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Sorry to Severance and The White Lotus fans — but The Pitt took home three Emmys including best drama. And with good reason. The new medical drama from Warner Bros streaming on Max has become one of the most talked about shows on TV since it began airing in January.
The first season has already had 10 million global viewers, and an impressive 97 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes. Its original take on the classic medical drama, talented ensemble cast, and commitment to medical accuracy has seen critics hailing it as the return of proper TV. Prestige TV, with it’s sky-high budgets and serious tone, is out.
Set in an overwhelmingly busy emergency department in Pittsborough, each one of The Pitt’s 15 episodes tracks an hour in the rollercoaster ride along a single shift. It’ aired the traditional way, dropping one episode per week.
The Pitt stars actor Noah Wyle — who received multiple Emmy nominations for his role playing a doctor in ER — as Dr Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, who is working the anniversary of the death of his mentor from covid. Wyle is such a pro at playing an on-screen doctor there’s a rumour he once proficiently stitched up a costume designer’s injured finger.
Now Wyle has snagged the Emmy for best actor in a drama series. He arrived on the red carpet in a tuxedo made by scrubs manufacturers Figs, which also makes the medical costumes for The Pitt cast, and dedicated his win to health workers.
“To anyone who’s going on shift tonight or coming off shift tonight, thank you for being in that job,” said Wyle. “This is for you.”
Haunted by the pandemic, Dr Robby welcomes a flock of trainee medics to Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center (PTMC), who are thrown in at the deep end of the terrifyingly busy emergency department he nicknames “the pitt” (much the chargrain of the hospital higher ups).
Taylor Dearden, who plays junior doctor Mel King, has already become a firm fan favourite for her sensitive and endearing portrayal of an autistic character. Yes she’s the daughter of Bryan Cranston, who played Walter White in hit show Breaking Bad, but she’s singlehandedly defying any nepo baby labels.
Fans also adore Katherine LaNasa’s character Dana Evans, the powerhouse Charge Nurse holding the entire shift together, even in the face of a violent patient assault. LaNasa took home the Emmy for best supporting actress wearing a custom Jason Wu dress in the ceil blue of nurse’s scrubs, and paid tribute to nursing professionals in her speech.
The Pitt was almost immediately renewed for a second season, which is due to air in January 2026. The cast had to immediately fly back to Pittsburgh after their raucous night of celebrations (a party bus was involved) to continue shooting.
“We’re going to do Fourth of July weekend,” showrunner R. Scott Gemmill told TV Line. “Basically 10 months later, gives a lot of room for us to have developed a few stories in the interim, and catch up with everyone.”
But we couldn’t spoil the stories from the first season if we wanted to — unlucky UK viewers still haven’t had the opportunity to enjoy The Pitt on our screens.
Max (formerly known as HBO Max) is currently not accessible in the UK. Its shows sometimes become available on Sky streamer Now TV, but there’s been radio silence so far.
There are plans for Max to launch in the UK, which could bring The Pitt with it, but that’s not until 2026 — although at least there would be two seasons by then.
With The Pitt turning out to be such an important television milestone, let’s hope it gets blue-lighted to the UK’s screens stat.
