‘The Pitt’ Is not the Present I Thought It Was — and That is Why I Love It

April 15, 2025

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Editor’s Notice: The next incorporates spoilers for the finale of Season 1 of The Pitt Season 1.I am going to admit, after I first heard about The Pitt, I wasn’t all that intrigued. Oh, nice, Noah Wyle in a hospital drama. How authentic! I liked ER to the purpose that I watched each episode throughout its run, and Wyle’s character of John Carter was in all probability my favourite, however it aggravated me that he was being typecast into just about rebooting the previous. Medical dramas have been accomplished to dying. Cannot we consider something new? However as I continued to listen to the hype for The Pitt, I made a decision to lastly test it out final week. Now, I am nonetheless a number of episodes behind, however I’m shocked by what I’ve discovered.

For one, The Pitt is a lot extra practical than ER, which was already groundbreaking. Having it air on Max as a substitute of community TV permits for a uncommon rawness. It feels almost like a documentary. And whereas there are intriguing relationships, it isn’t the hook for the sequence. What actually received me was the strategy that The Pitt took. Every episode represents one hour in a fifteen-hour shift. This permits us to see simply how chaotic one night time in an ER pit will be, the place there isn’t any time to cease. The Pitt is not ER, and it actually is not Gray’s Anatomy. As a substitute, it is one other favourite of mine from years passed by. The Pitt is the brand new 24, and I like it!

‘The Pitt’ Was Sued for Being a Ripoff of ‘ER’

It wasn’t simply me who thought The Pitt was going to be nothing greater than an ER clone. Even the household of the person who developed the hit NBC sequence thought so. ER was created by Michael Crichton, the novelist who gave us Jurassic Park, however additionally directed films like Westworld. Sadly, Crichton handed away in 2008, however his property has sued the creators of The Pitt for being a follow-up to ER that was accomplished with out their permission. The authorized battle has damage Wyle, who instructed Selection, “This taints the legacy, and it shouldn’t have. At one level, this might have been a partnership. And when it wasn’t a partnership, it didn’t want to show acrimonious. However on the thirtieth anniversary of ER, I’ve by no means felt much less celebratory of that achievement than I do that 12 months.”

Yeah, The Pitt has ER producers John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill working for them, and having Noah Wyle working in a hospital goes to take you again to his most well-known character, but when another person had been enjoying his new character, Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, we would not take a look at The Pitt and evaluate it a lot to the previous, a minimum of to not ER. Irrespective of if Wyle was within the present or not, it might nonetheless be unattainable to not watch The Pitt and consider 24.

‘The Pitt’ Shares A lot Extra in Widespread With ’24’

24 got here out on the excellent time. Debuting on FOX in November 2001, it was the post-9/11 resolution to our anxieties. The world round us was terrifying, however each week we may watch American badass hero Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) kick some terrorist ass. What actually set the sequence other than the whole lot else was its storytelling strategy. With twenty-four episodes, each present was one hour in real-time. 24‘s ticking clock was a rush as Bauer was all the time in a race towards time to avoid wasting the day. For 9 seasons and a film, the poor man may by no means even cease to take a break. Did he ever use the toilet?!

The Pitt and 24 may look like wildly totally different reveals, however that real-time strategy raises the stakes and retains us glued to our seats. If you happen to’re behind like I’m on The Pitt, it makes you need to binge it as quickly as attainable. When one episode ends, you need to preserve going to the following, as a result of whereas we’d have the ability to cease, the characters aren’t. We have now solely paused them in the midst of their chaos. There are even numerous similarities between Bauer and Robby. Bauer is a person going by so much, and he’ll lose lots of people, however he has no time to give attention to that. The identical goes by Robby, who has misplaced folks, and who can be struggling an important bodily and emotional toll from the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic. However each are additionally heroes, and they’re surrounded by different heroes serving to them to avoid wasting the day or save lives, whether or not or not it’s on the Counter Terrorist Unit or the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital.

Dr. Mohan (Supriya Ganesh) and Dr. Abbott (Shawn Hatosy) from The Pitt

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After Seeing Dr. Mohan and Dr. Abbot, This Is the One Time I Wished ‘The Pitt’ Was Extra Like ‘Gray’s Anatomy’

I can not be the one one who noticed sparks flying.

Real-life medical doctors and nurses have celebrated The Pitt for a way practical it will get, from its dialogue, to the way it addresses hospital politics and points like funding and staffing. Identical to Jack Bauer all the time needed to deal with somebody in his method, messing up what wanted to be accomplished, the employees of The Pitt can by no means simply deal with the sick and injured with out one thing else occurring too. In 24, no sooner would Jack Bauer clear up one downside or defeat one dangerous man, earlier than he’d run into one other earlier than he may take a breath. That is what additionally makes The Pitt so relentless. It is ER turned as much as 11. As quickly because the employees treats somebody who is available in, one other tragedy enters earlier than they will acquire themselves. Jack Bauer may be an ass-kicking hero, however even he may by no means make it working within the pit.

Actually, ‘The Pitt’ Is Far Extra Intense Than ’24’ Ever Was

Noah Wyle as Dr. Robby wearing white medical scrubs in the ER in 'The Pitt.' — Picture through Max

I might argue that The Pitt is definitely much more intense than 24. I used to be obsessive about the latter, however you can additionally detach from it a bit, as a result of irrespective of how suspenseful it was, it additionally felt over-the-top. The Pitt, nonetheless, is as gritty and as actual because it will get. It is must-see TV, however I would not name it enjoyable. In 24, Jack Bauer may transfer from one location to a different, going inside and out of doors. He needed to. However in The Pitt, our characters have to remain the place they’re. They’re caught in a single location, which brings an unnerving claustrophobia to the suspense.

In 24, lots of the characters stayed the identical, however with every season, the story modified. Some characters left, and new leads had been introduced in to inform a brand new narrative. That is an thought The Pitt can comply with. It has already been given the thumbs-up for a second season. The producers revealed to Deadline that Season 2 will happen over a Fourth of July weekend. Prepare for victims to come back into the ER with some fingers blown off! What if like 24, The Pitt adopted 15 hours of different medical doctors and nurses in the identical hospital coming in for a special shift? A few of our larger stars, like Noah Wyle, may return, however we may additionally meet extra of the characters from the night time shift and different corners of the hospital.

The Wire switched issues up with totally different tales and characters yearly. The White Lotus is doing it. The Pitt can do it, too. The Pitt has discovered the proper strategy to mix what labored from two basic reveals to create one thing higher than what got here earlier than. Now, we now have to attend till Season 2 to see what comes subsequent. The clock is ticking.

All of The Pitt Season 1 is out there to stream on Max within the U.S.