“The Pitt” is a medical drama from the studio behind “ER,” the producer behind “ER,” and centered on one of the signature stars of “ER.” But it’s not “ER.” Sure, it may or may not have begun its life as an attempt to reboot “ER,” but the show in its current form has nothing to do with “ER.” Except it’s set in an emergency room.
That’s the puzzle of contradictions one must work through when attempting to unpack the new drama from Max.
“ER,” created by the late Michael Crichton, spent 15 seasons tracking the lives of various physicians (including superstar-in-waiting George Clooney as heartthrob Dr. Doug Ross) traipsing through the emergency room at Chicago’s County General. By contrast, “The Pitt,” from producer John Wells and creator R. Scott Gemmill, spends its 15-episode first season chronicling a single shift at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center in downtown Pittsburgh.
It offers compelling drama, written well and performed by a talented cast — ably anchored by the world-weary Noah Wyle, 30 years removed from his debut as wide-eyed Dr. Carter in the “ER” pilot. While this show’s complicated origin story makes it hard to view entirely separate from the legal logjam that led to its birth (currently the subject of litigation by the Crichton estate), it nonetheless benefits from the comforting familiarity of both premise and star.
Wyle plays Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch. He’s a compassionate and driven physician tasked with improving efficiency and patient satisfaction in his ER — two goals seemingly at cross-purposes. With Robby overseeing veteran doctors and fresh med students, every hour presents a series of crises at the Pitt (the unflattering nickname given to the emergency room by its workers).
It’s a testament to how familiar and beloved Wyle is, not only as a screen presence more broadly but specifically in this kind of role, that he slips into some very familiar scrubs and carries viewers along without further explanation needed.
There’s unquestionable dissonance from watching Wyle as an ER doc not named John Carter. It feels a little bit like watching Arnold Schwarzenegger play a barbarian not named Conan in 1985’s “Red Sonja.” And while “The Pitt” stands head, shoulders and torso above that execrable camp confection, there’s still some compass-setting required before a string of medical situations — some comical and some calamitous — pull the audience in.
It’s not like hospital dramas are unexplored terrain on the TV landscape, so most of the proceedings have an unavoidable air of familiarity. But perhaps the most significant innovation comes from the fact that as a streaming series, there’s more viscera and nudity than you’ll see in an average episode of “Chicago Med” or “Grey’s Anatomy.”
And while there are aspects to the show that are more episodic, with minor cases flitting in and out of the emergency room, given that this is essentially one season-long story there are several plotlines that play out over several installments, including the plight of an increasingly frustrated patient (Drew Powell) who sits in the waiting room like a pot of water on a hot stovetop. There’s also the conflict between hotshot resident Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball) and hotshot intern Dr. Santos (Isa Briones), another pot of water boiling across the season.
Still, this is ultimately a showcase for Wyle, with his character threading through various plotlines (along with some terrific camera work lending it a verité feel). He may not be playing Dr. Carter, but he’s undoubtedly leaning into the accrued affinity that comes from being identified with that character. With a wariness on his face and compassion in his eyes, Robby is a vulnerable and compelling center of the action — just like Carter on “ER” all those decades ago — with hints of a tragic backstory only alluded to initially.
Sadly (if unavoidably), the “ER” legacy is forever intertwined with “The Pitt.” That’s not so much a knock on the latter show as an acknowledgment of the former’s outsized role as a TV trailblazer. All medical dramas afterward will face some comparison with it. While those comparisons are perhaps more front of mind here than usual, this is nonetheless a solid series that underscores the somewhat paradoxical reality that sometimes the emergency room is the most comfortable place for TV viewers.
“The Pitt” premieres Thursday, Jan. 9, at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Max.