‘ER’ PARENTAGE

Once again we see success has many fathers (“Beyond Blood and Yucks,” by Rick Du Brow, Nov. 6)!

Du Brow states that Tony Thomopoulos, president of Spielberg’s Amblin television division, found the “ER” script and was told by Spielberg to “run with it” regarding the genesis of this current hit show.

How ironic that in the next day’s Daily Variety it states: “It was (Creative Artists Agency) TV agent Tony Krantz who convinced (Michael) Crichton to dust off an old script that was literally lying in a trunk and turn it into a TV series. The result was the phenomenally successful new NBC drama ‘ER.’ That master stroke led to a hefty packaging fee for the agency.”

OK, so which is it, which Tony was the “discoverer” of “ER”?

SUSAN WAXMAN

Los Angeles

Thomopoulos says that he and Krantz “both had talked about it” and that “I had seen the script at Amblin.” He adds that both of them “went to see Crichton together” and that Krantz “was very instrumental in the instigation of this” and should “get his due.” Krantz declined to comment through a CAA spokesperson, who said Thomopoulos’ statement “sounds good to us.”