MAJOR SPOILER about Mark

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I just got this major spoiler from E!Online from Wanda. The web address is http://www.eonline.com/Community/Wanda/Trans/Archive2001/010108c.html

From evanicole: Will Anthony Edwards survive the complications from his brain surgery?

Yes he will... for NOW. Word has it through the NBC grapevine that Anthony will be written off the show during Mays sweeps--at his request. He has asked to leave ER before his contract officially ends because he has grown tired of the show. As for the storyline, let's just say that Alex Kingston stays on the show, and writers don't want to break them up, so, there's really only one ultradepressing way to go: A birth and a death right around the same time. Stock up on those supersize Kleenex boxes.

NO! Somebody please tell me this is some bad joke!

-- Cammie (rmaelhorn@home.com), January 08, 2001

Answers

What?! I don't like what I'm hearing here at all! Why must they kill charcters off? Oh, that's right. They do that for big ratings of course. They got big ratings from killing someone off last year and not alot of people liked her. Now alot of people like Mark and they know that they would get even bigger ratings for killing Mark off. Well if this does happen, I will NEVER watch ER again! I mean this!

-- Andie (non@no.com), January 09, 2001.

i still can't believe AE is going to leave the show. What will the ER be without Mark Greene?? i figured the show wouldn't last long without GC, but it's kept going strong. but without AE will that hold? i don't think there's really a show without him, he holds the ER together.......noooo, mark, you can't die.

-- Jessie (sweetbebe0686@yahoo.com), January 09, 2001.

Guys, consider the source. Although I don't track this stuff down, enough of it crosses my desk that I'm familiar with Wanda in the broad strokes. Her predictions in the past have been, shall we say, less than accurate.

But hey, if you want to get worked up about this, I'm certainly not about to stop you..

-- Mike Sugimoto (phloem@fumbling.com), January 09, 2001.


hmmmm could this be a bizarre set-up to set Luka up with a family he is lookin for? Seriously, it seems rather cruel to the characters on the show (Elizabeth) and to the viewers to put us through so much just to kill Mark Greene off. I would rather have him join the space program...

-- judie (jasbel95@aol.com), January 09, 2001.

Oh no, the sky is falling!!

Auntie Em, Auntie Em, It's a twister!!!

Mike, I am really worked up over this!!!!

I agree, consider the source. It sounds logical. It must sound logical. But, has anyone actually heard Edwards talk about the show.

Are we sad that Edwards might leave or that Clooney and Margulies have left?

-- Zorbo (RDomino1@aol.com), January 09, 2001.



If this is true, don't be too upset with the show. Edwards has said in the past that he doesn't like it when actors come back after they have left a show. He probably knows that there is no way to write him off the show, other than killing, that wouldn't give the viewers false hope. Think about it, if he just left they would have to write Elizabeth off too, because there is no way that he would leave her and their baby. If they did write her off, people would always be hoping that they would come back to visit, just like people still do about Doug and Carol. I think that the show can survive him leaving, and I really don't think that he holds the show together, actually I think that it would be more damaging if Carter left. Perhaps this is why Edwards has been missing from the last few awards shows, maybe he wants to take the focus off him. Perhaps we are seeing the new generation of ER. I think if he did leave, the remaining characters could more than pick up the slack. I didn't think that ER could survive Clooney leaving, but it did and it is better than ever.

-- Kelley (takel@earthlink.net), January 09, 2001.

Tired of the show? Who can be 'tired' of ER? (maybe whoever came uo with this is 'tired' and wanted a bit of excitement) I thought Edwards was going to leave because he wanted to spend more time with his family. Anyway, how do we know we can trust 'Wanda'. I've heard some of her predictions and they don't sound too good. (JLS is better I think). However, yes, i believe that Mark is going to die. I always tought it. How els are you going to write him off? And why so early -- May? I don't buy it folks.

-- er_aussie (er_aussie@hotmail.com), January 09, 2001.

Forgot to add this - NO, i don't want Mark to die. Of COURSE not! He is what people have been saying - "The Back bone of the ER" and i believe it. But, this is ER. It is 'realistic'. But Marky-- NO. this looks like it's gonna be such a teary eppy (when it comes. no, i don't believe now - maybe when ER finishes) i might go from tissues to tolit paper!

-- er_aussie (er_aussie@hotmail.com), January 09, 2001.

Am I the only one who thinks that Edwards and/or the producers of ER are sitting back and enjoying the hell out of this -- if not actually planting false "stories" to the Nat'l Enquirer (the source of this "AE wants out" story). I think all we can say for sure is that with this type of brain tumor, Mark's future will never be cut and dried (well, he'll die eventually, but we won't necessarily see it happen), and that AE will eventually be leaving within the next season and a half. if I were AE and the ER producers I'd be happy to have as much rumor and mystery surrounding his departure as possible...

-- Ellen (eedgert1@twcny.rr.com), January 09, 2001.

Is it possible that Alex Kingston might leave the show after this year? With a new baby, she may not want the rigors of a weekly series. Then, if Anthony Edwards does indeed leave too, perhaps they could simply be written out in a more realistic (and audience- pleasing) way without all the melodrama mentioned above. After all, in real life, people leave their jobs and move all the time for a variety of very plausible reasons.

-- Christy (christy.steele@mindspring.com), January 09, 2001.


I have no idea if AK is talking of leaving or when her contract was up, but it would be interesting to see if Elizabeth would decide to quit working as much to devote more time to her baby. Didn't she criticize her mother because she was raised by nannies and in boarding school? That could be an interesting twist and a way to write her out too. So maybe Mark would not have to die. I will not believe this latest rumor until I hear it from more and reliable sources. But, TPTB, if this is a consideration, PLEASE don't do it! We ER fans have had enough angst!

-- amanda (amanda.rehm@home.com), January 09, 2001.

Hey all. I just read that and my first reaction was that I don't buy it. I think it is possible, but something about that prediction reminds me of the whole "rape" and "Carter disappears" so-called storylines of last season that did not materialize. That being said, it would go along with depressing angle this season and could add more weight to the tumor story, which seemed to be -- at this point -- so cut and dried. But anyway, I'm not going to get worked up over it...for now.

-- Larry B. (larrybro95@hotmail.com), January 09, 2001.

Wow! Now I have another chance to use my old "The Doom is near" banner, I havent used it since last January 1st...=) I think Mike is right, wait till we have a better confirmation on this. Then we can all freak out all over again like we did when the first tumor-rumor leaked. Iīll bring my "Save the Greene" T-shirt and weīll do petitions, and do meetings in front of NBC's and WBīs buildings, and take Haldol before watching the show ok? ;) Now, dont call me silly but I didnt get what Zorbo meant by "are we sorry that AE is leaving or that D & C have left".

-- jules (jsheldon@operamail.com), January 09, 2001.

I hope Wanda is wrong about this. But Andie does have a point though. TPTB only cares about ratings and they know they would get huge ratings from doing this. Again I hope this is just a nasty rumor. I don't think anyone wants another main character killed off.

-- Cammie (rmaelhorn@home.com), January 09, 2001.

If Mark does have a recurrence and die, at least this would be (alas) realistic if his diagnosis is correct. If Mark doesn't die but AE wants to leave, I hope that Mark will get a faculty position (in the Chicago area) as Anspaugh promised him once, and just not be seen again. Then Elizabeth could stay at County if AK wants to stay on the show. AE and TPTB should know that even killing a character doesn't stop rumors of visits, e.g. Lucy.

-- Driad (driad@mailcity.com), January 09, 2001.


Was Wanda right about what would happen to Jeanie, Lucy, and Carol and how they would be written out last year? I'm just wondering because I didn't pay attention to the spoilers that much until this season. And if she was right about all of that then unfortunately she may be right about this. I'm hoping she isn't right.

-- Andie (non@no.com), January 09, 2001.

I have just two words,oh nooooooo!!!!!

-- Kitty (searssa@hotmail.com), January 09, 2001.

Ellen...I'm sure TPTB are getting a kick out of us :) Wanda is pretty unreliable, and when she does get it right it's old news (thanks to JLS). If AE leaves, he leaves. The show will go on as it did when George, Julianna, Sherry, Kellie, and Gloria all left. As for Alex Kingston leaving I heard her in an interview saying that she thought she would probably sick around until the end of the show (although it's possible she would change her mind). I do like the idea that Elizabeth will struggle between her desire to be a good parent and still have the career she wants.

-- Emma (webbef@hotmail.com), January 09, 2001.

Ellen - I'm with you. I posted this in another thread. I didn't start hearing "I'm tired and want out" type interviews with AE until after the whole BT thing started on the show. I think it's part of a coordinated disinformation campaign to keep people on the edge of their seats. How interesting is a "fatal" BT storyline if you know that the actor has several years left on his contract? AE is under contract until 2002 (not that that has stopped others from leaving, under the circumstances....)

-- Chava (ChavaW68@aol.com), January 09, 2001.

And I wonder if ER's producers would like to pull off another surprise coup like they did with George Clooney's reapparance... keeping the actual episode where Mark dies a complete and total secret until the last possible second? Sure, they could do this. They could have Edwards and Kingston film a death scene and keep it a total secret from everyone else. Hey, it would be pretty cool.

-- Ellen (eedgert1@twcny.rr.com), January 09, 2001.

Maybe they can kill Mark and bring Susan back for one scene where she sobs and leaves . . . . . . hehehe . . . . . sorry for supporting this plot but i am trying to find as many ways as possible for Susan to come back. The most probable might be just to watch re-runs!

-- Steven Jacobson (steven@episodeguides.com), January 09, 2001.

Would you like her tp sob before or after he dies Steve? We could do a big funeral where everybody would show up, even Jeannie and Anspaugh and D & C...sort of "Supermanīs Death" comics...=) Really, all these actors made the show great, and it would be nice to reunite them for a bow...

-- (jsheldon@operamail.com), January 09, 2001.

Hey! Remember when NW appeared on the Rosie ODonnell show? She asked him point blank if Mark was leaving the show. He said "Not this year". I guess things can change, but you would think a costar on the show would know, wouldn't you?

-- N Wilson (nwilson@wko.com), January 09, 2001.

True but don't forget that no one, except for JM, knew that GC would appear in SSS so maybe no one knows about this yet. With maybe the exception of AK since it would invovle her character.

-- Cammie (rmaelhorn@home.com), January 09, 2001.

JLS! Say it ain't so!

-- Maya (tgoren@msn.com), January 09, 2001.

Horrible Horrible Horrible!!! That would be a horrible story line and I can't believe that Anthony Edwards would let TPTB do this to his fans!!! All we can do is remember such potential spoilers as "Huge ER Doug and Carol Wedding", and don't even get me started on the whole potential Carter suicide, nurse getting raped, Romano-Chen love story thing. And does anybody remember a rumor from last year about another shoot out in the ER and one of Carol's twins getting shot? Anyway, chances are this thing isn't true, and all we can do is hope :)

-- Mallory (mallory_1523@yahoo.com), January 09, 2001.

Enough with the initials. It is a drag to sit and try to figure it out. Be nice and type it out. It is not cute

-- Zorbo (RDomino1@aol.com), January 10, 2001.

If the rumour is true, it would totally suck. They let Mark get happy, gets the girl, he has a baby on the way, he's got the big suburban house then whammy we're gonna kill you off now. What a terrible disappointment if he gets some hope for the future, than bam, he's dead a scant 6 months later. Say it ain't so!

-- Laura (laurelc@wincom.net), January 10, 2001.

Maybe it's just me.....but I don't think it would faze me much to see them kill off Mark. The character of Mark Greene has been rather flat and uninteresting these past few seasons...he just isn't really doing anything for the show anymore. The whole brain tumor thing has my attention for the time being, but what I'd really like to see is more of Carter and Benton, and less of Mark and Elizabeth. That's just my opinion, so don't bash me over the head for it...

-- Mandii (dreamwithangels@aol.com), January 12, 2001.

Would it be more interesting if he just decided to stay home and take care of his new child, like he didn't do with Rachel. It makes more sense now that he is getting frustrated with the whole medicine thing. It isn't like on Elizabeth's surgeon salary that they cannot afford it.

-- Carolyn (biogradsd78@aol.com), May 11, 2001.

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