Anthony Edwards at the Indianapolis 500 in May 2002. No free photograph of him from 1994–98 has been found. Manningmbd; sharpened by Devon1980 · Public domainEDWARDS · DR MARK GREENE
Julianna Margulies at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2009. No free photograph from her ER years (1994–2000) has been found. David Shankbone · CC BY 3.0MARGULIES · CAROL HATHAWAY
Noah Wyle at the Emmy Awards on 10 September 1995, as ER began its second season. Alan Light · CC BY 2.5WYLE · JOHN CARTER
County General · Chicago · NBC 1994–2009
ER
Four films on the box. Touch one to hold it to the light.
Chicago or Burbank
Triage.
The show’s streets were Chicago; most of its rooms, and even the L track outside the ambulance doors, were built about 2,810 kilometres away on a backlot in Burbank. Ten scenes are coming in. Tag each one where you think it was really made.
Run 01 / 10
Season one, episode two. Greene and Ross talk on a bridge over a river, office towers behind them.
Run 1 of 10 is in. Tag it.
The answer card stays face down until you tag the run.
01—
02—
03—
04—
05—
06—
07—
08—
09—
10—
Nothing tagged yet.
The former Linda Vista Community Hospital in Boyle Heights in 2012, before it became Hollenbeck Terrace. Downtowngal · CC BY-SA 3.0
Neither Chicago nor Burbank
The first night was in neither city.
The former Linda Vista Hospital
The pilot was filmed in the former Linda Vista Hospital because there was no time or money to build a set.
It opened in 1905 as a hospital for Santa Fe Railroad workers. The present Mission Revival building, by H. L. Gilman, dates from 1938; it became Linda Vista Community Hospital in 1985 and closed in 1991.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006, it reopened in 2015 as Hollenbeck Terrace, 97 apartments for older people on fixed incomes.
Now Hollenbeck Terrace, homes for older residents. See it from St. Louis Street or from Hollenbeck Park, which it overlooks; do not go in.
Chart notes
The pilot was shown on 19 September 1994. The emergency room you see in it is a closed railway hospital in Los Angeles, not the set the rest of the series used.
Chart notes
The two-hour pilot aired on 19 September 1994; it was filmed in the former Linda Vista Hospital, and the series set was built at Warner Bros. in Burbank soon afterwards.
An L train on the Loop at Lake and Wells in 2013. David Wilson · CC BY 2.0
Four trips a season
Under the L.
Three or four times a year the director, a writer-producer and the actors flew in from Los Angeles; a local crew of eighty met them, and each trip cost about a million dollars. They shot the river, the skyline, Michigan Avenue and the L.
Chart notes
Crews came to Chicago three or four times a year; each visit cost about $1 million, with a local crew of 80; exteriors included the L, the Hilton roof, the NBC Plaza and Michigan Avenue.
01 · Chicago / FranklinChicago Avenue at Wells Street in 2023, a few steps from the L station at Franklin. AlphaBeta135 · CC BY 4.0
Chicago station, 300 West Chicago Avenue, River North
The L at Chicago and Franklin
On a Sunday in September 1997 George Clooney and Julianna Margulies filmed a Ross and Hathaway scene on the graffitied L platform at Chicago and Franklin, with about three dozen extras.
The same platform had been used in many ER scenes, among them Carter and Benton talking after a colleague’s death.
The cast flew to Chicago four times a season and shot enough on each trip for six episodes.
A working L station between Franklin and Wells; any fare gets you up to the platform.
Chart notes
02 · Michigan AvenueThe Michigan Avenue bridge and the river at night, 2006. Richie Diesterheft · CC BY 2.0
DuSable Bridge, North Michigan Avenue over the Chicago River
The Michigan Avenue bridge
In the second episode of the first season, Mark Greene and Doug Ross talk on the bridge, downtown Chicago behind them.
The real Chicago in ER is the river, the skyline and Michigan Avenue.
A two-level bascule bridge, opened in 1920 with its decoration finished in 1928, it was formerly the Michigan Avenue Bridge and is a Chicago Landmark.
Walk it on either level, day or night. The McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum is in one of its bridge-tender houses.
Chart notes
03 · Cityfront PlazaNBC Tower at dusk, 2019. Matt Kieffer · CC BY-SA 2.0
454 North Columbus Drive, Streeterville
NBC Tower and its plaza
Roger Anderson, ER’s Chicago producer for all fifteen years, listed the NBC Plaza among the exteriors the crew shot in the city.
The tower was finished in 1989: 37 storeys and 627 feet, designed by Adrian D. Smith of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. NBC’s Chicago station, WMAQ-TV, broadcasts from it.
The plaza on Cityfront Plaza Drive is open to walk through. The tower is offices and studios.
Chart notes
04 · South MichiganThe Hilton Chicago on South Michigan Avenue, seen from Grant Park in 2020. Paul R. Burley · CC BY-SA 4.0
720 South Michigan Avenue, South Loop
Hilton Chicago
The roof of the Hilton stood in for the top of the hospital.
Its heliport was used for the show’s helicopter landings for more than a decade.
It opened on 2 May 1927 as the Stevens Hotel, then the largest hotel in the world, with 3,000 rooms. It was the Chicago Hilton and Towers from 1985 to 1998.
A working hotel facing Grant Park. The lobby is open; the roof is not.
Chart notes
Hilton
Hilton Chicago
South Loop, Chicago
The 1927 hotel on South Michigan Avenue whose roof played the top of County General. Rooms face Grant Park; the roof is not open to guests.
County General was made up, but it had a real model a few blocks west of the Loop. The last Chicago morning was two streets south of it.
West Harrison StThe old Cook County Hospital on West Harrison Street in 2022, restored as hotels. Tdl1060 · CC BY-SA 4.0
1835 West Harrison Street, Illinois Medical District
The old Cook County Hospital
County General is a fictional version of the real Cook County Hospital.
In the first episode a patient calls the hospital “Cook County General” during a cognitive test.
Chicago’s first public hospital closed in 2002 and stood empty for more than fifteen years. In 2020 it reopened as a 210-room Hyatt hotel, with more than 4,160 pieces of terracotta repaired or remade.
Inside are Dr. Murphy’s Food Hall, named after the surgeon John Benjamin Murphy, and a museum of the hospital’s history.
Now a Hyatt Place and Hyatt House with Dr. Murphy’s Food Hall and a small museum; walk in from Harrison Street. The working county hospital is next door.
Chart notesWest Taylor StThe University of Illinois Medical Center on Taylor Street in 2008. Hied5 · CC BY 3.0
University of Illinois Hospital, 1740 West Taylor Street
Taylor Street
The ambulance bay of the University of Illinois Medical Center on Taylor Street was used for two episodes.
Early on Thursday 29 January 2009, cameras, extras and Noah Wyle crowded a Taylor Street sidewalk to film part of the series finale.
A working hospital. Look from the Taylor Street pavement and keep well clear of the emergency entrances.
Chart notes
Cook County
Hyatt House and Hyatt Place, Chicago Medical/University District
Illinois Medical District, Chicago
Sleep inside the old Cook County Hospital, the model for County General: 210 rooms in the restored hospital at 1835 West Harrison Street, with Dr. Murphy’s Food Hall downstairs.
The 1923 station house of the Wilson stop in Uptown, 2023. Warren LeMay · CC BY-SA 4.0
Broadway and Wilson Avenue, Uptown
Under the L in Uptown
In the final winter David Lyons, as Dr Simon Brenner, stamped his feet under the L in Uptown to keep warm between takes for the last episodes.
It was his first time in Chicago with the show. He joked that when ER shot exteriors in Los Angeles, the cast were constantly told to act cold.
The L runs above Broadway and the side streets around Wilson Avenue; the old station house is at Broadway and Wilson. The report names Uptown, not the block.
Chart notes
Elston Avenue at Irving Park Road in 2024: the neighbourhood, not the house. Warren LeMay · CC BY-SA 2.0
Old Irving Park, North Side
Carol Hathaway’s house
The outside of Hathaway’s house was filmed in Old Irving Park after dinner, with the crew expecting to work until at least midnight.
A private home on a residential street. It is named here and kept off the map.
Chart notes
The County General ambulance entrance on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, July 2007, while ER was still in production. Alan Light · CC BY 2.0
3400 Warner Boulevard, Burbank
The lot.
Warner Bros. Studios, New York Street
After the pilot, a set of the emergency room was built at Warner Bros. in Burbank.
In the mid-1990s a Chicago set, with a hospital front, an ambulance bay and L tracks, was built on the eastern edge of the backlot’s New York Street.
Doc Magoo’s, the diner across the street, was a working set: the crew filmed inside and out. It later became the Jumbo Mart.
For the second-season episode Hell and High Water the Jungle’s lagoon, a 130-by-95-foot basin that holds 250,000 gallons, became a flooded Chicago culvert.
Only on the Studio Tour: daily from 8:30am to 3:30pm, from $79 for three hours. Routes vary and the backlot sets are reused.
Chart notes
The ER stage plaque on the Warner Bros. lot, 2026. Alexis Doine · CC0
Ambush · season four
Live, twice.
Ambush, the 1997 live episode, was shot on the lot with eleven cameras, five of them handheld. The episode went out live for the East Coast and again three hours later for the West, and 42.71 million people watched.
ON AIR
Camera 1, handheld
Camera 2, handheld
Camera 3, handheld
Camera 4, handheld
Camera 5, handheld
Camera 6
Camera 7
Camera 8
Camera 9
Camera 10
Camera 11
Off air. Eleven cameras on the floor, five of them handheld.
Chart notes
Chart notes
Ambush aired live on 25 September 1997, filmed twice for the East and West Coasts, with a pre-filmed version in case of a technical problem; 11 cameras, five handheld; 42.71 million viewers.
The backlot where County General’s entrance, Doc Magoo’s and the Jungle lagoon were built. The guided Studio Tour runs about three hours, daily from 8:30am to 3:30pm; it is closed 3–5 and 26 November. 3400 Warner Boulevard, Burbank.
Noah Wyle at the Emmy Awards on 10 September 1995, as ER began its second season. Alan Light · CC BY 2.5Noah WyleJohn Carter · September 1995
Anthony Edwards at the Indianapolis 500 in May 2002. No free photograph of him from 1994–98 has been found. Manningmbd; sharpened by Devon1980 · Public domainAnthony EdwardsDr Mark Greene · 2002
Julianna Margulies at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2009. No free photograph from her ER years (1994–2000) has been found. David Shankbone · CC BY 3.0Julianna MarguliesCarol Hathaway · 2009
Eriq La Salle (left) and Noah Wyle (right) after the Emmy Awards on 10 September 1995. Alan Light · CC BY 2.0
The first season’s doctors were Anthony Edwards as Mark Greene, George Clooney as Doug Ross, Sherry Stringfield as Susan Lewis, Eriq La Salle as Peter Benton and Noah Wyle as the medical student John Carter. Julianna Margulies’s nurse, Carol Hathaway, was made a regular after the pilot.
Michael Crichton created it from his 1974 script; John Wells ran it for its first four seasons and stayed its main executive producer to the end.
Chart notes
Season one cast; Hathaway made a regular after the pilot script; Crichton’s 1974 screenplay; John Wells as showrunner for four seasons and main executive producer after.
10 places you can visit, in Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston. Carol Hathaway’s house in Old Irving Park is a private home: named here, not on the map.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working L station between Franklin and Wells; any fare gets you up to the platform.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Walk it on either level, day or night. The McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum is in one of its bridge-tender houses.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The plaza on Cityfront Plaza Drive is open to walk through. The tower is offices and studios.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working hotel facing Grant Park. The lobby is open; the roof is not.
1Chicago Avenue at Wells Street in 2023, a few steps from the L station at Franklin. AlphaBeta135 · CC BY 4.0
Chicago station, 300 West Chicago Avenue, River North
The L at Chicago and Franklin
On a Sunday in September 1997 George Clooney and Julianna Margulies filmed a Ross and Hathaway scene on the graffitied L platform at Chicago and Franklin, with about three dozen extras.
A working L station between Franklin and Wells; any fare gets you up to the platform.
Chart notes
2The DuSable Bridge carrying Michigan Avenue over the Chicago River, 2019. Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0
DuSable Bridge, North Michigan Avenue over the Chicago River
The Michigan Avenue bridge
In the second episode of the first season, Mark Greene and Doug Ross talk on the bridge, downtown Chicago behind them.
Walk it on either level, day or night. The McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum is in one of its bridge-tender houses.
Chart notes
3NBC Tower at dusk, 2019. Matt Kieffer · CC BY-SA 2.0
454 North Columbus Drive, Streeterville
NBC Tower and its plaza
Roger Anderson, ER’s Chicago producer for all fifteen years, listed the NBC Plaza among the exteriors the crew shot in the city.
The plaza on Cityfront Plaza Drive is open to walk through. The tower is offices and studios.
Chart notes
4The Hilton Chicago on South Michigan Avenue, seen from Grant Park in 2020. Paul R. Burley · CC BY-SA 4.0
720 South Michigan Avenue, South Loop
Hilton Chicago
The roof of the Hilton stood in for the top of the hospital.
A working hotel facing Grant Park. The lobby is open; the roof is not.
Chart notes
Stay
Check in.
A room inside the old Cook County Hospital, or the hotel whose roof played County General’s.
Cook County
Hyatt House and Hyatt Place, Chicago Medical/University District
Illinois Medical District, Chicago
Sleep inside the old Cook County Hospital, the model for County General: 210 rooms in the restored hospital at 1835 West Harrison Street, with Dr. Murphy’s Food Hall downstairs.
The Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Burbank, and live tours of Chicago’s film locations and the Loop.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood
Burbank · Studio Tour from $79
The backlot where County General’s entrance, Doc Magoo’s and the Jungle lagoon were built. The guided Studio Tour runs about three hours, daily from 8:30am to 3:30pm; it is closed 3–5 and 26 November. 3400 Warner Boulevard, Burbank.
Live marketplace results for film and television location tours of Chicago. None is built round ER; check each route for the river, Michigan Avenue and the L.
Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
The full chart
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
11 of 11 places · 15 of 15 Moments
The L at Chicago and Franklin
Chicago station, 300 West Chicago Avenue, River North
The platform
Ross and Hathaway play a scene on the L platform at Chicago and Franklin, with three dozen extras and a train.
The Michigan Avenue bridge
DuSable Bridge, North Michigan Avenue over the Chicago River
On the bridge
Greene and Ross talk on the Michigan Avenue bridge in the second episode.
NBC Tower and its plaza
454 North Columbus Drive, Streeterville
NBC Plaza
The crew shoots exteriors on the NBC Plaza.
Hilton Chicago
720 South Michigan Avenue, South Loop
The roof
The roof of the Hilton on South Michigan Avenue stands in for the top of the hospital.
The old Cook County Hospital
1835 West Harrison Street, Illinois Medical District
Cook County General
County General is a fictional version of Cook County Hospital; in the first episode a patient calls it “Cook County General”.
Taylor Street
University of Illinois Hospital, 1740 West Taylor Street
Taylor Street
The ambulance bay on Taylor Street plays County General’s for two episodes.
The last trip
Noah Wyle, back as Carter, films part of the series finale on a Taylor Street sidewalk.
Under the L in Uptown
Broadway and Wilson Avenue, Uptown
Act cold
David Lyons shoots the last episodes under the L in Uptown, cold for real.
Carol Hathaway’s house
Old Irving Park, North Side
Hathaway’s house
The outside of Hathaway’s house is filmed after dark in Old Irving Park.
The former Linda Vista Hospital
610–630 South St. Louis Street, Boyle Heights, Los Angeles
24 Hours
The pilot, 24 Hours, is filmed in an empty hospital in Boyle Heights, because there is no time or money to build a set.
Warner Bros. Studios, New York Street
Warner Bros. Studio Tour, 3400 Warner Boulevard, Burbank
The ambulance bay
County General’s front, its ambulance bay and the L tracks outside are built on New York Street in Burbank.
Doc Magoo’s
The after-shift diner across the street is a working set on the same backlot.
Hell and High Water
Ross wades into a flooded storm drain to reach a trapped boy; the drain is the Jungle lagoon on the lot.
Ambush
A documentary crew follows the ER, and the episode goes out live twice, for the East Coast and three hours later for the West.
Massachusetts General Hospital and the Ether Dome
Bulfinch Building, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
Five Patients
Crichton’s years as a Harvard medical student at Massachusetts General feed his 1974 script.
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