Noah Wyle on the Idea of ‘ER’ Coming Back to TV: ‘It Will Never Happen’

For those with their hearts set on seeing ER grace your TV screens again — aside from reruns — we have some bad news for you. Or, rather, series alum Noah Wyle does.

“We are all accountable to each other, and we all keep in touch,” the 47-year-old told People about his former costars. “I think the sense we could get back together again and explore what those characters evolve into is extremely high. That being said, it will never happen.”

Noah starred on the NBC show for seasons 1-11, returning as a guest in season 12 and a recurring character in season 15. He earned five Emmy nominations and three Golden Globe nominations for his portrayal of Dr. John Carter. While it would be great to see him wear a white coat again, we shouldn’t hold out hope.

“There’s been lots and lots of medical shows that look and feel like it,” he explained. “But aside from just guilty pleasure of seeing what Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) and Ross (George Clooney) would be like now, or what Carter and Benton (Eriq La Salle) would’ve evolved into, I don’t think it’s going to ever happen.”

Now that Noah is back in Chicago — where ER was set and filmed — for CBS’s The Red Line, he’s able to look back on what the Michael Crichton-created show did for him and his career.

“[It changed me] in every single way possible,” Noah explained, calling the role of Dr. John Carter “transformative” in taking him from being an unknown actor and turning him into a star.

“It’s an unbelievable city for me to walk around in, because as I walk around, it’s as if ghosts walk around that city with me,” the dad-of-three, added. “It’s like, ‘Oh, that’s where I punched Dr. Benton. Oh, that’s where I delivered a baby in a trash can. Oh, that’s where we found that homeless guy and I did CPR on him.'”

Long live ER — on Hulu, at least.