Warren Littlefield, running NBC Entertainment at the time, was impressed by the series: "We were intrigued, but we were admittedly a bit spooked in attempting to go back into that territory a few years after "St. Elsewhere"." After Spielberg had joined as a producer, NBC ordered six episodes. ""ER" premiered opposite a "Monday Night Football" game on ABC and did surprisingly well. Then we moved it to Thursday and it just took off", commented Littlefield. "ER"s success surprised the networks and critics alike, as David E. Kelley's new medical drama "Chicago Hope" was expected to crush the new series.