The cable-ification of streaming continues with new medical drama from ER producers on Max - AV Club

A lot has changed in both the worlds of medicine and television since ER left triage for the final time in 2009. For one, there was a global pandemic and a lot of people take Ozempic now. In regards to the latter, a show that reaches its 331st episode—like the original drama did in its 15th and final season—and consistently receives 20+ episode season orders feels almost mythical in the current landscape. With their new show, The Pitt, Max is trying to address, if not totally heal, both of those ailments.

Per a description from Max (via The Hollywood Reporter), The Pitt will be “a realistic examination of the challenges facing health care workers in today’s America as seen through the lens of the front-line heroes working in a modern-day hospital in Pittsburgh.” (Watch your back, Grey’s Anatomy!) Noah Wyle, who led ER’s first 11 seasons, is set to star, with R. Scott Gemmill, a producer on the former cable drama, serving as showrunner. Fellow ER producer John Wells is also returning to executive produce, along with Wyle.

“We are grateful to Warner Bros. Television and Max for giving us this opportunity to return to the world of urban medicine,” Gemmill, Wyle, and Wells said in a joint statement (via THR). “The myriad of challenges facing the doctors, nurses, technicians, patients and their families who work in the trenches of modern medicine have become only more pronounced in the decade and a half since we last visited their stories. We’re thrilled to be able to return to this world with the support of our partners and are looking forward to pushing the boundaries of dramatic realism and medical accuracy in following the lives of these heroic men and women.”

The series was given an initial 15-episode order, which certainly isn’t the 22-installment standard of the ‘90s and early aughts, but heralds a bit of positive change for nostalgic TV viewers frustrated with the current trend of truncated seasons. Between this and the upcoming Suits revival, network TV fans have a lot to look forward to in the coming year.

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