When a hit series enters its ninth season, it reasonable to start wondering if the show has begun to run its course, or as the saying goes, "jumped the shark." As the 2002-2003 season of ER began (its ninth), many wondered how the departures of Anthony Edwards (Dr. Mark Green) and Eriq LaSalle (Dr. Peter Benton) would affect the show.

As season eight concluded, Dr. Carter (Noah Wylie), now the senior doctor in the ER, faced his first challenge, as a possible case of smallpox was detected. Season nine begins right where the previous season ended. Having brought in the CDC, he and nurse Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney) along with doctors Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen (Ming-Na) and Greg Pratt (Mekhi Phifer) are now under quarantine for two weeks. In the meantime, the rest of the staff is struggling to evacuate patients to other hospitals. In the chaos, crusty chief of staff Dr. Robert Romano (Paul McCrane) has his arm sheared off by a helicopter. With that, the ninth season of ER is off and running.

Once the excitement in the season premiere simmers down, the show begins to return to its winning formula — new medical students and the requisite relationship issues. Abby and Carter start dating again, and are blissfully happy for about twenty minutes before the same problems and insecurities that ended their relationship the first time begin to surface. Dr. Kovac (Goran Visnjic), newly single after his breakup with Abby has taken to partying hard and bedding a lot of women. Unfortunately for Dr. Kovac, his partners have included nurses at the hospital and the mothers of young patients. Surgeon Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) also returns to County General, after a miserable summer as a doctor in her native England convinces her that running away is not going to make dealing with Mark's death any easier.

During season nine, ER's writers and producers effectively dealt with the loss of Eriq LaSalle and Anthony Edwards by creating a series of well crafted and gripping storylines for the regular actors on the show, and bringing in some notable guest stars to add to the quality of the production. Dr. Greg Pratt had always been presented as a brash know-it-all (sort of an early Dr. Peter Benton knockoff), but this season we are introduced to the doctor's mentally handicapped brother Leon (Marcello Thedford) whom he's been taking care of for years. While the Leon storyline wasn't the strongest of the season, it did give viewers a look at a different side of Pratt and some understanding as to why he might be so driven to succeed.

Tom Everett Scott (That Thing You Do) has a recurring role as Abby's brother Eric. As it turns out, he suffers from the same manic depressive illness that made life with their mother (Sally Field makes a couple of guest appearances as well) so difficult. This season also features Don Cheadle in his Emmy-nominated role as Paul Nathan, a man attempting to make a mid-life career change and become a surgeon, despite suffering from Parkinson's disease. I still think that Cheadle's portrayal of Paul Nathan is one of the most quietly affecting performances I've seen on television in the last decade.