Shows scheduled for broadcast in the fall and documentary-based programs that aired during the summer:

"ER" This NBC program entering its ninth season is the grandfather of all prime-time medical-related TV programs now on the air. Best-selling author Michael Crichton created this drama that centers on young medical professionals in the emergency room of a Chicago hospital.

"MDs"ABC is promoting this new program as the first TV show since M*A*S*H to feature doctors as zany as Hawkeye and Trapper John. “MDs” pits two kindhearted doctors who put patients first against the corporate greedmongers at an HMO-owned hospital in San Francisco.

"Presidio Med"This new CBS program also seeks to capitalize on the nation’s displeasure with managed care. It portrays doctors, who run a medical group next to yet another San Francisco hospital, as hardworking physicians who place their patients before bureaucracy.

"Scrubs"NBC has promoted this second-year program to air in the coveted spot behind “Friends” on Thursday nights. This irreverent look at the medical profession is diametrically opposed to “ER” in its temperament.

"Children's Hospital" This six-part PBS program that aired July 2 to Aug. 6 followed staff, children and parents for eight months at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. The series focused on childhood diseases, trauma and abuse, and addressed financial issues facing a pediatric teaching hospital.

"Houston Medical" Set in Houston’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, this six-part series that aired June 18 through July 23 on ABC followed patients, their families and staff members in and out of the hospital, capturing their medical struggles, professional triumphs and personal lives.

"ICU" Another ABC program put the spotlight on the stories and lives of pediatric heart patients and their families, as well as the doctors and nurses at Arkansas Children’s Hospital who cared for them. This four-part series ran Aug. 7-28.