Some people believe it’s best to leave the party when the party is at its height.

And then there are the "ER" people, who believe you should stay where you are and drain that sucker dry.

Last week, NBC executives announced that they had renewed the still-popular but declining series through the end of its 14th season, 2007-08.

They did not announce where the writers could possibly go for new plot twists, nor how the producers were planning to tweak one of TV’s largest ensembles - a cast that, with the notable exception of Noah Wyle, a veteran of nearly 11 seasons, has already been tweaked to a fare-thee-well.

What disasters could befall Chicago’s fictitious County General Hospital that haven’t already struck it? Who will the hospital recruit for its ever-changing staff? Whither Wyle’s deeply dimpled but unlucky-in-love John Carter?

Gee, I thought you’d never ask. These are all merely suggestions, of course:

• Sept. 20, 2007: In the season premiere, Chief of Medicine Dr. John Carter (Noah Wyle), orthopedic surgeon Dr. Henley Regatta (Keira Knightley), ob/gyn Dr. Marisol Garcia (Cameron Diaz-Timberlake), cardiologist Dr. Sydney Simone (Chloe Sevigny), plastic surgeon Dr. Max Applebaum (50 Cent) and Nurse Biff Bollix (Vin Diesel) welcome twin psychiatrists Drs. Mary-Beth and Tiffney Nelson (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson).

Also, a wayward bus crashes into Wrigley Field, filling the ER to capacity; a yo-yo dieter (Kirstie Alley, "Fat Actress," "Thin Actress," "Fat Actress II") asks Applebaum to wire her jaw shut; a woman (Paula Abdul-Cowell, "American Idol") complains of spousal abuse; Carter has a midlife crisis; and an elderly patient (Rudy Boesch, "Survivor") is confused.

• Nov. 22, 2007: As another Thanksgiving comes to County General, the Nelson twins treat a man (Jay-Z) who believes he’s a turkey; Garcia and Bollix deliver octuplets; Carter wonders why he didn’t just stay in Africa; an elderly patient (William Petersen, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation") is confused; and a 747 crash-lands in Soldier Field, straining resources in the ER.

• Feb. 14, 2008: Regatta, Garcia, Simone and the Nelsons celebrate another dateless Valentine’s Day by getting drunk as skunks; a Russian oil tanker crashes into Marshall Field’s, wreaking havoc in the ER; an elderly patient (Lauren Graham, "Gilmore Girls") is confused; Carter is sorry he didn’t marry one of those hot babes he dated in Season 1, 3, 4, 7-10 or 12; and Applebaum tries to talk a desperate woman (Nicole Richie, "The Simple Life") out of a dangerous operation that would make her nose look "just like Paris Hilton’s."

• May 15, 2008: In the season finale, Nurse Bollix gets a sex-change operation; Regatta, Simone, Garcia and Applebaum get better offers from Fox; Carter announces his surprise engagement to the Nelson twins; an elderly patient (Sarah Michelle Gellar, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") is confused; and a small nuclear device goes off in the County General gift shop, fraying tempers in the ER.