Chicago Hope

In "Vigilance and Care" (1999), the word "shit" was said by Mark Harmon's character, marking its first use on American television (outside of documentaries). Very little negative publicity resulted.

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In "Cutting Edges" (1995), the series quietly broke a major television network taboo by showing a young girl's character's bare breasts after she underwent successful reconstructive surgery. The scene, handled without fanfare and tastefully, sparked very little controversy.

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Mandy Patinkin played Dr. Geiger in crossover appearances on Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) and Picket Fences (1992).

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It was the first series broadcast in high definition in the United States.

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The series premiered on Sunday before moving to its regular Thursday 10:00 p.m. slot. In the United States it shared a time slot with ER (1994). (Both programs aired their second episodes on September 22, 1994.) "Hope" fell in the ratings and was moved to Monday nights.

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Many members of the cast went on to work together on other series: Mark Harmon, Rocky Carroll, Lauren Holly, Roma Maffia and Stacy Edwards appeared on NCIS (2003); Thomas Gibson and Mandy Patinkin starred on Criminal Minds (2005); Adam Arkin, Hector Elizondo, Rocky Carroll, Mark Harmon, Ron Silver and Roma Maffia appeared on The West Wing (1999); and John DiMaggio and Lauren Tom did voice work on Futurama (1999).

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Hector Elizondo (Dr. Phillip Watters) appeared in the most episodes — 140 of 141. He was absent from "Split Loyalty" (1996).

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Throughout the series there were many references to another popular hospital-themed drama, St. Elsewhere (1982): Kate Austin won the "Left Anterior Descending Aorta" award for being a first-class heart surgeon; Kate says her mentor was "Dr. David Demidian," and Mark Craig (William Daniels) from St. Elsewhere said Demidian had also been his mentor; and Stephen Furst played a veterinarian named Elliot, while on St. Elsewhere he played Elliot Axelrod, whose father was a veterinarian.

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The series' only Golden Globe win was Christine Lahti's for her performance in the 1997 season, which produced a comical moment when her name was announced as the winner during the ceremony and she could not be found because she was in the bathroom, forcing her to run to the stage to accept the award. Robin Williams (along with the show's producers, who knew she was there) came on stage, made jokes, and later presented the award to her.

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