If you aren’t watching the Pitt on HBOMax (whatever it’s called), check it out. It’s a medical drama a la ER (including Noah Wylie as the lead). It’s very well done with compelling story lines and characters.
Episode 12 aired last night and it was an intense, gut punch of an episode.
I was an ER fan back in the day and this is a worthy successor.
Good to know. I binged House over the winter and now am binging The Resident. I was initially dismissive of The Pitt when it was announced bc I thought “great another medical drama.” But I’ve been hearing good things.
I also wanted to watch ER but if you’re saying this is at that caliber then I’ll have to give it a shot.
ER was/is great. I really like The Pitt. Have not seen Ep 12 yet though.
Yeah, my commentary in the “what are we watching” thread was to call it an Entertain-u-mentary.
I don’t really watch many medical shows. But the writing is excellent. It is a bit sensational in that everything happens in the ER. But the medical complexity, social issues, emotional weight are really well done. And the characters are spot on, to include the quirkiness of the trainees, the empathetic social worker role, the emotionless (and despised) hospital administrator.
We are currently binging West Wing. Lisa Edelstein who plays Dr. Cuddy is the call girl/law student from season 1.
Is interesting to go back and rewatch these actors. For Allison Janney it was her break out role.
And for 25 years ago, fascinating how many issues and personalities are easily translatable and still relevant.
Are you streaming West Wing? I’d love to re-watch, but I have no idea if I can.
West Wing is probably my favorite show of all time. Can’t say how many times Ives watched it over the years and I usually start playing seasons 1-5 again every Fall. Quote it non stop with the family.
We should start a thread for just WW quotes or gifs.
I agree regarding the personalities. Was ahead of its time.
Streaming on Max
Looks like it isn’t available in the Northern Hinterlands… Sad. 
It’s on Hulu
I didn’t pick up the Noah Wylie thing until you mentioned it. I did an emerg shift a week in an ER with a catchment area of 100K people for fifteen years up between 94 and 2010. I think I saw one or two gunshot wounds (Canada). I used to say one episode of ER had more drama than everything I had seen. My worst event was when a truck slammed into two police cruisers who had somebody pulled over on the expressway. I think two officers and one civilian didn’t make it through that one.
It’s got to be one of the best ER shows ever made.
Mostly because they have almost zero downtime which makes the acting so great.
I hope they can keep it up. While I enjoy it when shows start to go into background on characters they usually make those episodes so long winded and slow.
So far season 1 has been awesome
Let’s say I’m impatient…could I watch Epi 12 and enjoy it without knowing the background from the previous 11 episodes?
@E_DUB youre saying the Pitt is one of the best ER shows ever made? I really need to watch the Clooney one and then compare.
It’s just super fast pace. Very good
Generally yes, if you watch the intro recap. Most of the content is pretty self-contained per episode. There’s a few longer running threads you’ll spoiler with Ep 12, but each of the episodes is interesting enough standalone if you go back and rewatch from the beginning afterwards.
I think Clooney is one of the writers/producers for The Pitt. I have never watched a show that was so fast paced. I agree with the above, if they get too far into character development, they will lose. One of the better shows I have watched in a while and Ep. 12 is just bonkers.
Yes. Each episode is pretty much self contained. There are a few story throughlines you will miss but they are irrelevant to the episode 12 story, which centers on an active shooter at a music festival and the fallout for the ER.
It was truly remarkable, high stress and laser-focused storytelling.
Good episode. I did miss some of the storyline as I watched only 1.5 episodes prior to 12, but I agree with your take. A few minor quibbles* on the medical realism front but overall very realistic in terms of triage and critical interventions. Wyle plays a convincing ER doc, and I didn’t watch a single episode of ER so it’s not a built in memory talking. He looks and acts the part very well.
*decompressing subcutaneous emphysema doesn’t affect lung expansion and is pretty much never done for that reason
*The mother in the mother-daughter MD relationship would know that decompressing a tension pneumothorax/hemothorax gets done by any means necessary and that a tube is a tube in these situations, and more importantly, a tube isn’t necessary for lifesaving decompression; you just need to open the pleural cavity and the pressure will release itself. I’ve done this several times with a scalpel to get through the skin, and the blunt end of the handle to puncture the pleura between the ribs.You can find and insert the tube later after resolving the hemodynamic compromise.
*Chest tubes are generally not indicated for posterior gunshot wounds to the lumbar area absent clinical evidence of hemo/pneumothorax.
But it feels cool! Lol. Human manifestation of bubble wrap.