I'm a doctor and nothing gets in the way of that. Nothing.
~ Dr. Doug Ross
In the pilot episode, which takes place on St. Patrick's Day 1994, Dr. Ross is brought into the ER, not long before his shift, to be "treated" for drunkenness by his longtime friend, Dr. Mark Greene.
Doug Ross was raised by his mother, Sarah Ross after his father, Ray Ross, abandoned their family. He revealed how his father came back to his family a few times but was never committed to them. Despite his rambled personal life, Ross is a dedicated ER pediatrician. He has always been committed to the children and the medicine to help them no matter the rules or consequences. His lack of judgment leads to him going as far as to assault abusive parents in the ER.
During season 2, Doug rescued a boy trapped in a flooding storm drain during a rainstorm. His heroic efforts were filmed on national television thus making him a star in the media. This even helped him earn back his job at County, when before his supervisor wasn't going to renew his fellowship on account of his disrespect to authority.
Dr. Ross eventually resigned in the aftermath of a scandal when he showed a mother how to bypass the lockouts on a Dilaudid dispensing intravenous pump, enabling her to give a lethal dose of medication to her terminally ill son who was in much pain. This event also prompted the closure of Carol's free clinic in the hospital, since it supplied the materials to this mother. As a result, when Doug left Chicago for Seattle, he and Carol are on poor terms. She then discovers she's pregnant with Doug's children but decides to stay in Chicago. While Doug is working in Seattle, the twins - Tess and Kate - are born.
Doug Ross is last seen in the Season 6 episode "Such Sweet Sorrow", in which Hathaway leaves Chicago to reunite with him. She finds him working on his boat behind his house in Washington and the two embrace and kiss. It is later revealed in Season 8 that Hathaway sent for the twins the next day and has been living with Ross in Seattle since.
Warner Brothers, the studio which produces ER for NBC, kept Dr. Ross' cameo in "Such Sweet Sorrow" a secret from NBC, which promoted the episode as Carol Hathaway's goodbye, with no mention of Dr. Ross' appearance. In fact, the original version of "Such Sweet Sorrow" that Warner Brothers sent to NBC ended right after the scene where we see Hathaway on the plane to Seattle. At the 11th hour Warner Brothers messengered an "edited" version of the episode to NBC headquarters in New York for broadcast — NBC had no time to preview the episode prior to airing what turned out to be an extended episode in which Clooney appears.
NBC was miffed that it was kept in the dark as it lost valuable ad revenue it could have generated if it had aired promos that the episode would mark the return of George Clooney. Clooney cited the fans of the show for his reason as to why he agreed to make the cameo: he wanted Hathaway and Ross' characters to get back together, as most fans always had hoped for.
The portion of the episode with Clooney was filmed on location at the Perfect Storm set which Clooney was filming at the time.
Adapted from: Wikipedia
Doug: I'm confused now. Your father's still alive, right? He's still with your mother.
Mark Greene: So that's the criteria for a good father? Longevity?
Doug: Did he smack you around a lot? Used to smack your mom around?
Mark: Poor Doug.
Doug: Wait. Poor Doug? Your father, did he, did he come into your room in the middle of the night and throw up on your bed and pass out? Did he do that? Did he leave you in a hallway in Atlantic City while he screwed some hat check girl, Mark? Did he do that? Did he do that, Mark? Your father was there for you every night, you and your mother. And that's love. Now, whether it's the way you want it or not, it's love, Mark. You grew up in Ozzy and Harriet land. Get your head out of your ass.
Peter Benton: On my count... 1,2
Doug: Buckle my shoe and kiss my ass.
Mark Greene: You can't take the fact that I'm your boss.
Doug: That's typically narcissistic of you, Mark. I can't take the fact that anyone's my boss.
Doug: You can get through my door.
Carol Hathaway: Anything wearing a bra can get through your door.
Doug: Weaver and the sound of her own voice: A love story
Nurse Lily Jarvik: Anyone seen Dr. Weaver?
Doug: Follow the trail of partially-digested residents.
Doug: (Telling Carol about when he did his physics exam) He told us we could bring in one sheet into the exam with all the formulas written on it.
Carol: And?
Doug: I brought in a really big sheet.
Carol: Doug can you help me out here. "If a red quark is attracted to an anti-red quark, is it a gluon or a meson?"
Doug: Thank you, Carol, for pointing out something else I know nothing about.
Carol: Oh, Doug, not another serious conversation.
Doug: You used to say we didn't communicate.
Carol: I know, but now you're communicating a little too much.
Doug: This is important. Can I have a drawer?
Carol: What?
Doug: A drawer. Something you keep your clothes in - something that I can put my clothes in.
Carol: You never wanted a drawer before.
Source: IMDb
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ER Headquarters.com
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The Clooney Files (fan site)
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Sights and Sounds
