Neal Baer
Encyclopedia
Neal Baer, MD is an American pediatrician and television writer and producer. He is best known for his work on the television shows ER
and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
.
. Baer spent a year at the American Film Institute as a directing fellow in 1988. Baer studied for a master's degree from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
in Sociology and focused on family policy. Baer attended Harvard Medical School
from 1991 to 1996. The final part of his training over-lapped with his work in television and he completed his degree by undertaking electives at UCLA and returning to Harvard during breaks in production.
Baer graduated from Harvard Medical School and completed his internship in Pediatrics at Children's Hospital
, Los Angeles
. He received the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Scholarship from the American Medical Association as the most outstanding medical student who has contributed to promoting a better understanding of medicine in the media. He balanced completing his medical internship with working in television again practicing medicine in breaks in filming including working as a resident at Children's Hospital in December 1997 and March, April, and May 1998.
Baer also holds a master's degree from Harvard Graduate School of Education. In 2000, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Colorado College.
, AIDS
, drug
and alcohol abuse
, and nutrition. Baer taught elementary school in Colorado
and also worked as a research associate at USC Medical School, where he focused on drug and alcohol abuse prevention. The American Association for the Advancement of Science selected him as a Mass Media Fellow. In 2003, he was honored by Physicians for Social Responsibility, Lupus L.A., and the Media Project.
Baer serves on the boards of many organizations related to health care, including the Venice Family Clinic, RAND Health, Children Now, the Huckleberry Fund of Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS). Baer is a member of the Board of Associates at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.
entitled "Private Affairs". The program dealt with sexually transmitted disease
s, and was selected by The Association of Women in Film and Television as the Best Children's Drama of the Year.
Baer was hired by writer and producer John Wells
to write for drama series China Beach
. The series focused on nurses in Vietnam and Baer was nominated for a Writers Guild of America (WGA)
Award
for Best Screenplay in Episodic Drama his work on the episode "Warriors". During this time Baer prepared a film script treatment for Paramount
called The Lost Mariner, based on a story from the book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
by Oliver Sacks
but the project was not produced.
Baer was hired by John Wells again as a staff writer
for the first season of ER (TV series)|ER]]. He contributed directly to four episodes and his medical experience informed other storylines. He became a story editor
for the second season, taking responsibility for compiling scripts and developing the medical storylines. As a story editor Baer worked alongside fellow medical professional Lance Gentile
. Baer remained a regular writer and contributed scripts for the episodes "Hell and High Water" and "The Match". Baer and Gentile were promoted to executive story editors by the end of the season. Baer was nominated for an Emmy Award
for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
at the 1996 awards
for his work on "Hell and High Water".
Baer became a co-producer on the third season of ER and wrote a further four episodes. The third season was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series
at the 1997 awards
. The producers shared the nomination for their work on the season. Baer was personally nominated for a second Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for his work on the episode "Whose Appy Now?". He was also nominated a second WGA award for Best Screenplay in Episodic Drama for the same episode in at the 1998 ceremony.
Baer was promoted to producer for the fourth season and wrote two more episodes. The season was again nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series at the 1998 awards
and Baer shared the nomination for a second time.
Baer was promoted again to supervising producer for the fifth season. He was responsible for writing a two more episodes, continuing to develop medical storylines for all episodes and supervising other aspects of production including casting, design, directing, and editing. Baer was also responsible for answering mail relating to the medical aspects of the series and for developing projects that drew on ER to promote public health including a series of news segments covering issues related to the series. The fifth season was also nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series at the 1999 awards
and Baer shared the nomination for a third time.
Baer became a co-executive producer for the sixth season of ER and wrote a further three episodes. The sixth season was also nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series at the 2000 awards
and Baer shared the nomination for a fourth time.
Baer was promoted to executive producer for the seventh season of ER and wrote one more episode. The seventh season was also nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series at the 2001 awards
, marking Baer's fifth consecutive nomination for the award. Baer left ER following the seventh season having been a producer for five seasons and with eighteen episodes as a writer.
Following his departure from ER Baer became executive producer and showrunner for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
from the second season
until departing after twelfth season
to move to CBS Television Studios.
Baer has written the pilot episode of two unproduced television series; The Edge for CBS
and Outreach for the WB Network. Baer served as a writer and producer for the pilot of Outreach and the episode aired on A&E
in 1999 but the series was not picked up. Baer has also written an unproduced film for Twentieth Century Fox entitled The Doctor Corps. Baer is a trustee of the Writers Guild of America Health and Pension Fund.
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
.
Education
Baer, who was born in 1955, graduated from high school in 1973. He then graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Political Science from Colorado CollegeColorado College
The Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell...
. Baer spent a year at the American Film Institute as a directing fellow in 1988. Baer studied for a master's degree from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is the academic unit responsible for many post-baccalaureate degree programs offered through the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University...
in Sociology and focused on family policy. Baer attended Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
from 1991 to 1996. The final part of his training over-lapped with his work in television and he completed his degree by undertaking electives at UCLA and returning to Harvard during breaks in production.
Baer graduated from Harvard Medical School and completed his internship in Pediatrics at Children's Hospital
Children's Hospital
Children's Hospital is the name for many hospitals that care for children including:*Arkansas Children's Hospital*Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center*Children's Hospital *Children's Hospital...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. He received the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Scholarship from the American Medical Association as the most outstanding medical student who has contributed to promoting a better understanding of medicine in the media. He balanced completing his medical internship with working in television again practicing medicine in breaks in filming including working as a resident at Children's Hospital in December 1997 and March, April, and May 1998.
Baer also holds a master's degree from Harvard Graduate School of Education. In 2000, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Colorado College.
Academic career
Baer has written extensively on adolescent health issues for Scholastic Magazine, covering such topics as teen pregnancyPregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
, AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, drug
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
and alcohol abuse
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, and nutrition. Baer taught elementary school in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
and also worked as a research associate at USC Medical School, where he focused on drug and alcohol abuse prevention. The American Association for the Advancement of Science selected him as a Mass Media Fellow. In 2003, he was honored by Physicians for Social Responsibility, Lupus L.A., and the Media Project.
Baer serves on the boards of many organizations related to health care, including the Venice Family Clinic, RAND Health, Children Now, the Huckleberry Fund of Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS). Baer is a member of the Board of Associates at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.
Television career
Baer began his work in television by writing and directing an ABC Afterschool SpecialABC Afterschool Special
The ABC Afterschool Special is an American television anthology series that aired on ABC from 1972 to 1996, usually in the late afternoon on week days. Most of the episodes were dramatic presentations of situations, often controversial, of interest to children and teenagers. Several episodes were...
entitled "Private Affairs". The program dealt with sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...
s, and was selected by The Association of Women in Film and Television as the Best Children's Drama of the Year.
Baer was hired by writer and producer John Wells
John Wells (TV producer)
John Marcum Wells is an American theater and television producer, writer and director. He is best known for his role as executive producer and show runner of the television series ER, Third Watch, and The West Wing. His company, John Wells Productions, is currently based at Warner Bros. studios in...
to write for drama series China Beach
China Beach
China Beach is an American dramatic television series set at an evacuation hospital during the Vietnam War. The title refers to My Khe beach in the city of Da Nang, Vietnam, which was nicknamed "China Beach" by unknown foreigners, most likely Americans...
. The series focused on nurses in Vietnam and Baer was nominated for a Writers Guild of America (WGA)
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
Award
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
for Best Screenplay in Episodic Drama his work on the episode "Warriors". During this time Baer prepared a film script treatment for Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
called The Lost Mariner, based on a story from the book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales is a 1985 book by neurologist Oliver Sacks describing the case histories of some of his patients. The title of the book comes from the case study of a man with visual agnosia...
by Oliver Sacks
Oliver Sacks
Oliver Wolf Sacks, CBE , is a British neurologist and psychologist residing in New York City. He is a professor of neurology and psychiatry at Columbia University, where he also holds the position of Columbia Artist...
but the project was not produced.
Baer was hired by John Wells again as a staff writer
Staff writer
Staff writer is a byline that indicates that the author of the article at hand is employed by the periodical that published the article as a regular staff member, and not as a freelance writer or special contributor....
for the first season of ER (TV series)|ER]]. He contributed directly to four episodes and his medical experience informed other storylines. He became a story editor
Story editor
Story editor is a job title in motion picture and television production, also sometimes called "supervising producer". A story editor is a member of the screenwriting staff who edits stories for screenplays....
for the second season, taking responsibility for compiling scripts and developing the medical storylines. As a story editor Baer worked alongside fellow medical professional Lance Gentile
Lance Gentile
-Career:Gentile graduated with a BA degree in psychology from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He was a medical student at New York Medical College and completed his residency in the emergency room at Maine Medical Center in Portland...
. Baer remained a regular writer and contributed scripts for the episodes "Hell and High Water" and "The Match". Baer and Gentile were promoted to executive story editors by the end of the season. Baer was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
The Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series is awarded to one television episode each year at the Primetime Emmy Awards. Often regarded as the highest honor that can be bestowed upon an individual episode of television, the nominees and winners often reflect outstanding achievement in...
at the 1996 awards
48th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 48th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California, USA. They were presented in two ceremonies, one untelevised on September 7, 1996 and other televised on September 8, 1996. It was hosted by Michael J...
for his work on "Hell and High Water".
Baer became a co-producer on the third season of ER and wrote a further four episodes. The third season was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series
This page lists the winners and nominees for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, since its institution in 1951. The award is often cited as one of the "main awards" at the Emmys ceremonies, and has changed names many times in its history. It was first called Best Dramatic Show...
at the 1997 awards
49th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 49th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California in 1997. They were presented in two ceremonies hosted by Bryant Gumbel, one on September 13 and another on September 14...
. The producers shared the nomination for their work on the season. Baer was personally nominated for a second Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for his work on the episode "Whose Appy Now?". He was also nominated a second WGA award for Best Screenplay in Episodic Drama for the same episode in at the 1998 ceremony.
Baer was promoted to producer for the fourth season and wrote two more episodes. The season was again nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series at the 1998 awards
51st Primetime Emmy Awards
The 51st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held Sunday, September 12, 1999. The awards show was hosted by Jenna Elfman and David Hyde Pierce. It was broadcast on Fox...
and Baer shared the nomination for a second time.
Baer was promoted again to supervising producer for the fifth season. He was responsible for writing a two more episodes, continuing to develop medical storylines for all episodes and supervising other aspects of production including casting, design, directing, and editing. Baer was also responsible for answering mail relating to the medical aspects of the series and for developing projects that drew on ER to promote public health including a series of news segments covering issues related to the series. The fifth season was also nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series at the 1999 awards
52nd Primetime Emmy Awards
The 52nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held Sunday, September 10, 2000. The awards show was hosted by Garry Shandling and was broadcast on ABC...
and Baer shared the nomination for a third time.
Baer became a co-executive producer for the sixth season of ER and wrote a further three episodes. The sixth season was also nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series at the 2000 awards
53rd Primetime Emmy Awards
The 53rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were finally held Sunday, November 4, 2001, seven weeks late. The awards show was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres and was broadcast on CBS. The ceremony was re-scheduled twice from its original date of September 16 at the Shrine Auditorium because of the September...
and Baer shared the nomination for a fourth time.
Baer was promoted to executive producer for the seventh season of ER and wrote one more episode. The seventh season was also nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series at the 2001 awards
54th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 54th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held Sunday, September 22, 2002. Nominations were announced July 22, 2002. The awards show was hosted by Conan O'Brien and was broadcast on NBC...
, marking Baer's fifth consecutive nomination for the award. Baer left ER following the seventh season having been a producer for five seasons and with eighteen episodes as a writer.
Following his departure from ER Baer became executive producer and showrunner for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
from the second season
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (season 2)
This article contains a list of episodes for season 2 of the television series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.David J. Burke and Neal Baer served as chief executive producers; Baer took over in the season finale.-Cast:...
until departing after twelfth season
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (season 12)
The 12th season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered on September 22, 2010 on NBC and concluded on May 18, 2011. The timeslot was moved from 10 p.m. to 9 p.m. for the NBC broadcast in 2010...
to move to CBS Television Studios.
Baer has written the pilot episode of two unproduced television series; The Edge for CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and Outreach for the WB Network. Baer served as a writer and producer for the pilot of Outreach and the episode aired on A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
in 1999 but the series was not picked up. Baer has also written an unproduced film for Twentieth Century Fox entitled The Doctor Corps. Baer is a trustee of the Writers Guild of America Health and Pension Fund.
Writer
| Year | Show | Episode | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | ABC Afterschool Special ABC Afterschool Special The ABC Afterschool Special is an American television anthology series that aired on ABC from 1972 to 1996, usually in the late afternoon on week days. Most of the episodes were dramatic presentations of situations, often controversial, of interest to children and teenagers. Several episodes were... |
"Private Affairs" | Season 18, episode 2 |
| 1990 | China Beach China Beach China Beach is an American dramatic television series set at an evacuation hospital during the Vietnam War. The title refers to My Khe beach in the city of Da Nang, Vietnam, which was nicknamed "China Beach" by unknown foreigners, most likely Americans... |
"Warriors" | Season 3, episode 16 |
| 1994 | ER ER (TV series) ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television... |
"Chicago Heat" | Story - season 1 ER (season 1) The first season of the American fictional drama television series ER aired from 1994–1995 with 25 episodes.The 2-hour pilot episode aired on September 19, 1994 and was followed by 24 other episodes, including the season finale that aired on May 18, 1995.-Plot:In ERs first season, the core cast... , episode 6 |
| "Blizzard" | Story - season 1, episode 10 | ||
| "The Gift" | Season 1, episode 11 | ||
| 1995 | "Full Moon, Saturday Night" | Season 1, episode 20 | |
| "Hell and High Water" | Season 2 ER (season 2) The second season of the American fictional drama television series ER first aired on September 21, 1995 and concluded on May 16, 1996... , episode 7 |
||
| 1996 | "The Match" | Season 2, episode 17 | |
| "Ghosts" | Season 3 ER (season 3) The third season of the American fictional drama television series ER first aired on September 26, 1996 and concluded on May 15, 1997. The third season consists of 22 episodes.- Plot :... , episode 5 |
||
| "Ask Me No Questions, I'll Tell You No Lies" | Season 3, episode 9 | ||
| 1997 | "Whose Appy Now?" | Season 3, episode 14 | |
| "Calling Dr. Hathaway" | Story - Season 3, episode 19 | ||
| "Freak Show" | Season 4 ER (season 4) The fourth season of the American fictional drama television series ER first aired on September 25, 1997 and concluded on May 14, 1998. The fourth season consists of 22 episodes.- Plot :... , episode 8 |
||
| 1998 | "Gut Reaction" | Season 4, episode 18 | |
| "Stuck on You" | Season 5, episode 6 | ||
| 1999 | "Middle of Nowhere" | Season 5, episode 16 | |
| "Humpty Dumpty" | Season 6, episode 7 | ||
| 2000 | "Under Control" | Season 6, episode 16 | |
| "Loose Ends" | Season 6, episode 20 | ||
| "Rescue Me" | Season 7, episode 7 | ||
| 2001 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced... |
"Scourge" | Season 2 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (season 2) This article contains a list of episodes for season 2 of the television series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.David J. Burke and Neal Baer served as chief executive producers; Baer took over in the season finale.-Cast:... , episode 21 |
| "Rooftop" | Season 3 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (season 3) This article contains a list of episodes for season 3 of the television series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.In the aftermath of 9/11, the main title voiceover by Steven Zirnkilton was changed for the first few episodes to include the following dedication: "On September 11, 2001, New York City... , episode 4 |
||
| 2003 | "Control" | Season 5 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (season 5) This article contains a list of episodes for season 5 of the television series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.Diane Neal joins the cast this season as Casey Novak, the SVU's new ADA.-Cast:*Christopher Meloni as Det. Elliot Stabler... , episode 9 |
|
| 2005 | "Storm" | Season 7 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (season 7) This article contains a list of episodes for season 7 of the television series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.Christopher Meloni was nominated for his first Emmy in the category of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Mariska Hargitay won the Emmy for Outstading Lead Actress in a Drama... , episode 10 |
|
| 2007 | "Alternate" | Season 9 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (season 9) This page contains a list of episodes for season 9 of the television series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.-Cast:*Christopher Meloni as Det. Elliot Stabler*Mariska Hargitay as Det. Olivia Benson*Richard Belzer as Sgt. John Munch... , episode 1 |
|
| 2008 | "Authority" | Season 9, episode 17 |
Director
| Year | Show | Episode | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | ABC Afterschool Special ABC Afterschool Special The ABC Afterschool Special is an American television anthology series that aired on ABC from 1972 to 1996, usually in the late afternoon on week days. Most of the episodes were dramatic presentations of situations, often controversial, of interest to children and teenagers. Several episodes were... |
"Private Affairs" | Season 18, episode 2 |