I love being a part of something that is grassroots, and you can see the actual changes, the effect of what people do.

I just spent a lot of time on 'ER' for that eight years. I also started working when I was 16, so by the time I left 'ER,' I was 40 years old, I had this incredible experience, my wife had this great company, we had four kids, it was like, 'Let's go to New York and live for a while and make that the priority.'

You know, you never say never because before I did 'ER,' I always said 'I'll never do a TV series,' so that's what I said.

I was spoiled by theater, where there is no editor.

Knock wood, but I started acting professionally when I was 16, and I've always been able to support myself since then.

People relate to things that feel real to them. All the good, happy, over-sexed and moneyed endings on TV are not the way most of us feel in our lives. The success of 'E.R.,' I think, is not relying on overly sentimental stories that are solved where people's lives wrap up nicely with happy endings.

'ER' was so huge that whatever I did coming back to television, I'd have to feel as strongly about.