Quentin Tarantino once directed an episode of the cult-classic TV show ‘ER’
A cinematic crossover is the stuff dreams are made of. Whether it is two separate movies with a shared universe on the interplay of one story weaving its way through the characters of another, a collision of artistic creations is always of the most precious pieces of culture. One such director who has perfected this, be it with his ‘movie within a movie’ Kill Bill or the rich cinematic universe he places most of his characters from Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and more, Quentin Tarantino has never been afraid to connect the dots.
However, one of his little-known moments of cultural combination came as he, one of the most iconic directors of the 1990s, came face to face with George Clooney and one of the most iconic TV shows of the same decade, ER, with Tarantino once taking the helm of the hit hospital-based show back in 1995.
The medical drama was a seismic hit during the 1990s, rivalled only by Seinfeld and Friends the show was a launchpad for the career of George Clooney and Juliana Margulies and quickly became the talk of the town almost as soon as it began appearing on US television sets back in 1994. A year later, it made one of its many daring directorial moves by welcoming an Indiewood director by the name of Quentin Tarantino.
It was a huge coup. Tarantino had already grabbed headlines for his blitzing burglary Reservoir Dogs and delivered once more with Pulp Fiction, released just a few weeks before ER made its premiere. It had garnered the young director a considerable reputation that had already seen him begin to stamp the authority of his style on everything he worked on. It would be a style that he, somewhat altered, would implement on ER, too, with one scene involving a bloody fight scene between rival street gangs.
The episode, titled ‘Motherhood’ aired three days before Mother’s Day and sent the already impressive ratings for the show through the roof. In truth, what transpired was not an episode of a successful tv show but a mini cinematic experience, complete with one-shot scenes and multi-cam brilliance. It saw Tarantino use one of his favourite bands, The Beatles, as part of a birth scene and even sees Dr. Lewis wearing a Yosemite Sam t-shirt, a girl cuts off another’s ear and all while some of the actors wore vintage shades — it’s trademark Tarantino.
While the full episode is reserved for ER box sets, both online and off, you can see two segments of the show below. When watching the cheesy 1990s glitz, one thing couldn’t escape our minds: why aren’t more TV shows directed like this?
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