Get the latest gossip
Can TV Procedurals Save Streaming?
Max and Netflix are making old-school hospital dramas from network veterans. Is this the next front in the streaming wars?
Making official what we first hinted at last month, Max this week confirmed a series order for The Pitt, a new medical procedural drama from ER veterans Noah Wyle, John Wells, and Scott Gemmill. I’m guessing Max originals chief Sarah Aubrey and WBTV CEO Channing Dungey agree with that assessment, because The Pitt just feels genetically engineered to go the distance, make 100 or more episodes, and become the kind of comfort food programming audiences return to years after it drops its series finale. It’s right there in the official plot description: “ The Pitt is a realistic examination of the challenges facing healthcare workers in today’s America as seen through the lens of the frontline heroes working in a modern-day hospital in Pittsburgh.” There’s no mention of a crazy conspiracy, a mystery that needs to be solved, or an Epic Adventure That Spans the Globe.
Or read this on VULTURE