago Hope" became the first regular series episode to be broadcast in HDTV with the episode, "The Other Cheek".

Accolades
Over its six seasons, "Chicago Hope" was nominated for many accolades and won several, including seven Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe.