Untold Stories of the E.R. | |
---|---|
Directed by | Paul Benz Tim Prokop |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of episodes | 122 |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Gary R. Benz Michael Branton Elizabeth Browde John Drimmer Daniel Helfgott Susan Winston Tammy Wood Tim Prokop Bob Niemack |
Running time | 50 mins. |
Production company(s) | GRB Productions |
Release | |
Original network |
TLC (2004–present) and Discovery Health Channel (2005–2010) Discovery Life (2011–present) |
Original release | April 12, 2004 | – present
Untold Stories of the E.R. is a docudrama television series which airs on TLC and Discovery Life.
In this program, real-life emergency room doctors discuss their most bizarre and puzzling cases. Typically these involve medical sabotage, violently or strangely acting patients, life-threatening injuries, or even situations in which the E.R. physician is too overwhelmed or unequipped to handle the caseload but cannot transfer responsibility for the patient(s) to someone else.
The show follows a reenactment format in which the real-life E.R. physician narrates through a series of "talking head" clips, while their interactions with the patient are reenacted. The doctors often play themselves, and whenever possible, the patients themselves take part in the reenactment as well. In addition, the patients are sometimes shown in brief interviews to explain what happened during their ordeal. Occasionally, patients' names are changed and actors play their roles. All cases are based on actual events, but are highly dramatized and not necessarily accurate from a clinical or technical standpoint.
On November 11, 2015, the show was renewed through season 11.
While the show's format originally focused on one story per episode, since 2010 each episode covers three separate cases. The Discovery Health airings moved to Discovery Fit & Health (now Discovery Life) when OWN replaced Discovery Health in January 2011; however, as of February 2011, select reruns are also appearing in OWN's daytime lineup. Current episodes are now aired on TLC.