I spent a few hundred hours last year rewatching every episode ofERwhile on the treadmill.
Thehospitalshow landed on NBC in the fall of 1994 like a thunderbolt and stuck around for 15 years.
Or it could just floor you with a medical case that only lasted for a scene or two.
Robby (Wyle), Santos (Briones), and Collings (Ifeachor) wait for an incoming helicopter.Warrick Page/MAX
Certainly, there are moments throughoutThe Pittthat riff on Wyles screen history with this profession.
(No spoilers on how it goes here for young Whitaker.)
Its a genre with only so many themes, and only so many variations on those.
Medical technology has improved, while the health care system overall is far, far worse.
Everyone is on edge all the time, from frustrated patients who scream things like This place sucks!
I will destroy you on Yelp!
to nurses who have grown numb to the horrors and dangers of the job.
The key demarcation betweenERandThe Pittis a roughly real-time format.
On the plus side, the compact nature of it forces a greater emphasis on the medical stories.
Mohan for some reason does not reply, I know she has sickle cell.
Why did you feel like you had to tell me that?)
(This is another advantage of doing 15 episodes.Make TV seasons longer!I amnota crackpot.)
Dearden and Dourif are particularly good at opposite ends of the temperamental spectrum.
But the star attraction is, of course, Noah Wyle himself.
The first two episodes ofThe Pittbegin streaming Jan. 9 on Max, with additional episodes releasing weekly.
Ive seen the first 10 of 15 episodes this season.
