We’re not sure if another medical drama is exactly warranted but it seems R. Scott Gemmill, John Wells, and Noah Whle do. On March 26, 2024, Max gave production to a 15-episode series order for THE PITT. The series is created and run by R. Scott Gemmill who is also expected to executive produce alongside Noah Wyle, John Wells, and others. Production companies involved with the series are John Wells Productions and Warner Bros Television. The pilot is also written by Gemmill. It all starts to unfold, with its first two episodes on Thursday, January 09 on Max.
Each episode of the season will cover one hour of a single 15-hour emergency room shift at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital. It is about the daily lives of healthcare professionals in a hospital as they juggle personal crises, workplace politics, and the emotional toll of treating critically ill patients, revealing the resilience required in their noble calling. That, of course, could describe a lot of medical dramas through the ages. The first was ABC’s City Hospital from 1951 and we’ve gotten Drs. Kildare, Casey, Welby, Quinn, and even Howser, and many others, since then. Acclaimed shows like Medical Center, M*A*S*H, St. Elsewhere, Chicago Hope, Nurse Jackie, Grey’s Anatomy, ER, and more have left their mark. THE PITT gets added to the long list.
And, of course, we had to cite ER, the series that ran for 15 years under executive producers John Wells and Michael Crichton, also credited as that show’s creator, and featured Noah Wyle in the cast as Dr. John Carter III. Again, Wells & company must have felt that there are enough medical advancements to sort of update the medical experience since ER last aired in 2009. THE PITT, however, is not a direct descendant of ER, as WBD has recently pointed out. The widow of ER creator Michael Crichton filed a lawsuit, accusing Warner Bros Television, Wells, Wyle, Gemmill, and others of breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and intentional interference with contractual relations over supposed similarities between THE PITT and ER. In other words, they were not consulted and Crichton’s name was not included in all credits since they saw the shows as related. Again, WBD has declared THE PITT as a totally separate entity even though a number of talents were involved in the previous work. They propose that the lawsuit be dismissed.
However, Sherri Crichton (pictured), Mr. C’s widow, pointed out that long discussions to revive ER had already been in the works but were halted. She is stated as saying, “We then negotiated in good faith with Warner Bros. and John Wells for nearly a year. When they broke off negotiations last October, they told us the project was dead. Nobody wanted the show. Maybe we could revisit in 5-10 years. I believed them at the time. But the project wasn’t dead. They simply changed the name and moved it to Pittsburgh. This case is not about whether someone can produce a medical drama, or even a medical drama starring Noah Wyle. We would not have filed a lawsuit over that. This case is about whether Warner Bros., John Wells, Scott Gemmill, and Noah Wyle can develop and negotiate with the estate for nearly a year to do an ER reboot and, when they don’t get their way, pass off the same show under a different name as something “completely new and original” that derives in no way from Michael’s signature creation, and for which his estate is therefore owed nothing.”
So, with that stumbling block looming, the series moves on and serves as a unique departure from the norm for Casey Bloys and his employer. THE PITT does seem to be like a traditional broadcast network show. Saya HBO boss Bloys, “The Pitt, for lack of better words, would have been a basic cable or network show and by that I mean it has self-contained stories where you could watch an individual episode, you could watch all of them, done at a price that makes it possible to do 15 episodes. I would like to make that feel more like the Max brand.” That traditional structure just might be the norm going forward as a cost-saving measure by the company.”
Though that kind of programming may be necessary going forward, is a dime-a-dozen medical drama with exhausted lifesavers, overwhelmed students, and troubled docs the way to start? Can something new be said in the genre? Is it being able to package itself as a TV-MA piece going to matter? I can’t say that it is, but if you are willing to jump into it for a 15-hour shift, have at it and let us know. I think you are either going to appreciate it or not.
The show stars Noah Wyle (Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch), Tracey Ifeachor (Dr. Collins), Patrick Ball (Dr. Langdon), Supriya Ganesh (Dr. Mohan), Fiona Dourif (Dr. McKay), Taylor Dearden (Dr. King), Isa Briones (Dr. Santos), Gerran Howell (Whitaker), Shabana Azeez (Javadi), Katherine LaNasa (Dana Evans).
THE PITT debuts on Max on Thursday, January 9th.