In its original broadcast , " Love 's Labor Lost " finished first in the ratings for the week of March 6 – 12 , 1995 , with a 24.2 Nielsen rating and 40 percent audience share . It was the highest rated show on NBC that week with episodes of '' Seinfeld '' and '' Friends '' second and third respectively . In 1997 , '' TV Guide '' ranked it as the third in its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time . In 2009 , it ranked the episode sixth . The show 's producers also consider it to be one of '' ER '' s best episodes , with John Wells saying he holds it up as " an example to everyone involved creatively of what the best of the show could be . " The episode earned writer Lance Gentile a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series at the 47th Primetime Emmy Awards , in addition to a Writers Guild of America Award for Television : Episodic Drama at the 49th Writers Guild of America Awards . The episode also earned Mimi Leder a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series at the 47th Primetime Emmy Awards as well as a nomination for Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Drama Series at the 48th Directors Guild of America Awards . Colleen Flynn earned a nomination for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in this episode , which was her only appearance in the TV series . The episode earned a host of other Emmys : Outstanding Individual Achievement in Editing for a Series – Single Camera Production for Randy Jon Morgan and Rick Tuber ; Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Editing for a Series for Walter Newman ( supervising sound editor ) , John Voss Bonds Jr. ( sound effects editor ) , Rick Camera ( sound effects editor ) , Steven M. Sax ( sound effects editor ) , John F. Reynolds ( dialogue editor ) , Catherine Flynn ( dialogue editor ) , Thomas A. Harris ( adr editor ) , Susan Mick ( music editor ) , Casey J. Crabtree ( foley artist ) , and James Bailey ( foley artist ) ; as well as Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Drama Series for Russell C. Fager ( production sound mixer ) , Michael Jiron ( sound effects mixer ) , Allen L. Stone ( dialogue mixer ) and Frank Jones ( music mixer ) . The episode also won an American Cinema Editors Award for Best Edited One-Hour Series for Television for Randy Jon Morgan and Rick Tuber
47th Primetime Emmy Awards
47th Primetime Emmy Awards
Love's Labor Lost (ER)