One of the reasons “The Pitt” is so terrific is because it plays out in real time. It’s not the first show to use the immersive storytelling approach, so if you’re craving more real-time rushes like the HBO hit delivers, these shows should fit the bill.
Start with the save-the-world spying heroics of Jack Bauer in “24,” binge Netflix’s nail-biting true crime series “Adolescence,” and maybe catch up with a few TV series like “Grey’s Anatomy” that used the ticking clock device in one memorable episode.
24
“Events take place in real time,” Kiefer Sutherland told us in his trademark rasp at the start of every episode of this action-packed series that played out in one day over each season. (Back when TV seasons used to have 24 episodes.) He played Counter Terrorist Unit Jack Bauer for 9 seasons and the 2008 follow-up film “24: Redemption,” during which he dealt with assassination attempts, an outbreak of a deadly virus, nuclear threats and moles and foreign spies galore.
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Hijack
Idris Elba, who also executive produced, starred as businessman Sam, who has to negotiate with terrorists, and his fellow passengers when his non-stop flight to London is hijacked in this entertainingly tense series. Happily, he’ll be back for Season 2, in which he’ll be dealing with another unnerving real-time situation.
Stream on Apple TV+
Boiling Point
This four-part British series, based on the 2021 feature of the same name, takes us inside the pressure cooker of launching a new restaurant. It’s from creators Philip Barantini, James Cummings and Stephen Graham. Graham reprises his role as Andy, a former head chef recovering from a heart attack.
Stream on Netflix
Adolescence
Star Stephen Graham, who co-wrote with co-creator Jack Thorne, modeled the show after “Boiling Point,” with each episode consisting of one continuous shot. Philip Barantini recreates his much-talked-about shooting style in the story of a young British boy who is accused of stabbing a female schoolmate to death.
Stream on Netflix
Grey’s Anatomy, “Golden Hour”
Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) runs the ER for one night and has just 60 minutes to save one man’s life in this memorable 2011 episode. “We call it the golden hour, that magical window of time that can determine whether a patient lives or dies,” she says in the opening voiceover.
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M*A*S*H, “Life Time”
In this standout 1979 episode, the surgeons have only 20 minutes to save an injured soldier’s life with an aorta from another soldier who is already brain dead. Alan Alda (aka dedicated doc Hawkeye Pierce) directed and cowrote the episode.
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“The X-Files,” “X-Cops”
In this admittedly very silly episode, the sci-fi drama crosses over with long-running reality series “Cops” for the funny hybrid “X-Cops.” Expect messy camerawork, hysterical witnesses and Mulder (David Duchovny)’s werewolf theories being met with eyerolls from the cops chasing a mysterious assailant.
Stream on Hulu
'The Pitt' Renewed for Season 2 at Max