Possibly the best way to have watched The Traitors premiere. Noah Wyle is back in the ER, thank God! It’s 2024 and I’m still talking about the Chicago movie. The Real Housepresidents of the Funeral. Smiling during a hard time.

Noah Wyle stars as a put-upon emergency department doctor in "The Pitt," streaming on Max. He's not a grown-up Dr. Carter from "ER," but he's close.

Medical dramas don't tend to be my primary choice of TV show. But I'd be a liar if I said The Pitt didn't hook me right away. The Pitt immerses us in the high-stress environment of Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center's emergency department,

HBO’s streaming platform Max is emulating network TV with a weekly medical drama. Each episode tracks an hour of a shift in the ER.

He's immersing himself in work, but he's doing exactly what anybody would be doing in his job on shift,' says Wyle.

Consider this example both an enticement and a warning. Created by ER alum R. Scott Gemmill, The Pitt takes a ruthlessly realistic approach to its depiction of our beleaguered/broken healthcare system — but it’s also the most engrossing and addictive medical drama to come along since Grey’s Anatomy and, well, ER.

A medical drama going for bracing realism is anchored by a strong central performance from a veteran TV doctor.

That landmark show, lauded for its character-driven, gritty realism (which set the standard for future IV-infused TV) launched on NBC in 1994 and gave Wyle his breakout role as an earnest medical student,

Victoria Javadi (Shabana Azees) is a third-year medical student and fast-tracked prodigy who experiences an embarrassment on her first day but is determined to prove her worth. Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa) is the charge nurse who has three decades of experience and knows at least as much about how things work as the doctors.

“The Pitt” is the derisive nickname given to the rundown Pittsburgh hospital where Wyle’s Dr. Michael “Robby” Rabinavitch leads a dedicated team through the daily horrors and miracles that comprise an ER. In a Zoom interview, Wyle noted that this return was a choice with perhaps a sprinkling of earned wisdom.

Noah Wyle returns to the emergency room in The Pitt, a great new hospital drama on Max whose season follows one day in a Pittsburgh ER.