Noah Wyle is making his way back to the emergency room 15 years after starring in the award-winning ER as Dr. John Carter. This time around, Wyle will lead HBO’s The Pitt as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, the chief attendant of the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital’s emergency room.
According to its logline, the medical drama will offer “a realistic examination of the challenges facing healthcare workers in today’s America as seen through the lens of the frontline heroes.” HBO has dropped a trailer for The Pitt, and it outlines a frenetic and emotional shift for Wyle’s Dr. Robby. Watch him and the rest of The Pitt‘s staff contend with a waiting room packed with medical emergencies below.
The Pitt reunites Wyle with two of his ER colleagues, R. Scott Gemmill and John Wells (both executive produced ER; Gemmill also served as a show writer from Season 6 to Season 13). The trio will executive produce The Pitt alongside Wells Productions’ Erin Jontow, Simran Baidwan, and Michael Hissrich. In a statement back in March, when The Pitt was ordered to series, Gemmill, Wyle, and Wells thanked Warner Bros. Television and Max for the “opportunity to return to the world of urban medicine:”
“The myriad of challenges facing the doctors, nurses, technicians, patients, and their families who work in the trenches of modern medicine have become only more pronounced in the decade and a half since we last visited their stories. We’re thrilled to be able to return to this world with the support of our partners and are looking forward to pushing the boundaries of dramatic realism and medical accuracy in following the lives of these heroic men and women.”
From ‘ER’ to ‘The Pitt:’ Noah Wyle’s New Pandemic Era Medical Drama
While ER was set in a pre-COVID-19 world, The Pitt premieres just five years after the global pandemic devastated the world. In the trailer, we see that medical drama will delve into the effects and lasting grief caused by COVID-19 on healthcare workers, as Dr. Robby grapples with the anniversary of a colleague’s COVID-related death. It will be interesting to see how the show navigates the complex and often controversial issues surrounding the pandemic.
Wyle famously starred in ER during its entire 15-season run from 1994 to 2009, earning three Golden Globe Award nods and five Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his portrayal of the iconic Dr. John Carter. Set in a fictionalized emergency room inside Chicago’s Cook County Hospital, ER boasted a talented ensemble cast that included George Clooney, Julianna Marguiles, Anthony Edwards, John Stamos, Mekhi Pfifer, and Linda Cardellini. Following ER‘s conclusion in 2009, Wyle appeared in projects including The Librarian franchise, Falling Skies, and Leverage: Redemption.
Related
The 10 Saddest Medical Drama TV Show Episodes of All Time
Dive into the emotional rollercoaster of medical dramas with our compilation of the 10 most heartbreaking episodes.
In The Pitt, Wyle leads an ensemble cast that includes Tracy Ifeachor, Patrick Marron Ball, Supriya Ganesh, Fiona Dourif, Taylor Dearden, Isa Briones, Gerran Howell, Shabana Azeez, and Katherine LaNasa. Gemmill serves as the series showrunner. The Pitt premieres on January 9, with two episodes on Max. One new episode will air weekly, on Thursdays, until April 10. The 15 episodes will each follow one hour of Dr. Robby’s 15-hour shift. Should you want to revisit Wyle’s critically lauded performance as Dr. John Carter before The Pitt lands on Max, ER is currently available on the streamer.
