I spent the past…I don’t know how long…re-watching ER. Well, re-watching some of it while other parts were new to me. Tonight, I finished it. I’ll be brief.

I think the show still holds up today - each iteration it goes through.

I fell in love with the characters all over again.

So I’ve ranked them. And to all you ER fans out there - please fight me! I would love to debate ER characters with literally anyone. FIGHT ME.

As I now have an honorary degree in Emergency Medicine, without further ado, except the ado of some explanation of my list criteria, here it is…

I chose 7 criteria and weighted them as follows:

1. % of Series - How long were they on the show? Because longevity matters, but sometimes not a lot.

   • Weight: 7.5%

   • Max = Longest run on series is John Carter at 254 episodes.

   • To get this to a scale of 0-100, each characters’ number of episodes is divided by 254 rather than the total number of episodes (331) and multiplied by 100.

     • Example: John Carter = 254/254*100=100

     • Example: Doug Ross = 109/254*100=42.91

2. Entrance - How memorable or vital was their introduction to the show?

   • Weight: 5%

   • First impressions…

   • If they started the show, they get an automatic 100.

   • For guest stars, I’ve doubled their entrance score to 200 due to the fact that a guest star makes you gasp when you first see them. This is the only time someone is given more than 100 on any score.

3. Exit - How memorable or vital (or dramatic or fiery) was their (official final) departure from the show?

   • Weight: 10%

   • You remember the ones that go out with a BANG!

   • If they didn’t technically exit the show, meaning they stayed until the very end, they automatically receive a 100 for their perseverance.

4. Backstory - Do they have a compelling, believable, mostly explained, and somewhat interesting backstory?

   • Weight: 10%

5. Depth - Do they grow as an individual? Do they impact the lives of other doctors and nurses? Do they have life outside of the hospital? Do they have compelling personal and work issues? Do they draw you in to their story, make you fall in love with them, and cry?

   • Weight: 40%

6. Likability - Do you “like” the character? (Love to hate is complicated…Dr. Romano…)

   • Weight: 20%

7. Believability / Actor Execution - Was the character well-played by the actor and generally believable?

   • Weight: 7.5%

And now, with no context or explanation as to why I’ve given them the scores I did, here it is:

Fight me.