REVIEW: Real TV Is Back With ‘The Pitt’ Season 1

A lot of responses to The Pitt Season 1 seem to be some variation of “real TV is back.” Whether that’s because it’s a medical drama, or its weekly release schedule, or its incredible word-of-mouth campaign, who’s to say? But now that the doctors and nurses have clocked out, and the news that The Pitt will be returning every January for the foreseeable future, it’s hard to argue—real TV is back, indeed.

The structure of The Pitt took on the real-time format, popularized by the Kiefer Sutherland-led show 24, in which each episode covers one hour of the day. In The Pitt’s case, an episode equaled one hour of a 15-hour shift. This facilitates a unique immersion into the chaos of the ER, in which patients come through the door at a speed that staff numbers and bed availability can’t keep up with. While the structure has a hand in creating the show’s realism, it wouldn’t be possible without characters who immediately pop on-screen.

It’s good, then, that The Pitt stars Noah Wyle, veteran actor of ER fame. He has a calming yet stoic presence as Dr. Robby, a traumatized ER doctor who walks into what will be one of the longest shifts of his life on the anniversary of his mentor’s death during the COVID-19 outbreak. But even as he forces back his memories, he still leads his staff of doctors, nurses, and new medical interns with a soft and guiding nature. That nature is especially present in how he handles patients, even the ones who try his patience.

But while he starts off that way, The Pitt Season 1 is definitely an unraveling for Dr. Robby. It happens little by little as the hours tick on, until it all comes to a head during the season’s mass casualty episodes. Wyle does some of his best work in these episodes, taking Dr. Robby to such a believable brink, pushing him off it, and then making him climb back on to finish out the shift. The calm presence he exuded at the beginning of the season reappears in his staff when he can no longer hold it together.

The Pitt Season 1 thrives on a great cast of well-developed characters.

Surrounding Dr. Robby is the rest of the ER staff, a group of sharply drawn characters whose quirks and personalities are evident from hour one. The medical students start the day fresh-faced and eager to dive in. Though there are no huge expository backstories for anyone, it’s through their interactions with each other and the patients that they paint a clear picture. While some certainly feel less fully realized, others get a lot to work with.

A lot of those characterizations happen in the small moments. Like Dr. King (Taylor Dearden) taking brief moments to herself to regroup, or when she teaches Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball) a thing or two about meeting patients where they’re at. The small trickle of information for each character can get lost in the mayhem at times, but when they fully reveal themselves, the results are satisfying.

Such as Dr. Collins (Tracy Ifeachor) and Dr. Robby’s talk in the ambulance, Dr. Langdon’s big plot twist, or the cocky Dr. Santos being right about him all along. Some of these things don’t land as well as the others, but they do each draw a bigger picture of the characters and how they might move forward. In this case, the fallouts are much more interesting than the actual twists.

The hospital setting is rife with plenty of politically charged commentary, and The Pitt doesn’t shy away from addressing hot-button topics. While the more liberal-leaning ER may seem far-fetched, in these cases, it’s better to showcase how things should be, rather than what they are.

The progressive outlook of the Pitt Season 1 is essential to its success.

Something as simple as Dr. Javadi (Shabana Azeez) telling a transgender patient that she’ll update her pronouns in their system without being asked goes a long way in exemplifying how easy it is to be kind. Or as satisfying as Dr. Langdon shaming an anti-masker into realizing how ridiculous they sound. Or Dr. Mohan (Supriya Ganesh) dressing down the paramedics and Dr. Whitaker (Gerran Howell) about their bias regarding a sickle cell patient. These aspects of the show only strengthen it.

Pitt Season 1 relies largely on creating a dance of procedures and characters every episode, and it does so with calm precision. Not only is each episode consistently good, but it’s consistently at the top of television’s game. Even during its climactic moments, it still juggles bringing in fully formed new characters on the night shift as well.

And while the first season covers many medical procedures, its emphasis on the resilience of medical workers remains its top priority. Despite this tough shift, they still clock out at the end of it. Dr. Robby’s closing line, that “Tomorrow’s another day,” speaks to that resilience. It’s a perfect endpoint for this first season, and a nice little nod to the nature of the show itself.

With the announcement that The Pitt will return for Season 2 in January 2026, and quite possibly every January for the foreseeable future, it does feel apt to say that real TV is back.

The Pitt Season 1 is streaming now on MAX, formerly HBO Max.