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Noah Wyle Checking Out?
Mon Aug 11, 4:30 PM ET Add Entertainment - E! Online to My Yahoo!


By Lia Haberman

Maybe it was all that fake blood? Or memorizing those impossible medical terms like myocardial infarction?



Whatever the diagnosis, Dr. John Carter's residency at Chicago's County General has come to an abrupt halt.


After almost a decade with NBC's top-rated medical drama ER, Noah Wyle will be taking a break this season.


E! Online's TV columnist Kristin reported last month that Wyle would be exiting to spend more time with his wife, makeup artist Tracy Warbin, and their nine-month-old son, Owen.


No word on how long Wyle's hiatus will be, but this week, the actor's rep assured TV Guide that Wyle was "not leaving" the series.


Wyle is scheduled to appear in the first two episodes of the upcoming season, which will resolve a two-part cliffhanger that straddled both last season's finale and this season's opener. The two-parter features Dr. Carter and Dr. Luka Kovac in the African Congo, where the two doctors traveled to treat victims of a civil war.


In the meantime, producers plan to introduce several new characters to fill the void, including Bend It Like Beckham's Parminder K. Nagra.


Wyle could be back in November, suggests TV Guide. Indeed, "it's not like he's gone away forever," said an executive with the show.


However, it's an about-face from Wyle's attitude last May when the show celebrated its 200th episode. At the time, the good doctor told reporters his "commitment to the show is as strong as ever."


Staying power was something producers were counting on--Wyle's contract extends through 2004, the show's 10th season--as his veteran character has increasingly taken center stage in the emergency room.


He remains the only series regular to stick with ER through all nine seasons, evolving from frazzled med student to mature physician. For his tenure, he's handsomely compensated, earning an estimated $400,000 per episode, which makes him one of TV's highest-paid stars.


That's a long way from the bits parts Wyle played in TV movies in the early '90s. Then came a role in 1992's A Few Good Men and two years later a part in NBC's new drama ER, which originally touted George Clooney (news) as the one to watch, until Dr. Doug Ross left in 1999. The leading-man stethoscope was then passed to Anthony Edwards (news)' Dr. Mark Greene before he left in 2002.


Wyle, who now rules County General, has also been adding to his movie credits. Last year, he starred opposite luscious leading ladies Michelle Pfeiffer (news) in White Oleander and Jennifer Lopez (news) in the underperforming Enough.


Wyle met his very own leading lady, Warbin, in 1996, while both were working on the set of the indie film The Myth of Fingerprints, in which Wyle costarred. The pair started dating soon afterwards and wed in 2000.


Their first child, Owen Strausser Wyle, was born in a Los Angeles-area hospital on November 9.

"I dont want to miss one thing about his growing up, his adolescence, his learning to walk," Wyle told E! Online during a set visit in May.