ER’s Dr. Pratt departed the series unexpectedly during the show’s fifteenth season premiere.
NBC‘s ER is one of the most acclaimed medical dramas ever conceived. During its impressive 15-season run, the cast boasted the presence of quite a few well-known names.
Among others, The Morning Show’s Julianna Margulies, John Stamos, and perhaps most famously, George Clooney all graced the halls of Cook County General Hospital over the years.
What Happened to ER’s Dr. Pratt?
Season 14 of ER ended with a bang—a literal one. A man in the witness protection program named Art Masterson (played by Steve Buscemi) was targeted by the Turkish mob with a booby-trapped ambulance.
This man was also a patient of Dr. Greg Pratt, portrayed by 8 Mile’s Mekhi Phifer. Dr. Pratt was riding in the vehicle when it exploded, leaving him seriously injured.
Season 14 left this plot thread on a cliffhanger, with audiences not knowing if Pratt was in the doomed ambulance or if it was Linda Cardellini’s Sam Taggart.
Nevertheless, when ER Season 15 opened on September 25, 2008, with the episode “Life After Death,” fans were shocked to discover that it was indeed Pratt who was caught in the bombing. The Cook County staff tried to revive him, but ultimately, it was deemed that his injuries were too severe, and they pronounced him dead.
Mekhi Phifer spoke to Vulture in 2008, revealing that he knew about his character’s demise well ahead of time and confessing that his leaving the show was his decision:
"I definitely knew in advance. It’s not like I’m flipping through the script one day and I’m like, 'What the hell — Pratt dies!?' We decided this was the way I should go."
The actor expanded on his remarks about his time on ER being up, noting that, when it came to accolades and notoriety, the program was already a bit spent by the time he showed up:
"I had a great run on the show. But by the time I even got on the show, all the accolades were gone. ER had already won all the Emmys, been the most Emmy-nominated show, all the Golden Globes, so by the time I got there, even though the show hadn’t lost any of its quality, it just wasn’t getting recognized anymore. It’s one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. But it’s time to move on and do something fresh.""
Dr. Pratt’s ER Legacy
With Season 15 of ER being its last, there wasn’t much time or opportunity to grant Dr. Greg Pratt a lasting legacy.
But ER was a series where frequent cast departures and additions were the norm. Characters often shifted around, unlike its daytime soap equivalent, General Hospital.
Case in point: George Clooney’s Dr. Doug Ross only starred in ER’s first five seasons. He left after Season 5 to focus on his movie career, which, at the time, was beginning to take off (1997's George Clooney-led, critical disaster Batman & Robin notwithstanding).
Perhaps if ER had been given a longer run, Pratt could have been memorialized further. But his death still packed an emotional punch. Most of the main characters assembled in a memorable sequence at the local bar to pay tribute to their fallen friend and colleague.
ER is streaming on Hulu.
