Noah Wyle returns to the ER in this intense real-time medical series

A harrowing and powerfully realistic look into the emergency front of post-COVID hospitals.

GROUND: A realistic examination of the challenges facing healthcare professionals in today’s America, seen through the lens of the frontline heroes working in a modern hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Each episode follows an hour of Dr. Michael “Robby” Rabinavitch’s 15-hour shift as chief attending physician at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital’s emergency room.

REVIEW: Back in the 1990s, two competing medical dramas debuted on network television in the same year. The CBS series Chicago hope originated with David E. Kelley and ran for six seasons, while NBC’s ISfrom creator and doctor Michael Crichton, persisted for fifteen years. IS launched the careers of Juliana Marguiles, George Clooney and newcomer Noah Wyle. Fifteen years after its series finale, IS Veteran Noah Wyle is back in scrubs in a similar but unique medical drama. Pitt, from IS showrunner John Wells. Shifting away from relationship melodrama to focus on the actual emergency room cases faced by frontline heroes at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital, The Pitt is told in a near-real-time format, with each hour-long episode taking place in a single hour of a fifteen-hour shift in the emergency room nicknamed “The Pitt.” With minimal intrusion into the personal lives of doctors and nurses, The Pitt is a harrowing and powerfully realistic look into the front lines of emergency medicine in the post-COVID-19 world.

First episode of The Pitt begins at seven o’clock in the morning on an average day at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital. When Dr. When Michael “Robby” Rabinavitch (Noah Wyle) arrives at the start of his shift, the emergency room waiting room is filled with dozens waiting to be seen. As the supervising physician for the emergency room, Dr. Robby still recovering from PTSD surrounding the death of his mentor, Dr. Aaronson, to COVID four years ago today. As the shift begins, the team of doctors and nurses at The Pitt receive patients handled by the former medical experts and deal with incoming emergencies alongside those in the waiting room. In contrast to IS and similar medical shows that focus on patients within an hour, The Pitt have some patients seen and approached within an hour. In contrast, others span multiple episodes due to the severity and complexity of their diagnoses. The first episode introduces the viewer to the staff of The Pitt, namely Dr. Collins (Tracy Ifeachor), dealing with her unannounced pregnancy, Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball), a cocky and experienced doctor, as well as second- and third-year residents Dr. McKay (chucky’s Fiona Dourif), Dr. Santos (Star Trek Picard‘s Isa Briones) and Dr. Mohan (Supriya Ganesh), recent transfer Dr. King (Taylor Dearden) and brand new residents Dr. Whitaker (Gerran Howell) and Dr. Javad (Shabana Azeez).

While we get moments that provide character development for each supporting character, the insight is quick and spicy between cases. On ISeach episode would see one or two main patients with a handful of minors, but there was still plenty of time for romantic entanglements, hospital politics, and conflicts between doctors. The Pitt still has elements of these subplots, but the focus is on realistic medical situations that never stop coming. During the ten episodes made available for this review, the Doctors of The Pitt treating dozens of patients, with the total approaching a hundred, with some successfully treated and others ending in tragedy and loss. There are recognizable faces of the patients and their relatives, including actresses Joana Going (The house of cards), Drew Powell (Gotham), and Samatha Sloyan (Midnight mass). Most of these characters are organically woven into the heightened tension and anxiety of an overburdened emergency room suffering from understaffing and lack of resources. There’s plenty of blood and plenty of gruesome injuries, but not much we haven’t seen on network medical shows. The biggest shift I noticed in this series aired on Max is profanity which is not overused but enhances the realism of the events.

What works in The Pitt makes up for what doesn’t. Due to the focus on the medical emergencies, none of which are as crazy as some of the stunt events seen on Grey’s Anatomy or Chicago Med, When a case comes into the emergency room, the doctors spout technobabble that sounds realistic but is probably beyond the control of anyone who hasn’t been to medical school. When the series switches to the interactions between the doctors, we get hints of the melodrama that boosted IS and Chicago hope. There are complaints from the nurses about a lack of support for frontline workers and discussions about the financial challenges that come from the top down. While COVID is being referred to as a key event for many doctors, it is not as in-your-face as it could have been. Yes, there are a few blunt moments involving the vaccine debate where the writers’ beliefs come through loud and clear. Noah Wyle navigates most of these moments with the confidence of his previous medical show experience, and the rest of the cast is solid as well.

Created by R. Scott Gemmill, a veteran of series including I AMand NCIS: Los Angelesthe fifteen episodes of The Pitt include contributions written by Joe Sachs, Simran Baidwan, Cynthia Adarkwa, Valerie Chu and star Noah Wyle, among others. Directing duties on the premiere fell to John Wells with Damien Marcaro, John Cameron, Silver Tree and others, with Amanda Marsalis responsible for four episodes. The series has minimal musical accompaniment with non-stop action and movement, an impressive balance of hand-held cinematography and guerrilla editing. Some of the heavier hands didn’t work for me either, including the theft of an ambulance outside the emergency room doors and how much screen time it takes up. There’s also an ongoing narrative involving a doctor who suspects another, a pregnancy mystery, and a patient who could be a potential school shooter. Because of the real-time element of Pitt, I understand why these stories keep popping up episode after episode, but where some plots wrap up well, others linger too long.

A medical drama with significantly less soap opera tendencies and an increase in the gritty, medical focus of the story has been missing from television for a long time. The intensity of this series is likely to give a new generation of future doctors and nurses the boost they need to care for those in need. If you like fast-paced drama without the frills of a standard formal procedural, The Pitt will be straight to the right leg. I found myself binging episode after episode without losing interest one bit. This is a solid reinvention of the medical drama series and one I hope continues in future seasons. Noah Wyle can’t stray far from his proven experience ISand his return to the genre is welcome. I would have loved it if this series had been a true sequel to ISbut I’ll take this as the next best thing. I’m writing you all a prescription for fifteen episodes of The Pitt must be taken state.

The Pitt premiered on 9 January at Max.