Online Host:  Entertainment Asylum and America Online proudly welcome Noah Wyle! Noah will be hosting the Maalox One-Minute Hero Awards!

Online Host:  Tell us about the award show.

Noah Wyle:  This is the second year that I've hosted this campaign. It's an awareness campaign to honor heroes from everyday walks of life. Maybe someone who saved someone else's life or made an impact in someone else's life. It's the Maalox One-Minute Hero Awards. People can call in or write in for people they know, to nominate anyone. It gives attention to people who might not seek our recognition for what they've done, and it puts some positive stories out there, too. 1-888-686-HERO is the number to call.

Question:  What is your movie about?

Noah Wyle:  “Pirates of Silicon Valley” is about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, and their lives and companies. Basically it’s just the story of the computer revolution, from its small origins to the big time, like the Asylum! To see how the whole thing came about. It's a little juicy, and it paints them in a more realistic light than in a flattering light. Everything is honest and factually checked; however, we took a few licenses, but for the most part it's accurate.

Question:  What computer do you like best?

Noah Wyle:  I'm a Mac man! Always have been a Mac man. Probably always will [be] a Mac man! Got the new G3 Powerbook and picked up an iMac.

Question:  I would like to ask Noah how long he has been in show business, and if he enjoys it.

Noah Wyle:  I very much enjoy it. My career started right after I graduated from high school in 1989.

Question:  Do you miss George?

Noah Wyle:  I do miss George. I haven't spoken to him in a while. Rumor has it he's going to come back and do a couple more episodes with us next year. He was sort of the "elder statesman" on the set. Not having him around sort of creates a vacuum. I miss him, but he also left a huge hole behind the camera, too. I won't find out if he's coming back until I go back, but I'm pretty sure he's coming back. I would bet that there is a 70% chance he will!

Question:  When you were filming the live “ER,” what was most difficult?

Noah Wyle:  It was the most fun episode we did. The show got a lot of harsh criticisms [that] we did it for "grandstanding," but it was fun to do. It was still, I think, an impressive feat, an hour-long live TV show! We did it first for the East Coast and then turned around and did it live for the West Coast!

Online Host:  What was the most difficult part of it?

Noah Wyle:  The hardest part was that you didn't want to be the one who messed up live in front of 40 million people! We shot it differently than the rest of our shows. It takes usually about 8 days of 12-hour days to shoot. This time, we rehearsed for 7 12-hour days. Then we shot on that last day in an hour! Luckily the cast of “ER” all come from a theater background, since it was more like doing a play than a TV show.

Question:  What was the hardest part of "Pirates of Silicon Valley"?

Noah Wyle:  Playing a guy that is not only alive, but is also a prominent figure in our society. Bridging the gap between playing a real character, like a documentary, but it's also a dramatic interpretation. Telling a great story that just happened to have occurred in our lifetimes.

Question:  How did you get involved with this movie?

Noah Wyle:  TNT sent me the script and a videotape called "Triumph of the Nerds" -- a PBS documentary from a few years ago about this subject. I watched the video, read the script and was really hooked! Originally we were going to film it in Toronto, but it was difficult to work out scheduling with “ER” and “Pirates,” but eventually “Pirates” moved to “ER.”

Online Host:  Did they send you the script because you look like Steve Jobs?

Noah Wyle:  I think Martin Burke, who wrote the screenplay, definitely saw the resemblance. I didn't realize it either until the first time I saw him in 1984 when he introduced the Mac. That's when I noticed the resemblance.

Question:  What is your favorite place to go on vacation?

Noah Wyle:  I haven't taken a vacation in a while. Bora Bora was magical. I like London a lot, that's a pretty fun town. If I could get a big chunk of time, I'd probably stay home right now!

Question:  Do you have a story about one of the heroes you've met?

Noah Wyle:  Actually, this summer I met a few people I'd classify as heroes. I had a chance to go to Macedonia to visit refugee camps, and I met a number of doctors and nurses in refugee camps taking care of people. I'd definitely say they fit the description of heroes.

Question:  Do you think Bill Gates is the cevil?

Noah Wyle:  No, I don't think he's the devil! It's interesting, though, because Anthony Michael Hall said to me, for a capitalist country, we sure have a tendency to throw stones at successful people, people who have launched big businesses from grassroots into prominence.

Question:  Hello to Noah from Alaska!

Noah Wyle:  I've never been there, but hello!

Question:  Can you tell us more about the One-Minute Maalox award?

Noah Wyle:  This is the 3rd year that Maalox has sponsored the campaign. Here are some of the previous recipients as an example. Last year I gave Mitch Wright, the widower of Shannon Wright, an award. She is the schoolteacher who threw herself in front of students in Jonseboro, Arkansas. Another one is a kid names Jerome Lesser. When he was 11, he smelled smoke coming from the next-door neighbor. He saved an infant in a crib, then he went back home, got his schoolbooks and went back to school! So he's a hero to me! On a personal note, I get a lot of satisfaction from hearing these people's stories. It's nice to hear good news, just for morale in general.

Online Host:  Are you the kind of guy who watches news and asks why isn't there more good new?

Noah Wyle:  There are a lot of positive things that happen every day, but if you see enough of the bad news, day in and day out, it can get you depressed. It's not about showing pandas being born at the zoo after covering a drive-by, like the evening news does sometimes! But there are real people, every day, who do good things. Police officers, firefighters and civilians, too, who perform above the call of duty.

Question:  Hi, Noah! What is it like being on such a popular show? Are there any downsides to being famous?

Noah Wyle:  It's wonderful to be on a popular show. I've had the great fortune to never be on an unpopular show! “ER” was really the first show I've been a part of. I've enjoyed the success immensely. The downside, well, I wouldn't say it ou weighs the good side, but at times you wish you had more anonymity, but that's a cliche by now. It's all good. I think it depends what you make of it.

Question:  Noah, great job on “Pirates of Silicon Valley”! I saw your interview on “ET,” about your visit to the Kosovo refugees, and I just wanted to ask, how has that visit changed your overall view on life, and does it affect your acting career?

Noah Wyle:  That's a heavy question. I challenge anyone to see the sights we saw and not be changed by them. There have been refugees since the beginning of time and there will be more, but these were the first ones I had a chance to meet and talk with. It's very profound to stand in the face of total human injustice and see innocent children. When you look at them and think, "How in the world could they be held responsible for the politics of people they'll never meet?" It's really awful, for lack of a better word. How does it change my acting? I can honestly say that being able to come home and speak passionately about the things I saw and the people I met has given me the possibility to see how I can parlay being on a successful TV show into something philanthropic and do good, instead of just the Hollywood community.

Question:  I saw you on the Rosie show and heard you got engaged. Congrats! Are there any wedding plans?

Noah Wyle:  I haven't nailed down a date yet, but a wedding will be forthcoming.

Question:  What did Steve Jobs think of your portrayal of him?

Noah Wyle:  I hope that he took it in the spirit that it was intended. I hope he was amused and entertained and hope he could laugh at it. I look forward to the day when we can spend some time together and I can ask him all the questions I have for him. I've never met him.

Question:  Have you ever met Steve Jobs?

Noah Wyle:  No!

Question:  Hi, Noah. Will you and Lucy hit it off on “ER”?

Noah Wyle:  No.

Online Host:  Any tidbits from “ER” this year you can tell us?

Noah Wyle:  I think, in a lot of ways, last year was a good year, but we were also burdened with having to establish new characters and wrap up characters leaving the show. That involved a lot of publicity. It was distracting to a certain extent. All of us are excited about coming back next year and finding the core and what really makes the show special. I think there are still lots and lots of possibilities and story lines.

Question:  Noah, in light of your recent movie stardom, do you think that you will be leaving “ER” like George Clooney did to pursue your career in movie acting?

Noah Wyle:  No, no time soon! At the end of last season, I signed up for another 3 years, so I have the upcoming season and two more to do, provided the show is actually picked up for an 8th season! Assuming it's still on the air, I'll be here.

Question:  Hello! I love watching “ER,” I can't wait to watch it tonight! Would you ever like to work in a real “ER”?

Noah Wyle:  No! I've visited quite a few as an observer and a patient. I'd like to leave that to the professionals. It's kind of a family joke that I play a doctor because it's probably as close as I'll ever get. I don't have the stomach for it or the capability for the math and science.

Question:  What was your most memorable “ER” episode?

Noah Wyle:  There's a few. I usually think of it in terms of who I get to work with. When you do a long-running series, they blend togteher. The "Love's Labor Lost" episode from the first season was a good one. I've had a chance to work with Harvey Korman, Mickey Rooney and Red Buttons. I feel extremely grateful that the people who have been my patients have been extremely inspirational to work with, and I think those are my favorite episodes.

Question:  Who would win a one-on-one game of basketball, you or Clooney?

Noah Wyle:  I don't know where we'd rank. We've played quite a few one-on-one games. He's pretty good. He's unstoppable, but I've had my moments. I've won a few times, but I hate to say, it's probably 2 out of 3 for him. I have to practice more! He practices a lot! He plays more than I do.

Online Host:  Are you being diplomatic?

Noah Wyle:  I'd love to say I beat him all the time, but it's not the case.

Question:  Does Erik LaSalle ever smile on the set?

Noah Wyle:  On the set? Yes. On the show? No. He has a contractual stipulation that he can't show his teeth. I'm kidding! He smiles all the time -- a real jokester.

Question:  Are there any new projects that you are working on?

Noah Wyle:  No new film projects. I've been reading a lot of stuff trying to figure out what I want to do next. I want to go back to the show being refreshed and focused. I run a theater company here in LA with Daniel Henning. We run a young playwrights’ series ever year and fly the kids out to let them see their work onstage after they are cast. We are halfway through the series now, currently at Gary Marshall's Theater in North Hollywood! Every year there's sort of a seminal story about why we do it. Last year, a young guy, football player, never wrote a play before, on a whim decided to write a play, sent it in, we chose it, and the night it was performed he was out in the parking lot, my partner went out and asked him if he was OK, and he said it was the first play he had ever seen!

Online Host:  Any last words, Noah?

Noah Wyle:  Thank you so much for being here.