ER, the drama which began in 1994 and ran for a full 15 seasons, is one of the great staples of American television. Now, 30 years later, it has resurfaced. Sort of.
This comes in the form of an intense new medical drama on Max (elegantly HBO Max) called The Pitt. It is not just a theme, its author is the producer and editor of ER, R. Scott Gemmill, and his star is ER star Noah Wyle, who appeared in 254 episodes of the series.
The reunion has produced something special, at least according to critics. The series currently has a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, with audience scores not in yet, after its premiere this week on Max. It will air Wednesdays on the service.
The additional detail that separates it here from ER is the format, where each episode will be an individual hour of a 15-hour ER shift, similar to Kiefer Sutherland’s 24-hour format at the time. It’s crazy to think that TV seasons had 24 episodes, but even 15 episodes is a ton for a series in 2025, when we don’t normally watch more than 6 to 10. Here is the official synopsis of the series:
“A realistic examination of the demanding situations facing health care in the United States, viewed through the lens of frontline heroes running in a fashionable hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “And the trailer:
The series is not indexed as a limited series, so it will most likely continue this concept in the future. Probably with the same cast, as being an anthology. I also suspect that the concept of “one shift” makes the series A) less difficult to film, hence the number of episodes and B) cheap, because you just want some hospital sets and the cast and that’s it.
In terms of casting, apart from Wyle, you may not recognize the names of most of the other stars (the biggest saving grace, I suppose, is not that they’re talented). Also starring Tracy Ifeachor from Quantico, Katherine LaNasa from Truth be Told, Isa Briones from Picard and Fiona Dourif from the Chucky series. It’s an attractive collection, but it seems like everyone does a smart job here.
This is indexed as “Max Original” rather than “HBO Original”, whatever that means, however HBO is sometimes used more for prestige systems like The Last of Us or The Penguin. But by all accounts, The Pitt is pretty smart and other Max Originals like Hacks have won primary awards.
I can’t wait to check this out with my wife who works on the medical staff and see what she thinks about it. There are 15 weeks left to see how everything develops.
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