We Need to Talk About 'The Pitt' on MAX
Before next week's first season finale, the solid Noah Wyle series has ruined me for other medical dramas. (Yeah, I'm looking at you, 'Pulse' on Netflix)
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[This story is spoiler-free in case you haven’t watched the latest episode of The Pitt].
You know a show is doing everything right when you’re doing an interview with an A-list showrunner for one hit show and in the midst of the conversation, The Pitt comes up as one of the best shows on TV right now. We also agreed that Noah Wyle needs an Emmy for his jaw-droppingly honest and excellent performance.
I will keep the showrunner name confidential since it was more of an aside during our chat but when people ask me what they should be watching now, The Pitt has been the first thing out of my mouth since it premiered in January.
I remember seeing the trailer and poster before it premiered at the start of 2025 and thinking ‘here comes another medical drama’ and I chose not to watch the screeners that were sent out early. This show is set in Pittsburgh, ER was Chicago, blah blah blah.
Oh, how naive I was to ever think that The Pitt was just another medical drama!
First up, at the show’s center is Dr. Robby Rabinavitch, played by Noah Wyle, who is also an executive producer, Also, for you youngsters, Wyle first came to TV’s attention as the noble Dr. John Carter on the long-running medical drama ER (1994-2009) on NBC. That series was also executive produced by John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill, both who are also on hand here as executive producers with Gemmill as the show creator. With all this ER pedigree coming together for another medical show, I get why there might have been a high profile lawsuit claiming The Pitt was basically an ER reboot. Since I’m no lawyer, I’ll just say after watching the entire season (yes, I’ve seen next week’s finale!), the claim seems outlandish.
But what is it about The Pitt that has made it must-see-TV and gives a refresh to a genre that’s existed practically as long as TV? First, the real time element structure works since each episode progresses along a horrific 15-hour shift (season one is 15 episodes, and, trust me, you’ll wish there were more episodes coming after the April 10 finale). A few medical stories stretch across the season, some are multi-episode arcs while others get a one-episode treatment. Every one of those medical stories work whether they’re almost comedic or a gut punch of sadness.
But you can’t have a great TV drama without great TV characters and that’s the primary reason why The Pitt is so watchable. I have to say, there’s been a certain kind of TV lover joy in watching a new show where most of the cast are not familiar faces to me. I know some of them have a lot of credits, some not as many, but it was a pleasure for me to see new actors I’ll be watching for a long time. Of course, Wyle is the biggest name in the cast and fine actors like Shawn Hatosy (Animal Kingdom, Southland) pop up but every cast member is a standout in their own way. {By the way, can we get Hatosy in every episode of season 2? Thanks!)
I’ll just say the cast is full of revelations and every one of them shines in their own way. From Taylor Deardon (who I just found out happens to be Bryan Cranston’s daughter!) as earnest Melissa “Mel” King, Shabana Azeez as strident 20-year old third year resident Victoria Javadi, Patrick Ball as dedicated (but troubled) Dr. Frank Langdon, Supriya Ganesh as stoic Dr. Samira Mohan, Isa Briones as the too-confident Dr. Trinity Santos, Gerran Howell as wide-eyed fourth year Dennis Whitaker, Katherine LaNasa as fiery charge nurse Dana Evans and Tracy Ifeachor as heart-on-her-sleeve Dr. Heather Collins. Not a bad apple in the bunch.
I will say every time Fiona Dourif is on screen playing second year resident Dr. Cassie McKay, I can’t look away. As strong as we see her character is over and over, just looking at her weary face reveals someone who has battled a lot and is just doing her best to push through. But I don’t know about you but when she cut off her malfunctioning ankle monitor during a recent chaotic episode, I cheered for her. She reminded me of Linda Cardellini when she was on ER as Dr. Samantha Taggart. You just want to reach through the TV and give characters like this a hug. But Dourif (whose has a famous actor father in Brad Dourif) is one of the strongest players in this very sturdy cast.
And then there’s Wyle, who truly is doing the best work of his career. If you thought you knew him from his stellar work on ER, the fact that he’s no longer the young newbie doctor learning but the medical vet who is now teaching younger staff while trying to hold himself together due to his working during the COVID epidemic and how it still weighs on him during this particular shift. Watching some of Wyle’s work this season, culminating in Dr. Robby’s emotional collapse at the end of the March 27 episode, is a thrill to watch. It’s like we’re seeing a new, exciting chapter for this beloved actor emerge in front of our eyes.
And, I will add, bless his lack of vanity for having a scraggly beard that’s peppered with grey hair and those beautiful, natural lines on his forehead and around his eyes that only help this entire world feel as real as a TV show can. (FYI, Wyle is only 53 and is aging very well, as if you needed me to tell you this!)
I don’t think there’s much argument that The Pitt has raised the bar for all other medical dramas. I still dip in and out of Chicago Med and Grey’s Anatomy but haven’t been a regular viewer for either show in a long time and I haven’t had a chance to check out CBS’s Watson (which takes the medical drama and blends it with detective elements). However, I did watch Netflix’s new medical drama, Pulse, which is on the streamer now.
I won’t be giving a full review here but after forcing myself (uh-oh) to watch the full first episode, I can say that this new drama starring Willa Fitzgerald, Colin Woodell, Jessie T. Usher, Nestor Carbonall and Justina Machado just couldn’t keep my attention. It feels like it lives more in the Greys universe of medical drama (a moment where an EMT rushes into the ER and yells “We need a doctor!” made me groan out loud), which isn’t normally a bad thing but after having watched 15 episodes of The Pitt, I just couldn’t stay in the more cookie cutter hospital world. Hard pass.
I am going to give a special medical show shoutout to NBC’s St. Denis Medical, which is doing everything right. Starring Allison Tolman, David Alan Grier and Wendi McLendon-Covey, it lampoons a lot of the medical show tropes in the best way, utilizes the documentary sitcom style beautifully and, most importantly, it’s funny. And, like The Pitt, includes several cast members I wasn’t familiar with (though, of course, I know Mekki Lepper from Jury Duty) but have already grown to love. Watch the first season on NBC and Peacock and know it already has been renewed for a second season so it will be around awhile.
Are you also loving The Pitt? What are some of your all-time favorite TV medical dramas? Let me know in the comments!
Until next time…
So hard to watch at times but such brilliant acting - I think the benefit of the unknown actors is that you really are pulled into believing they are the real deal.
I had no idea Mel was played by Bryan Cranston’s daughter! You're so right about the fresh faces and mostly unknown (to me) cast. There is something so enjoyable about having no other characters associated with them. I also never watched ER so it was pretty much an entirely new set of faces to me.