Emergencies are often against the clock, but in The Pitt, they are on a timer. Attached to a bomb.
Each episode shows an hour of Dr Michael Robinavitch’s emergency room shift on one of the worst days of his life. After avoiding all doctor roles since the finale of ER in 2009, Wyle pulls on the navy hoodie of a weary Dr Robby – this time in Pittsburgh.
Initially an idea for an ER reboot with producer John Wells, the show morphed into a fresh take on the challenges medical professionals face in the wake of the world-shifting pandemic.
“It felt a little sacrilegious to try to walk back into that arena prematurely,” says Wyle. “It was really only thoughtfully, soberly, cautiously and meticulously that we attempted it again.”
Robby is calm and competent in showing his medical students how it’s done, while keeping his own mental health crisis hidden. Not that there are many places to hide: Wyle explains that they are setting themselves apart from other hospital dramas by turning up the lights, cutting the mood-telegraphing music and showing the real dimensions of the department.
“All of that kind of lend themselves to doing something different,” he says. “Rattling the cage, you know, trying to put a new spin on an old form.”
Joining him in Max’s The Pitt are co-stars Tracy Ifeachor, Katharine LaNasa, Patrick Ball and Supriya Ganesh.
As for his own medical knowledge, Wyle says there are procedures he feels adept at least pretending to do. With the amount of time he’s spent playing a doctor, he could have earned his own degree by now.
“I’ve been doing this long enough,” he says. “So, I’m either the worst student or one of the best doctor actors around.”
DIAGNOSIS: With front-line workers against the clock, it has a similar pathology to both ER and 24.
