A thriller series is usually pretty easy to spot: blurry cover art, a tagline about some big conspiracy or fight for justice, Kiefer Sutherland running somewhere. But often, the best thriller series look nothing like you think. Sometimes they’re , , or even comedies.
One of the decade’s top thriller series is something entirely different: a medical drama that’s become a pop culture sensation evoking TV’s golden age.
The Pitt () began as a spinoff of ER, featuring Noah Wyle, who played Dr. John Carter on the long-running medical drama. However, rights issues with the estate of ER creator Michael Crichton (yes, the same Michael Crichton behind Jurassic Park) required changes to the series — though this might have been a good thing.
What makes The Pitt so great are its differences from ER. Wyle plays Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, the leader of a Pittsburgh ER. Dr. Robby is a world apart from the reformed WASP millionaire’s son Dr. Carter: he’s coping with trauma, deeply compassionate toward his patients, and cherishes his Jewish faith.
The structure is also entirely distinct: whereas ER episodes might cover hours, days, or even weeks, each The Pitt season focuses on a single shift, with one episode per hour. This means patients and characters stick around for multiple episodes, letting you follow cases in near-real time.
Season 1 tracked the ER team as they handled rat infestations, a drowning, a hate crime, and an active shooting. In Season 2 — now available on HBO Max — that shooting is commemorated on a plaque, and Dr. Robby is working his final shift before a three-month sabbatical. But that last shift falls on the Fourth of July, brings back a disgraced colleague, and introduces his temporary replacement early — whose plans to use AI to streamline clinical workflows clash with Robby’s views.
Due to the chronological format, don’t look for fireworks accidents until later in the season, but you will see cases involving fecal impaction, infected casts, disability, and the dire state of medical debt. It’s absolutely a worthy sequel to Season 1, and if you jump in now, you’ll get one hour-long episode every Thursday night through mid-April. Even though a shift is typically just 10 hours, something will definitely delay Dr. Robby’s sabbatical — and it’ll keep you hooked.