LIVEBronwyn:  Hello, everyone. Are you ready for Maura? I know I am! Send in your comments and questions for her.

LIVEBronwyn:  She should be here soon. Keep sending in your comments and questions. ;) Sorry, guys, Maura is running late. But don't leave, she WILL BE HERE. Wanna take a poll while you are waiting? I do. ;) Do you think this should be 'ER's last season? Take the poll NOW!

LIVEBronwyn:  AW, you guys LOVE the show! Eighty-seven percent of you say NO! I agree. I love ‘ER.’ When people leave, I get sad and say it won't be the same, but somehow I stay captivated. Keep sending me your comments and questions. She should be here soon. ;)

LIVEBronwyn:  Maura! I am so excited that you are here with us. Our members cannot wait to get the chance to ask you questions. Wow, I can't believe the new season starts tonight. Are you excited that it is beginning again?

Maura Tierney:  Sorry I'm late.

LIVEBronwyn:  LIMEbaskingLIGHT gets the honors of the first question:

Question:  Hey, Maura, what can we expect to see this season regarding Carter and Abby's relationship?

Maura Tierney:  We are now shooting I think it's the seventh episode, and Carter and Abby -- so far, so good. After basically kind of a season and a half of buildup for this thing, we're kind of into it now. It's really kind of fun, and I don't exactly know what they have in store for us.

LIVEBronwyn:  That was truly a grueling buildup, by the way. McAddr wants to know...

Maura Tierney:  For a third of the season, Carter and Abby are having a good time.

Question:  Abby's relationship with Carter seems so relaxed and happy, in contrast to the other relationships we've seen her have. Do you find it's more challenging to play Abby happy in love, or Abby miserable?

Maura Tierney:  First, I'm so happy that you noticed that, but I made a conscious choice to make Abby happy with Carter. I think the character has been so unhappy, I think with him I wanted it to be different. It's a little more challenging to play Abby happy.

LIVEBronwyn:  LuvMySmile19 wants to say:

Question:  WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maura Tierney:  It's fun.

LIVEBronwyn:  :) QBee27 asks:

Question:  Did you have to take any medical lessons or classes to help your role?

Maura Tierney:  I did go to a hospital to observe, and there's always a real ER doc on set with us. Any medical procedure we do, the real doctor spends a lot of time showing us what we are pretending to be doing, what it means, the correct procedure. I'm always learning, basically.

LIVEBronwyn:  Wow, someone overseeing -- always on your toes! LAcloverstar wants to know:

Question:  Maura, you're my favorite actress ever! Do you have any movies or extra projects lined up this year?

Maura Tierney:  I don't. I didn't work this summer. Usually I work on my hiatus, but this time I didn't. So it's all ’ER.’ :)

LIVEBronwyn:  BeBeGiRLiix0x has a great question:

Question:  When you and the rest of the cast saw the episode were Mark passed away in Hawaii, did you guys at all get teary-eyed like the many people at home did?

Maura Tierney:  We didn't watch this together, because we were on hiatus at that point. We were finished. I personally did cry.

LIVEBronwyn:  HeavyC wants to know what the show has been like with Mark (Anthony Edwards) gone?

Maura Tierney:  It's sad for me personally, because we are friends and I miss him. But the show -- the star of the show, I think, is the ER, and we have just sort of gone back to work and tried to do our jobs and tell the story.

LIVEBronwyn:  LIMEbaskingLIGHT is back with another question:

Question:  Maura, what's your *least* favorite quality about Abby Lockhart? ~Alanna diAblo

Maura Tierney:  I think she's too guarded.

LIVEBronwyn:  ER27 asks:

Question:  What is your biggest fear?

Maura Tierney:  There's no way I'm saying that on the Internet!

LIVEBronwyn:  BabyC8ks asks:

Question:  What has been your favorite episode to date?

Maura Tierney:  The episode where Carter and I go to pick up my mother when she's bottomed out in that nasty hotel.

LIVEBronwyn:  ShayPepe asks:

Question:  Hey, Maura. Love your acting, but enough of that... What has been your toughest scene to shoot on ‘ER,’ besides Mark's death?

Maura Tierney:  It was my second episode on the show. I was nervous for a lot of reasons, obviously. What had to happen is I had to pull down some guy's pants and give him an injection. I was so afraid I would like pull off his underwear or expose him somehow. That was very nerve-wracking.

LIVEBronwyn:  That could almost be your biggest fear, LOL.

Maura Tierney:  It's never what you think it's going to be. I thought I'd have so many other challenges. I didn't think it would be about underwear.

LIVEBronwyn:  BlueDiva14 asks:

Question:  Maura, is it true that the show is going off the air in 2004?

Maura Tierney:  I have no idea. I want to know where you heard that! As far as I know -- I really don't know anything about that.

LIVEBronwyn:  CrZyFlYiNgMuNkEe asks:

Question:  Hi, Maura, my name is Sylvia, and you are awesome on the show!!! I just wanted to know what it’s like to work side by side with excellent actors and actresses like yourself. Do you miss George and Anthony??? WE DO!!!

Maura Tierney:  I never worked with George, but I miss him anyway. It's the greatest thing in the world. I love it. I love everyone I work with. I feel very, very lucky.

LIVEBronwyn:  Andlen3 wants to know:

Question:  With Sally Field reprising her role as Abby's mother, do you think we can expect to see Abby's motherhood issues revisited?

Maura Tierney:  Yes, but as far as I know, it's going to be a little different, because Maggie kind of has her act together now. Those are the issues we'll be dealing with. It's me dealing with her kind of all right.

LIVEBronwyn:  JC KW fan wants to ask:

Question:  Do you have any plans to direct any ‘ER’ episodes or any other projects?

Maura Tierney:  NO! I personally have no desire to direct. However, Paul McCrane, he's directing Episode 9, and I'm really, really excited about it.

LIVEBronwyn:  MrLiveGuy wants to say you are so beautiful... and wants to know, would you ever want to be in another movie with Jim Carrey?

Maura Tierney:  Sure! He's a huge movie star. Of course!

LIVEBronwyn:  N2U asks what actor has been your favorite to work with and why?

Maura Tierney:  Sally was my favorite. She's just a wonderful woman. We have great, great guest actors on the show, and not all of them are movie starts. Don Cheadle is doing a guest star on our show, and he's really great.

LIVEBronwyn:  HeMan wants to know what the one gift you wanted but have never received is.

Maura Tierney:  That's really difficult. I don't know. I feel pretty lucky.

LIVEBronwyn:  OOOOH, a great question from Andlen3 again:

Question:  Have you had a chance to visit any of the sites/message boards created by your fans?

Maura Tierney:  No. I get nervous to go there. My friends tell me they are really nice -- and my parents.

LIVEBronwyn:  JBrady wants to say he misses ‘NewsRadio’ and wants to know what shows from your past you would want to revisit or that you miss.

Maura Tierney:  I miss ‘NewsRadio’ too. Lately, especially, I've been missing ’NewsRadio.’ But you can't go back, I guess. Dave Foley is married and is having a baby.

LIVEBronwyn:  Rol0027 says:

Question:  Hey, Maura Tierney, how was it working with Phil Hartman and Dave Foley on ‘NewsRadio’?

Maura Tierney:  It was great. I've been lucky to have had the experience of working with incredibly talented ensemble casts. At ‘NewsRadio,’ everybody was really, really funny.

LIVEBronwyn:  MWright186 wants to ask:

Question:  You have wonderful chemistry with Noah Wyle. Do you feel that chemistry when you are working with Noah?

Maura Tierney:  Yes. We get along well, and I think we respect each other. I love acting with him. Again, I feel really lucky.

LIVEBronwyn:  Bluponychic says:

Question:  Is it fun being able to work with all of your co-stars, and do you pick up any real medical information on the show?

Maura Tierney:  Yes, it's fun. Yes, I do pick up real medical info. I diagnosed my husband's appendicitis. That's completely true.

LIVEBronwyn:  LTEAM6 wants to know what's going to happen tonight in the episode.

Maura Tierney:  OK. It takes place three hours later from when the last finale ended. There's still a lockdown in the hospital. There is a really exciting kind of shocking event that's unrelated that I think is going to be really good. I haven't seen it yet.

LIVEBronwyn:  Dirrty wants to know...

Maura Tierney:  I've heard it's really good.

Question:  Do the special effects on the show ever gross you out because they are so realistic?

Maura Tierney:  One, I love your name. Sometimes, yes, they gross me out. There was an episode last season where the trauma victim had a failed suicide attempt with a shotgun, and the make-up department constructed this prosthetic of a jaw unhinged off the person's face. It was very difficult to look at.

LIVEBronwyn:  Hero4U wants to know:

Question:  If you were to write an ‘ER’ episode, what's something you'd like to see Abby do?

Maura Tierney:  I've been pitching Abby getting involved with a Mormon family, except they just won't write it. But that's something I want to do.

LIVEBronwyn:  Any reason why a Mormon family?

Maura Tierney:  I'm fascinated with the Mormon tradition.

LIVEBronwyn:  Swoopes488 wants to ask:

Question:  Hi, what is your most memorable moment from the show? Thanks.

Maura Tierney:  We all got to go to the White House. We had a private little tour of the West Wing. That was a great thing that I don't think I'd ever been able to do if I'd not been on this show.

LIVEBronwyn:  Did you get to see the Oval Office? And what did you think of it?

Maura Tierney:  We did. Not only did we get to see it, we met Betty Currie.

LIVEBronwyn:  BeBop asks:

Question:  Has there ever been a moment where you were not happy playing the character of Abby?

Maura Tierney:  Sure. Sometimes, creatively, there is conflict between the writers and the actors, which I think is healthy. But there are times I've been frustrated. So I think that helps make the show great.

LIVEBronwyn:  CleotheCat asks:

Question:  What can diehard 'ER' fans expect this season?

Maura Tierney:  There's a lot of great guest actors. The cast is really excited. I'm really ready to work hard. The stories are good. We think it's going to be a really good season.

LIVEBronwyn:  Bolo asks:

Question:  If you could meet one person in entertainment, who would it be?

Maura Tierney:  Jesus Christ.

LIVEBronwyn:  SheeShee wants to know:

Question:  What reality TV show are you hooked on, if any?

Maura Tierney:  I'm not hooked on any. They kind of bug me. But I do watch ‘Fear Factor.’ My friend Joe is the host.

LIVEBronwyn:  LAcloverstar asks:

Question:  Maura, do you like coming to Chicago to film scenes for ‘ER’?

Maura Tierney:  I love it there. I love Chicago. It's one of my favorite cities.

LIVEBronwyn:  POTUS2017 asks:

Question:  Good evening, Maura. In your roles as Daisy and Lisa Miller, your characters have shown an interest in politics. Are you yourself interested and involved in politics, or is the interest just limited to your roles? Thanks, and have a great evening.

Maura Tierney:  I am not as involved in politics as I would like to be. My dad was a politician. I come from Boston. Boston is just a very political town. I think there's a crossover between those characters that I've played and my own personal response to politics.

LIVEBronwyn:  Well, we are down to our last question. KERN01085 has a good final question for you:

Question:  Will Abby ever find true romance, and is Peter Benton really coming back?

Maura Tierney:  I don't think Peter Benton is coming back. I hope Abby finds true romance. It seems like she has so far, but I don't know what is going to happen.

LIVEBronwyn:  I hate this part of the chat... endings are so sad. :( But
it is almost time for ‘ER.’ Tune in to NBC at 10:00PM ET for the season premiere.

Maura Tierney:  Thank you so much for being interested in watching the show. We all really appreciate it, the whole cast. We really do. :)

LIVEBronwyn:  Thank you, Maura, and thank you all! Good night.