All These MDs and Just One Time Slot : Two Networks, Two Medical Shows, One Night--Series’ Casts Are Wondering: Who Planned This?

They’re being called the “upstairs” and “downstairs” of medical dramas.

CBS’ “Chicago Hope” and NBC’s “ER,” two new hospital shows set in the Windy City, are about to lock horns in the prized Thursday night slot occupied since 1981 by “Hill Street Blues” and then “L.A. Law”--the two top Emmy-winning drama series in TV history.

Whereas “Chicago Hope” focuses on surgeons in a high-tech setting, “ER” deals with young residents assigned to a “chaotic emergency room.”

While ABC’s competing “PrimeTime Live” could benefit most from the head-knocking of the two medical series, both CBS and NBC are hoping national concern over health care will create added audience interest in their one-hour shows.

“Chicago Hope” is first out of the chute with a preview episode on Sunday. “ER” follows with its own preview program on Monday. And then both series settle into their regular 10-11 p.m. time slots next Thursday.

Both shows come from high-profile creators. “ER” was created by Michael Crichton, author of “Jurassic Park” and “Rising Sun,” and is based on his days as a medical student at Massachusetts General Hospital. Steven Spielberg’s company, Amblin Television, is also a co-producer of the show.

“Chicago Hope,” meanwhile, was created by David E. Kelley, whose CBS “Picket Fences” series last Sunday won its second consecutive Emmy as best drama, upsetting the favored “NYPD Blue,” produced by his mentor, Steven Bochco.

All this said, viewers again will find themselves in the annoying position of having to choose between two ambitious series--just as they have to decide between NBC’s “Frasier” and ABC’s “Home Improvement” at 9 p.m. on Tuesdays.

And a number of the principals in “ER” and “Chicago Hope” make no bones about being annoyed as well.

Hector Elizondo, who plays the head of surgery on “Chicago Hope,” says he’s “terribly sorry” the two series are on at the same time: “Why are they shooting themselves in the foot like that? Who made up the schedule--Groucho Marx?”

Anthony Edwards, who stars in “ER” as an emergency room doctor, says his “reaction is disappointment in network politics.” If he were a viewer, he adds, he’d hope the programs were on different nights “so everybody can watch good shows.”

“It’s silly,” says Kelley. “I saw ‘ER’ and, much to my dismay, I liked it. It’s sad we’re up against each other. Both shows could be successful.”

Kelley’s executive consultant on “Chicago Hope,” Michael Pressman, says of the competition: “I wish it weren’t so.”

Crichton’s co-executive producer on “ER,” John Wells, is pleased to be inheriting NBC’s “L.A. Law” time slot, but wishes that “we weren’t involved in this network mano a mano competition. I think the beneficiary of all this will probably be ABC, with ‘PrimeTime Live.’ ”

Crichton, meanwhile, is philosophical about television’s prime-time wars: “My response is the same across the board. I just focus on what I’m trying to accomplish and tune out the other voices. I really have to say, ‘Am I doing what I’m trying to do?’ And that’s the end.”

Peter Tortorici, president of CBS Entertainment, acknowledges that the matchup of the medical programs is “an unfortunate coincidence.” He thinks “both are good shows” but has touted “Chicago Hope” as the best new series of the season and adds:

“There are very few spots on our schedule for one-hour shows. The question is: Why not move something? Well, shows like ‘Northern Exposure’ are appointment TV, and you move such shows at your peril. If CBS is going to do a one-hour drama from David Kelley, we’re going to give it a spot where we need it.”

CBS in fact had a strong contender in recent years at 10 p.m. Thursdays--the soap opera “Knots Landing.”

Over at NBC, entertainment president Warren Littlefield takes a different view from the naysayers. One of several executives to use the “upstairs, downstairs” comparison, he says: “We’re giving viewers great choices. You’ll see more viewers coming to network television.”

Network TV has long since left the “Ben Casey”-”Marcus Welby, M.D.”-”Dr. Kildare” school of medicine behind, thanks in no small measure to the earthy, more contemporary series “St. Elsewhere.”

But now in the 1990s, with viewers more tuned in to national concerns about health care, the question is whether “Chicago Hope” and “ER” will touch a nerve and successfully mine the rich material--or just wind up as two more TV shows.

Littlefield and Tortorici are aggressive in their network one-upmanship.

“Our show (“ER”),” says Littlefield, “is about the doctors who are in the trenches of an emergency room. They are not the elite of their field. We have a rich, full ensemble. Our theory has been to take our best drama and put it on Thursday nights at 10--from ‘Hill Street Blues’ to ‘L.A. Law’ and now ‘ER.’ We don’t take the time slot lightly.”

Retorts Tortorici: “For me to be an impartial observer is kind of ludicrous. (“Chicago Hope”) is not just an endless procession of trauma, as emergency rooms tend to be. With the health-care issue exploding and baby boomers aging and dealing with their parents, it may be time to be dealing with issues.

“This is all about frontiers. The advancement of medicine is so different from what it was 20 years ago.”

Make no mistake--both series intend to go into the personal as well as professional lives of their characters.

But Kelley, a former lawyer who broke through as a TV writer on “L.A. Law,” says: “I’ve always liked to confront ethical issues, explore them and give rise to the exploration of character. We’re rooted in how much the world of medicine is changing today. What’s happening today is obsolete tomorrow.”

Crichton says of his “ER” series: “My interest in doing something about an emergency room is longstanding. Originally, Spielberg bought this in the late ‘80s, and we discussed doing it as a feature. Dinosaurs (“Jurassic Park”) got in the way. But everyone had a lot of affection for ‘ER.’ Then the idea came of doing it as a TV pilot. It was Amblin’s idea.”

What interested Crichton about TV, he says, was long-form drama. “ER,” he says, is “a bit unusual for TV. It turns ‘Marcus Welby’ on its head. It’s not focused on the patients, it’s focused on the doctors, and it reproduces a hectic kind of environment and pace in which people come and go and the doctors are always there.”

The author says his chief involvement in the series took place during the laying out of the show in June “when I was able to give time to it. I was really the naive person in that group. They have very good and experienced TV writers.”

If there are problems, will he make his presence felt? “You bet,” he says.

In addition to Elizondo, the high-profile “Chicago Hope” cast includes Mandy Patinkin, Adam Arkin, E.G. Marshall and Roxanne Hart. “ER,” besides Edwards, features George Clooney, Sherry Stringfield, Noah Wyle and Eriq LaSalle.