Review
THE PITT. John Carter in slow motion [REVIEW]
Although The Pitt obviously stands in the shadow of ER, it does so as an independent production – conscious of its heritage but forging its own path.
It is no secret that Noah Wyle has for years made efforts to return to the trauma unit in Chicago in his most recognizable role. Earlier this year, the first season of the series The Pitt premiered on the Max platform. The story of this medical drama unfolds in the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital – briefly referred to as The Pitt. The 15-episode series depicts a single shift in the hospital’s emergency department, with each episode representing one hour of that shift. Noah Wyle plays the lead role of Dr. Michael Robbie Robinavitch, a seasoned physician who struggles to cope with the trauma of losing his mentor during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hospital corridors are nothing new to him. Robbie is accompanied in his battle to save patients’ lives by residents and medical students who, under his supervision, not only practice medicine but also face staff overload, emotional struggles, and dramatic events such as a mass shooting in Pittsburgh. 
Sounds familiar? Not without reason. Noah Wyle, one of the producers of The Pitt, is also known for his role as Dr. John Carter in the iconic medical series ER. Since 2022, together with producer John Wells and screenwriter R.
Scott Gemmill – the creators responsible for the success of ER – he had been working on a reboot for the Max platform. However, work on the project was halted due to claims by Sherri Crichton, widow of Michael Crichton, the originator and author of ER. She demanded either recognition of her husband’s contribution to the creation of the new version or appropriate financial compensation. Negotiations ended in failure, and Warner Bros., after changing the format of the series, its setting, and title, released the new production on the Max platform under the name The Pitt. 
In 2024, the Michael Crichton Estate filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. and the producers of the series, claiming that The Pitt is an unauthorized reboot of ER. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that The Pitt is a completely separate production.
The case remains ongoing. What is the truth? Anyone familiar with ER will easily point out the similarities between the two formats. Both tell the story of a group of young people working in one hospital, trying to balance their professional lives in a particularly demanding field with private lives that are just as challenging. That Robbie is John Carter years later is fairly obvious, but just as easily one can find the no-nonsense Dr. Weaver in Dr. Collins (Tracy Ifeachor), the empathetic Susan Lewis in Dr. Mohan (Supriya Ganesh), or Carol Hathaway in Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa). And even though there are significantly more tablets in the treatment rooms, the operating structure remains similar – a patient arrives, bringing with them medical and moral dilemmas.
What has changed, apart from the obvious correction of setting and title? Above all, the pacing. ER was a medical drama in which cases rarely extended beyond a single episode. Naturally, everything moved quickly, and the now legendary shots of swinging doors being burst through by stretchers or medics sprinting down corridors were the norm. The Pitt is structured differently – the series has 15 episodes, one for each hour of a single shift. This affects not only the hospital action, which automatically slows down, but also the development of the characters.
There is significantly more reflection, contemplation, and moments of silence in The Pitt, allowing time to consider the motivations of the young doctors. This is also visible in the camerawork – The Pitt features long, much more static shots that more attentively observe what is happening, capturing not the macro but the microcosm of the emergency department. 
The cast of the new Max series, in addition to Noah Wyle, also includes fresh names.
Aside from those already mentioned, we see a new generation of actors on screen – Taylor Dearden as Dr. King is the daughter of Bryan Cranston, and Fiona Douriff (Dr. McKay) is the daughter of Brad Douriff, who also appeared as a guest in one of the episodes. Isa Briones (Dr. Santos) also comes from an acting family. Among the young actors, Gerran Howell as Whitaker clearly has the most on-screen experience, but Shabana Azeez as Javadi and Patrick Ball as Frank Langdon match him in ease in front of the camera. Although The Pitt obviously stands in the shadow of ER, it does so as an independent production – conscious of its heritage but forging its own path. Drawing from a nearly perfect model, it reshapes it on its own terms and uses it in the best possible way.
For viewers longing for the emotions known from ER but ready for a story told at a different pace, The Pitt may turn out to be exactly what they are looking for.
