‘The Pitt’ Is Proof the People Yearn for Ensemble TV

Noah Wyle nabbed a trophy for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Katherine LaNasa won Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series, Shawn Hatosy earned Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, and the show itself came out on top for what is arguably the award's most important category, Outstanding Drama Series.

The scrappy show, which follows the staff at an ER in Pittsburgh over the course of one turbulent shift, has won the hearts of Emmy voters and viewers alike, becoming a sort of "People's Princess" of the streaming era.

That's partially because the people yearn for a dependable ensemble series. In our streaming era, major platforms are replete with reality TV spectacles, high concept shows with 10 movie-like episodes a la Stranger Things and buzzy docuseries. Meanwhile, the analog to classic fare of yesteryear, be it a sitcom like Friends or a serial like Buffy, is a rarer commodity.

Need proof of where the masses are at? Netflix began hosting USA legal drama series, Suits, on its platform in 2023. The show had an audience when it originally aired 2011-2019, but was never a marquee blockbuster. Suits is a classic ensemble drama, with a tried and true format and a rhythmic patter between its stars (including Meghan Markle).

On Netflix, Suits became one of the most popular television shows in the world. Hollywood Reporter wrote that in 2023 Suits was "the most-streamed show over the course of a year in the (admittedly brief) history of Nielsen’s rankings," with 57.13 billion minutes of viewing.

The Pitt evokes the old school network TV ethos of a dependable format and a large cast of characters. During the length of one episode, the show's doctors and nurses take in new patients and contend with the intensifying levels of stress and anguish that develop over the course of the shift. A certain rhythm between Wyle, his colleagues and the patients is established throughout the season, and with that comes a sense of comfort for the viewer, even as series depicts the often bloody and brutal realities of medical care.

Notably, the seeds of The Pitt were planted decades ago when Wyle played Doctor John Carter in the hit medical drama, ER — a show which pioneered the genre and introduced us to, among others, George Clooney.

Wyle and The Pitt team made a concerted effort to go back to the tried and true Hollywood processes that helped make televisual machines like ER work, and that are sadly too rare in the modern industry spotlight today (despite the outsized viewerships of familiar, if archaic crime procedurals.) The Pitt shot in LA, had a large writer's room and didn't skimp on the episodes, with 15 in its first season. And it featured a bevy of professional Los Angeles actors, who were surely grateful for the work during a post-strike slow production down in Los Angeles.

Audiences are hungry for these elements, which used to be the backbone of the industry and supported the entire Los Angeles economy. Hopefully, though, The Pitt's success for HBO Max is proof to studios and streamers that going back to the basics on TV production is good for the business and art form.

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