ABSTRACT
The previous chapter discusses television narrative as if the characters involved were pieces in a
jigsaw puzzle, depersonalized components fitted into abstract patterns. This is misleading.
While it is, of course, important to understand narrative structures, it is equally important
to understand the characters that inhabit those structures. In a sense, these characters can exist
even before the narrative action begins. The first time we see Dr. Mark Greene in the first
shots of ER’s pilot episode (1994), we immediately begin to construct an idea of his character: a
dedicated, overworked doctor (he’s sleeping in a hospital bed; Figures 3.1-3.3). Even before this
character does anything in the plot structure, we begin to make assumptions based on set-
ting, props, and his appearance. Furthermore, characters such as Dr. Greene exist after the
narrative action concludes each week. For instance, when we pick up a copy of TV Guide
because we respond to a picture of Dr. Greene, we are carrying his significance beyond the
story lines of ER. Dr. Greene has begun to take on a “life” of his own. Additionally, such
magazine coverage of television introduces us to the actors who embody the roles, and it
nurtures the process of turning common actors into genuine stars. The TV Guide issue is
as much, or more, about actor Anthony Edwards as it is about character Dr. Mark Greene.
