Streaming on HBO Max - Rod Bishop recommends THE PITT (R. Scott Gemmill, creator, USA, 2025)

A family relative of mine spent much of his twenties working as an emergency nurse in inner Sydney hospitals. Stoic and unerringly polite, his decision to leave and move into medical equipment supplies took us by surprise. Until his wife simply said: “PTSD”.

If the idea of spending more than 12 hours or 750 minutes of screentime in an emergency department seems like a debilitating watch, then The Pitt is probably not for you.

Noah Wyle, The Pitt

Unquestionably deserving of its Emmys for Outstanding Best Drama; Best Actor in a Drama (Noah Wyle); and Best Supporting Actress in a Drama (Katherine LaNasa), The Pitt is designed to be emotionally harrowing, and to make you feel as exhausted as the doctors and nurses while confronting the funding failures in the American health system. 

Other social issues such as the fentanyl epidemic, the COVID pandemic, lunatics with guns, across-state-line abortions and sickle cell disease, lie alongside simple accidents with gas bottles, difficult child births, and car crash victims. 

There’s even a domestic violence victim who presents with a fork stuck up her nose, prompting one doctor to deadpan: “I’ll just go and find a utensil specialist”.

Noah Wyle gives a towering performance as the head doctor Robby (Michael Robinavitch). His preparation for the role included eleven series as Dr Carter in E.R. (1994-2009), the obvious television antecedent to The Pitt.

Katharine LaNasa, The Pitt

Like E.R., there’s a tendency to rely on soap to keep the characters interesting, but The Pitt spends a lot more time on medical procedures, showing off the astounding plethora of medical knowledge needed by those on the emergency floor. 

Particularly when there aren’t enough available beds in the rest of the hospital (due to budget cuts in nursing staff), or when a mass casualty event fills up every available square foot of the emergency department. 

The protocols in such moments necessitate a rationing of blood per patient, and to stop the patients from dying in front of them, inexperienced, but competent interns are allowed to perform impromptu operations.

At the very least…it’s enlightening.