I never watched ER, but my wife and I just finished tearing through The Pitt. I feel like it’s a really good, but not great, show. Not great mostly because it’s about as subtle as bombshell, but there are a few things about this show that I really enjoy:
- I love a good ensemble show—the kind where you end up loving nearly every character. Sure, there are leads, but the supporting cast is so well-constructed and performed that you can’t help rooting for everybody to win. I usually think about this with comedies (e.g. anything from Mike Schur, or Veep), but The Pitt has a fantastic cast of characters from nurses to student doctors to patients.
- When my wife was actively watching Parenthood I noticed that everybody seemed to have a crisis in every episode. In retrospect that’s nearly the case with The Pitt as well, but the structure of each story, the chaos of the ER, and the shows editing do a terrific job of masking the heightened reality.
- And about that writing - the dialog, the stories within each episode and across the season…just a pleasure to watch.
- The cast! Whitaker! Dr. Mel King! Too many good folks on this show.
I’m pleased to see the show getting a second season. And as for ER…is it worth me taking a look after all these years? Go back years ago and watch George Clooney play doctor?