Noah Wyle

Noah Wyle

From Dropping Names ...and other things by Brent Spiner & Jonathan Frakes

September 9, 2026 · 1h 5m · Season 1 · Episode 18

About this episode

Noah Wyle discusses his experiences on ER, including memorable moments with Quentin Tarantino and the unique production style of the show.

A few minutes in, Brent Spiner stops the interview cold to tell Noah Wyle, as a friend rather than a host, that The Pitt is the best thing on television and that Noah is the reason. The room changes right there, and what follows is two hours of shop talk between people who actually know each other. Noah is on Dropping Names with Brent and Jonny, and he takes them inside the ER of the mid nineties, where the casts were shooting ninety page scripts for a forty eight minute show and a young Steadicam operator in pyjamas reinvented what a television scene could look like. He remembers Quentin Tarantino turning up to direct an episode and inventing an entire unscripted piece of business about a slippery can of Diet Coke, a paper towel and a puddle for Sherry Stringfield to slip in, all of it worked out with the enthusiasm of an eight year old. He talks about the live episode, the Fail Safe broadcast with Richard Dreyfuss and George Clooney, and the moment he watched Tom Cruise walk into a rehearsal for A Few Good Men in a white t shirt and cowboy boots and understood what a star is. The conversation keeps circling back to how The Pitt actually gets made: no dolly track, no lights on…

People in this episode

Hosts: Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes

Guest: Noah Wyle

Topics covered

  • television production
  • behind the scenes
  • 90s television
  • Quentin Tarantino
  • live episodes
  • acting
  • friendship

Keywords

  • Noah Wyle
  • Brent Spiner
  • Jonathan Frakes
  • Quentin Tarantino
  • The Pitt
  • ER
  • 90s television
  • live episode
  • acting
  • television production

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: A Few Good Men

Places: The Pitt, ER

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