MAX- The Pitt

[Cruising Soaps]

Is anyone else watching?  This show is excellent.  It can be quite graphic.  I like the fact that every episode is just 1 hour of a shift in an ER of a hospital.  Doctors and nurses are saying that it is very realistic. 

[Wendy]

I am! And I agree, it's VERY realistic. Apparently, real doctors and nurses that watch sing its praises regarding said realism.

Noah Wyle was on Colbert the other night, and based on audience reaction, they like the show, too. But it is definitely not "fluffy" like Grey's Anatomy. Still, if one like a good medical drama with great characterization with a healthy dose of gore? This is the show for them.

[Vee]

This show is a very solid, classic episodic medical show - I think some critics realize this while others act like it is a major prestige revelation. It's not. In reality it is more a sort of neo-classical network TV for streaming - a kind of higher-end reversion to old form which I think we've just begun to see emerge (including, in a way, with Beyond the Gates) and will only see more of in TV/streaming going forward. Still, it's very well put together and I'm happy to see so many soap vets featured and doing great work. (Marci Miller is heartbreaking in Hour 8.)

That said: Anyone who claims this is very different from ER is fooling themselves and needing to draw a pretentious distinction that isn't actually there. I am glad the show exists but Michael Crichton's widow is absolutely right to sue them, lol. Not only did they change the name and change Dr. Carter to Dr. Robby when they couldn't get the ER revival off the ground, but all the small talk, banter, side stories with patients, etc. are extremely similar to ER. It's ER with the hour-by-hour premise of 24, looser content restrictions, and that's it. That's why it's what I called neo-classical TV. But I am enjoying it a lot! And I am glad it's apparently making a new generation discover ER on social media.

Edited April 18 by Vee

[DRW50]

The ER ripoff is why I am hesitant to watch (I ran hot and cold with the show but it didn't deserve this type of treatment), but I appreciate seeing your review. And I'm not surprised some elitists are trying to do anything to just not say they enjoy the show. Reminds me of the critics who said Everybody Loves Raymond would be remembered as one of the best sitcoms of all time.

[Vee]

I'm sure those are out there, but I see more people trying to dress it up and pretend it is not what it is, which is simply a very well-done classical medical drama (with the real-time 24-style treatment) which really should be paying ER's late creator some royalties. Some folks want to pretend it's some new revolution in medical TV, but while it may prove in time to be as influential as ER was on it and other shows it is almost all the same people behind the scenes and in Wyle's case in front of the camera. They're all doing good work, but it is not changing the paradigm. It's a reversion to the classical paradigm of TV for me.

Anyway, I did finish it and it is very worth a watch. Shawn Hatosy and Fiona Dourif are especially good (her father Brad Dourif cameos), as is the always-excellent Wyle and Katherine LaNasa as the charge nurse.

[DRW50]

Sorry, that's what I meant - people who enjoy the show but can't admit to just enjoying something, so it has to be the best ever.

[Wendy]

I get many are hyping this up - maybe even me - but to be fair, there are countless articles and videos from real doctors that do seem to make a distinction between The Pitt and ER.

Mainly that the former does more realistically depict the struggles of the day to day and the mental and physical toll the job takes on them, not to mention interactions with patients from all walks of life and different injuries and such.

Meanwhile, I have seen some mention ER as more of a glorified soap opera, at least in the later seasons. Me, I love both, so I won't quibble.

As for the lawsuit, I go back and forth. Yes, TPTB and Wyle wanted to do a reboot. But it seems Crichton's widow had issues or demands that were not agreed to. So they went and made a new show. I think it depends on how much of those ideas were put forth in the new series. Because on its face, medical dramas have been around since the dawn of TV. And plenty of actors and behind the scenes folks often work on more than one series together.

Since a judge seemed to think the case was not "meritless", I guess we will find out what that evidence is. If indeed the material was influenced by the meetings with Mrs. Crichton, she should be paid. But if it is just the concept, well...

I guess we'll see either way. I do think this will eventually be settled out of court, myself. Time will tell.

Edited April 23 by Wendy

[Vee]

Grey's and most medical shows since make ER (its first to middle years, at least) look like Hill Street Blues IMO. The Pitt is certainly closer to ER - in patient and staff banter, style, etc. - than any of them. And I think everything you mention above was also certainly all there in ER. Especially interaction with patients from all walks of life.

My understanding of Crichton's estate demands, at least per press reports, is that they were fairly cut and dried based on the original contract, and Zaslav's WB just didn't want to do it. I think it's tacky. That being said, could I have seen a place in this cast for many ER characters other than John Carter? No. So it really doesn't matter that much to me, other than I wish they'd done the basic due diligence if Crichton's estate was owed that. I think it was silly not to. And I absolutely think the show/Max/WB will settle too. The show is solid and it will go on.

[AdelaideCate007]

I thought this was incredible. I came in around week 10 and just blew through it. Noah Wyle, Katherine LaNasa, Fiona Dourif, and Taylor Dearden are doing superb work here, along with Shawn Hatosy coming off the bench to kill it in his appearances. I thought Isa Briones started off a little rocky but ended super strongly. Just great stuff all around. A lot of the guest stars were excellent too.

I don't remember enough about ER to judge the similarities. I do think this is clearly a step above stuff like Grey's Anatomy and Chicago Med though.

[Vee]

It was very weird seeing her in this kind of role after her bland Star Trek character(s), lol. I do think she did well though I often wanted to throttle Santos. I've liked Shawn Hatosy since The Faculty aeons ago so I am glad to see myself again vindicated.

Fiona Dourif is stunningly good, and so similar to her father. I think it's criminal she wasn't much known outside those Child's Play DTV sequels until recently, where she played very fun, demented material more in the family wheelhouse; seeing her in a more straight role here was jarring, but she was excellent. I wish she'd had the chance to work with David Lynch like Brad briefly did.

Edited April 25 by Vee

[Wendy]

I don't think there is a weak link in this cast. The one that surprised me at how good he was, even in his sort of manipulative scene when his addiction was discovered, is Patrick Ball as Dr. Langdon. I say this because, apparently, this is his first big TV role. He is apparently much more known as a theater actor, yet he knocked his scenes out of the park.

But, again, I can't think of one weak link. I liked Katherine LaNasa's charge nurse, Dana Evans, too. She is like the harried den mother of the bunch.

Like ER before it (maybe a bad example considering the lawsuit, LOL!), I also like the background nurses, techs, and such. They all add flavor to the mix.

Still, like so many online have said, I would love to see more of Dr. Jack Abbot (Shawn Hatosy) next season! He played the war veteran maverick doctor to the hilt and he is a great counterpart for Noah Wyle's Dr. "Robby". I have seen some wanting a night shift spinoff already with Hatosy's Jack Abbot as the focal point.

Edited April 25 by Wendy

[Wendy]

I will say I'm glad that Season 2 is confirmed to be returning in January 2026 (and the time line for that season also already planned - the 4th of July).

I hate streaming shows that go years between new seasons. By the time some return, the details of the previous season are long forgotten.