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11 Great TV Medical Dramas

From ER (and "Swoony Clooney") to Grey's Anatomy (and Drs. McDreamy and Steamy), we examine the best medical heroes on TV (12 Photos)

Kimberly Potts on May 2, 2010 at 1:57PM

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The Kobal Collection

ER

A mostly-unknown cast became superstars (including, of course, future Oscar-winner George Clooney) in this Steven Spielberg-produced hospital drama, in which the patients of a Chicago emergency room had nothing on the personal shenanigans of the ER's staff. Who could forget Nurse Hathaway's (Julianna Margulies) suicide attempt, her tumultuous affair with Dr. Ross (Clooney), tragic deaths (like Anthony Edwards' Dr. Greene and Kellie Martin's Lucy Knight) and an ever-rotating cast that eventually included John Stamos, Maura Tierney and Angela Bassett. All shared screen time with patients who often required complicated, precarious procedures and provided moments of intense emotion -- as in the show's famous "Love's Labors Lost" live episode, and "Hell and High Water," in which Dr. Ross saved a young boy from drowning.