‘ER’ Opener to Be Live on Both Coasts

The cast of NBC’s “ER” has agreed to double-duty next Thursday, performing the show’s season-opening live episode twice in order to provide West Coast viewers with a live telecast as well.

Though series such as “Saturday Night Live” have always been billed as live but delayed for broadcast in the Pacific and Mountain time zones, “ER” executive producer John Wells wanted to provide viewers here the same experience those on the East Coast will have.

“A lot of people would say to us, ‘Yeah, “ER” live, but on the East Coast, not to us,’ ” he said Thursday.

As a result, the cast will do Thursday’s episode at 7 p.m. for live broadcast in the East, repeating that effort two hours after they finish so the program will also be seen live locally at 10 p.m.

Wells noted that many of the cast come from theater backgrounds and welcome the opportunity to have a second crack at the production.

“There’s a sense when you do a single performance that you would have liked another shot at it,” Wells said. “We’ll get two hours to sit around and try to figure out the things we could have done better.”

Both NBC and Warner Bros. Television, which produces “ER,” agreed to the proposal after being assured that the second taping won’t require any major incremental costs. The cast and crew work on a 12-hour day that will encompass both performances.

The show will be delayed only in the Mountain time zone, which will receive the East Coast version. There had been talk of moving the show an hour to air live in that region, but NBC didn’t want to alter next week’s schedule, which features not only the season-opening “Seinfeld” but also the premiere of the new Kirstie Alley series, “Veronica’s Closet.”

Other shows, such as Fox’s “Roc,” have broadcast live in recent years, but “ER’s” style and pace represent a particular challenge. The story will revolve around a documentary crew filming in the hospital to explain the videotape look.

Stage managers and crew near the stage will be outfitted in hospital scrubs because “they just don’t know who’s going to end up on camera,” said NBC Entertainment President Warren Littlefield, who joked of the second show: “They asked if it’s possible we could make it any more difficult. . . . We just hadn’t put the hurdle high enough.”