In the shadow of “ER,” “The Pitt” finds its path

When “The Pitt” began, it faced a basic question:
Would this just be re-doing “ER”? After all, it had the same producer (John Wells), one of the same stars (Noah Wyle, shown here) and the same idea — a fast-moving show, with handheld cameras zipping around an emergency department.
Yes, the show (which starts its second season Jan. 8 on HBO) amps that up by having the entire season trace one, 15-hour day. But beyond that, what could be different?
“We took a huge dry-erase board and just wrote all the things that we never did on ‘ER’ thar could be talked about today,” Wyle told the Television Critics Association. “We were amazed at how fast we filled up that board.”
That included fentanyl, gun violence, trans rights, and staff shortages. “Covid had a huge impact on health-care,” said writer-producer R. Scott Gemmill. Some people left (adding to the shortages), others had delayed PTSD.
Some changes that are promising — Wyle is hopeful about artificial intelligence in health-care — some not. There’s “the anount of disinformation out there that we never had to deal with before,” Gemmill said.
And all of that is just in the backdrop.
Many viewers, Wyle said, “respond more to the internal journey of our characters. Coming back, it was less about coming up with sexy cases and more about … the characters.” They includes:
— His own character, Emergency chief “Robby” Robinavitch. Last season, he had a panic attack on the fourth anniversary of his mentor’s Covid death.
— Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa), the charge nurse. Like Robby, she manages to juggle precision and warmth.
— Frank Langdon (Patrick Ball). The show skips ahead 10 months and he’s returning from drug rehab.
— Melissa “Mel” King (Taylor Dearden), who is neurodivergent. In real life, Dearden said, “I’m on the ADHD spectrum. (For) Mel, it’s just kind of unmasking and seeing what that looks like and then also being like, ‘Whoa, I’m kind of glad I mask soetimes.'”
— Trinity Santos (Isa Briones), a resident, and Dennis Whitaker (Gerran Howell), a fourth-year medical student; they decided to live together. Now, Howell saud, “we know they’ve been together for 10 months, but you don’t necessarily see them together right away.”
— And many more, including Cassie McKay (Fiona Dourif), a second-year resident who’s also a single mom.
“I … was terrified constantly,” Dourif said. “I was like, ‘There’s no way people are gonna believe me as a doctor. There’s no way I’m gonna be able to perform these medical scenes that are technically really accurate.”
Added Dearden: “We’re still terrified constantly, but it’s a little, tiny bit less.”
Now new doctors arrive, including Baran Al-Hashimi (Sepideh Moefi), who had worked for the Veterans Administration with Mel and Dr. Samira Mohan.
“I was a big fan of the show,” Moefi said. “So getting to join the cast was incredibly intimidating.”
That included going through the same “boot camp” as others did the first year. It ranged from medical techniques to endurance. “We all tried to stay on our feet for 15 hours and just note (what) got tired first,” Wyle said.
The complications of an acting life are familiar to these people. Dearden’s father is Emmy-winner Bryan Cranston; Dourif’s is Oscar-nominee Brad Dourif, who played her dad in a first-season episode. In this second season, Ball’s girlfriend (Elysia Roorbach) plays his patient, Willow Baptiste, for three episodes; Kelly Albanese, the wife of Shawn Hatosy (who plays Jack Abbott) has a guest role as Reina Burgess, but they have no scenes together. All of this is done at a furious pace, darting between people and problems. Ball admits he had doubts.
After a screening, he said, Wyle asked him what he thought. “I go, ‘Oh man, I like it. I like it.’ But it felt niche …. I didn’t know if it was gonna work.”
It did. Audiences approved, critics raved, awards have followed.
The Emmys, the TCA and the Critics Choice awards all named “The Pitt” best drama series and Wyle best actor; the Golden Globes have also nominated them. The Emmys also chose LaNasa and Hatosy in supporting roles; Critics Choice chose LaNasa and nominated Ball.
Now the Golden Globes are coming Sunday (Jan. 11), three days after “The Pitt booms into its second season.