The Pitt

Summary

Pop Culture Happy Hour: "The Pitt" Episode Summary

Release Date: January 27, 2025
Podcast: Pop Culture Happy Hour by NPR
Hosts: Linda Holmes, Andrew Limbong, Trevill Anderson
Episode Title: The Pitt

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Introduction to "The Pit"

In this episode, the Pop Culture Happy Hour team delves into the latest hospital drama, "The Pit", streaming now on Max. Host Linda Holmes introduces the show, highlighting its unique structure and contemporary take on healthcare:

"The Pit does something different. Each episode follows one hour in the ER over the course of a very long day. So the layout is less Grey's Anatomy and more 24."
— Linda Holmes [03:00]

"The Pit" stars Noah Wylie as Dr. Rabinovich (Dr. Robbie), bringing his experience from playing Dr. John Carter on ER to this new role. The show focuses on the bustling environment of a Pittsburgh emergency room, emphasizing realism and the hectic pace of modern healthcare.

Hosts' Perspectives on "The Pit"

Andrew Limbong on Structure and Realism

Andrew Limbong appreciates the show's departure from traditional hospital drama formulas:

"I think the initial question is, obviously you're looking at Noah Wiley in an ER. Are you just thinking the whole time about ER? But I think it does successfully step into its own towards episode four or so."
— Andrew Limbong [04:42]

He notes the 24-esque structure adds depth to the narrative, allowing the show to comment on contemporary healthcare issues without the frenetic pace typical of ER.

Trevell Anderson on Character Development

Trevell Anderson offers a balanced view, enjoying the procedural elements while recognizing the challenges in character engagement:

"I love getting to know all of the personal details about all the many, many characters. And because of the structure of the pit, you really are forced to learn about the characters as they are being nurses and doctors."
— Trevell Anderson [05:35]

He appreciates how the show's format necessitates gradual character development, reflecting the real-life pace of interactions in an emergency room.

Comparisons to Classic Medical Dramas

Linda Holmes draws parallels and distinctions between "The Pit", ER, Grey's Anatomy, and Chicago Hope:

"It's not as frenetic as ER. It's not intended to be as frenetic as ER. They don't have all of the kind of everybody comes in and screams at the same time."
— Linda Holmes [06:02]

The hosts discuss how "The Pit" incorporates realistic portrayals of hospital dynamics, focusing more on the operational challenges rather than personal drama among staff.

Themes Explored in "The Pit"

Realism and Healthcare Challenges:
The show emphasizes authentic representations of hospital administration and patient care, addressing issues like:

• Patient Wait Times:

  "This is an emergency department, not a taco bell."
  — Unknown Character [07:52]

• Healthcare Management Pressures:
  Discussions revolve around managing patient satisfaction and hospital efficiency, reflecting current healthcare debates.

• Contemporary Issues:
  Episodes tackle modern topics such as abortion, treatment of transgender patients, and the opioid crisis.

Character Dynamics and Emotional Depth:
While striving for realism, the show balances professional responsibilities with personal struggles of the medical staff:

"The doctors who are having serious personal crises, they just sort of have to go back to work."
— Linda Holmes [16:32]

This approach limits overt emotional displays, requiring viewers to engage more deeply with the characters' internal experiences.

Acting and Production Quality

Noah Wylie's Performance:
Wylie's portrayal of Dr. Robbie is praised for capturing the complexity of a seasoned ER physician managing both professional and personal pressures.

Subtlety in Storytelling:
The show's use of understated musical scores and minimalistic emotional cues allows for a more immersive and thought-provoking viewing experience.

"The score in this show is, you almost, like, don't notice it. It's really subtle, it's really tasteful."
— Andrew Limbong [08:50]

Critical Reception and Viewer Engagement

The hosts reflect on their personal experiences with the show, noting its ability to keep them engaged through its fast-paced yet structured narrative:

"By the end of every single episode, I was surprised that we were at the end because the episode just moved so quickly."
— Trevill Anderson [09:29]

While some storylines may not resonate with all viewers, the overall pacing and thematic relevance make "The Pit" a compelling addition to the medical drama genre.

Conclusion: The Future of "The Pit"

As the episode wraps up, the hosts express optimism about the remaining episodes and the potential for "The Pit" to evolve its storytelling:

"I think all these things could happen. But it's interesting because there's not a lot of time for these folks to sit around and have deep emotional discussions about their lives because they're running around trying to deal with so many emergencies."
— Linda Holmes [17:36]

The episode concludes with an invitation for listeners to share their thoughts on "The Pit", encouraging ongoing engagement with the show's exploration of modern healthcare challenges.

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Key Takeaways:

• "The Pit" offers a fresh take on hospital dramas with its hour-by-hour ER setting, emphasizing realism and contemporary healthcare issues.
• The show's structure fosters gradual character development, distinguishing it from more dramatized medical series.
• Hosts commend the subtle storytelling and nuanced performances, particularly Noah Wylie's portrayal of Dr. Robbie.
• "The Pit" effectively balances operational challenges with personal narratives, maintaining viewer interest through its realistic depiction of emergency medicine.

For those interested in authentic and thought-provoking medical dramas, "The Pit" on Max is a must-watch.

Transcript

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[Linda Holmes]

Hospital shows have been around for so long that it's hard to imagine television without them. The Max hospital drama the Pit stars hospital show veteran Noah Wylie. It takes some elements that are common to the genre and mixes them with some very contemporary thinking about health care and an inventive structure. Where conventionally constructed hospital dramas bring in a new load of patients every week and follow long stretches of the lives of doctors and other staff, the Pit does something different. Each episode follows one hour in the ER over the course of a very long day. So the layout is less Grey's anatomy and more 24. I'm Linda Holmes and today we're talking about the Pit on Pop Culture Happy Hour from npr.

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[Linda Holmes]

Joining me today is Andrew Limbong. He's the host of NPR's Book of the Day podcast and a reporter for the Culture Desk. Hey, Andrew, Always good to see you.

[Andrew Limbong]

Hey, Linda. What's going on?

[Linda Holmes]

You know the Pit, Andrew? That is what is going on.

[Andrew Limbong]

Also, she's in the waiting room, stuck in there.

[Linda Holmes]

Also with us is journalist and author of We See Each Other A Black Trans Journey Through TV and Film, Trevill Anderson. Welcome back, Trayville.

[Andrew Limbong]

Hello.

[Trevill Anderson]

Hello.

[Linda Holmes]

So excited to see you both. The Pit is set in a Pittsburgh emergency room run by Dr. Rabinovich, known to colleagues and patients alike as Dr. Robbie. He's played by Noah Wiley, who for years played Dr. John Carter on ER. There are young doctors who are on their first day in the hospital. There are highly skilled nurses, one of whom pretty much runs the place. And there are patients sitting, sitting in the waiting room or waiting for beds in the main part of the hospital as the hours drag on.

[Unknown Character]

As you can see, our house is always packed and our department is mostly clogged up with borders. Those are admitted patients waiting for a room upstairs, sometimes for days. Beds are a very precious commodity around here, so please be quick and efficient with your workups.

[Linda Holmes]

For everybody who looks at Noah Wylie and thinks about er, the show also shares some behind the scenes DNA with er, including the Pit creator R. Scott Gemmell and the Pit executive producer John Wells, both of whom worked on er. Michael Crichton was also involved in creating er, and his estate has sued, claiming that the Pit is an unauthorized reboot of er. I don't think we're going to get into the merits of that lawsuit, but it's worth at least knowing about. The Pit is streaming now on Max. Andrew, I am going to start with you. Did you fall into the Pit?

[Andrew Limbong]

Ah, help me. I can't get out. Listen, the Ernest of it all is still like, in my head. Has this escaped the shadow of er? And I think so, and I think I generally like it. I think there are a couple things about the 24 esque structure that give it something interesting to say about the state of hospitals today, the state of healthcare. I also think, though sometimes it kind of drags it down because it doesn't have the thing that 24 had, where at like minute 53, Jack Bauer found out that someone like a bomb is set off inside of a cougar and they need to go fix that problem or whatever. But generally I think it successfully steps into its own towards episode four or so. As a Pretty enjoyable procedural, plus with a hint of elevation to it.

[Linda Holmes]

All right, Trevel, how about you? The pit through your eyes.

[Trevill Anderson]

Yeah, I'm very middle of the road on this one. Okay. Cause I love a procedural. I actually love getting to know all of the personal details about all the many, many characters. And because of the structure of the pit, you really are forced to learn about the characters as they are being nurses and doctors. You know, you don't get to go home with any of them, for example, which is a little different and something to get used to.

[Andrew Limbong]

It's the thing about emergency medicine. You never know what you're gonna get, and we get everything.

[Linda Holmes]

Is that why you chose it?

[Andrew Limbong]

Maybe a little. I also get to pick my shifts, which for a single mother, is amazing.

[Trevill Anderson]

But it's super fast paced. I like most of the characters. It was a good watch, but is it appointment television? I'm not sure.

[Linda Holmes]

Mm. When I watched this. So there are eventually gonna be 15 episodes of this. We got 10. And I watched, I think, all 10 of these on the same day. Sheesh. And I just got into it and I, you know, like Trevel, I am a procedural person as well as a hospital show person. And it was interesting because I agree with Andrew that the initial question is, obviously you're looking at Noah Wiley in an er. Are you just thinking the whole time about er? But I think, you know, it's stylistically different enough. It's not as frenetic as er. It's not intended to be as frenetic as er. They don't have all of the kind of everybody comes in and screams at the same time. It's a little more like if you've actually ever been in an ER while having an emergency, which unfortunately I have. It feels a little more like that than other hospital shows that I've seen. But I don't know that it owes a lot more to ER creatively than it owes to Grey's Anatomy and Chicago Hope. And what I did really appreciate about it, I think, the most, is that it does seem to be trying to operate with some realism about what these doctors are actually dealing with, including, you know, these things where Dr. Robbie is being kind of followed around by somebody who is telling him how important it is to, like, get numbers up and patient satisfaction surveys.

[Andrew Limbong]

Do you know how likely patients are.

[Linda Holmes]

To recommend this hospital?

[Unknown Character]

This is an emergency department, not a taco bell.

[Linda Holmes]

11%.

[Unknown Character]

Well, if you want people to be happier, don't make them wait for 12 hours.

[Linda Holmes]

So I do like that, and I like the Fact that there's a discussion of, like, what happens when hospitals or parts of hospitals are taken over by management companies of different kinds. I think those things are all really valuable and I appreciated the presence of those kinds of considerations, you know?

[Andrew Limbong]

Yeah. I think, you know, Linda, what you said about the tone of the show, how, like, you know, ER does that thing where it would bounce back between Trauma one and Trauma two, like, back and forth, right? That doesn't really happen on this show. There's a couple moments, but there's one, like, in episode two, where the dude who, like, smashes his face on the ground riding on a scooter and he comes in and they have to, first off, shout out to, like, what they can do on Max. They, like, lift the guy's nose up from the inside. It's so gnarly.

[Linda Holmes]

Yeah. There is some gory stuff going on on this show, which I kind of appreciated.

[Andrew Limbong]

But, like, in. In er, right? That would be underscored by, like, that, like, score. Whereas, like, the score in this show is you almost, like, don't notice it. It's really subtle, it's really tasteful. You like, it just, like, elevates your heart rate just a scooch and then it disappears for a bit.

[Unknown Character]

Here we go. 1, 2, 3.

[Andrew Limbong]

It manages to do that without sacrificing interest. Like, it's not boring, right? It's not like a slower. Like, it still feels. Has that energy.

[Trevill Anderson]

It's also still very chaotic, right?

[Linda Holmes]

Exactly.

[Trevill Anderson]

Still going from issue to issue in the hospital. And I think, for me, I was actually more taken by the form, by the chaos than I was any particular, like, acting performance or anything. Like, I just. By the end of every single episode, I was surprised that we were at the end because the episode just moved so quickly. We were dealing with, you know, seven different, you know, major that people might have to deal with in the er, in addition to personal things that are coming up for these folks while they're on this shift. But I did appreciate the fact that while it maintains some of that chaos that you might have felt in er, it's done in a different way that still, like, I think, keeps you on the edge of your seat. So that when the end of the episode comes, you're actually not expecting that to be the end of the episode. Which makes you, Linda, wanna continue watching if you have 10 of them to watch.

[Linda Holmes]

I think that's what happened with me. And, you know, one of the other interesting things, you know, you talk about the pacing of it, and I found that when I rewatched ER not that long ago. I rewatched a bunch of er, all of it.

[Andrew Limbong]

Did you make it through to the end?

[Linda Holmes]

I did not make it through 15 seasons, but I watched, you know, when a reasonable amount of the original cast was around, you know.

[Andrew Limbong]

Right.

[Linda Holmes]

And one of the things I noticed was how in this er, the doctors have nothing but time to sit around and talk to people about their lives and meet them and discover what interesting characters they are and all that stuff. I think there's much less of that illusion in this show. The way that you get to know the people who are in this hospital is because the doctor talks to them a little bit at a time all day. And that felt to me more like what. What more happens in a hospital, as opposed to the doctor being able to just, like, sit around and have a long chat with you about, like, what. What you're like and what your kids are like. And, you know, it would be great if they did, but I think they usually don't relatively close in time to my viewing of this show. I sort of experienced a thing in my own life where somebody that I knew, you know, was having some care issues that were pretty. It was pretty, like, complicated. And you feel like the communication's not what you wish it was. Right. They're not communicating with us enough. They're not telling us enough about what's going on. I think they do a good job with this show of explaining how you can understand how each of these patients wants more of the doctor's time than they're getting. But you can also understand that Dr. Rabi, in particular, is giving as much time as he can to each of the people. And so it felt compassionate toward the staff, to me, in the sense that it really. It really kind of gets across that idea that they are dealing with a whole bunch of things at the same time. And when they're not talking to you or they're not updating you, it's not because they're, like, talking at the nurses station, which is what it would be on er. Right.

[Andrew Limbong]

They're not making out in the break room.

[Trevill Anderson]

Right.

[Linda Holmes]

It's because they're off talking to another family. Right. That, plus the fact that there's even a recognition at one point of the fact that patients get angry these days at staff and can lash out at them. So it did feel to me like maybe it's a little more understanding about the challenges of being in that kind of job in this particular moment in all of our lives.

[Trevill Anderson]

And then it also brings up A variety of, I feel like, of the moment, topics that should be showing up in a medical show. Whether that's abortion, whether that is how trans people are treated in, you know, medical facilities, whether that is, you know.

[Linda Holmes]

Opiates and busted BBLs.

[Trevill Anderson]

You know, there's everything here which I think also keeps you as a viewer interested in the many, many ways that people experience emergencies and then how the staff of these hospitals are, you know, trying their best to save people's lives.

[Andrew Limbong]

Well, you know, when I was watching it, I kind of rolled my eyes at how much from, like, headlines of the day that they were trying to cram in there. But, like, you know, this has inspired my own ER re watch, you know, and I was like, oh, they've always been doing this. This is just like part of the DNA.

[Linda Holmes]

Grey's Anatomy has also been like that. You know, the medical challenges people have are very much part of the zeitgeist or whatever.

[Andrew Limbong]

Yeah. I think it's so interesting, though, Linda, what you were saying about how getting to know a character bit by bit is that because every episode is an hour, if you have, like, a plot that you don't like or is boring to you, it's like, ugh, I'm gonna be stuck with these guys for that, for a couple more episodes. It's true.

[Linda Holmes]

It's true.

[Andrew Limbong]

The brother and sister of the older man who is dying. I don't know why, I just could not. I thought they were so, like, I did not have any time for that storyline. I thought that their energy was weirdly like Folgers Ad, you know, I thought they were a little too close and didn't like it. And I was like, oh, we're just. We're going to be stuck with these guys for a little bit. Okay, I guess. So what would you do?

[Unknown Character]

I really can't answer that for you. This is your father. That's your decision to make. I can guarantee you that we will keep him as comfortable as possible if a natural death is what you choose.

[Linda Holmes]

But he's not your father and he can recover from this.

[Andrew Limbong]

What my sister means is that we're.

[Linda Holmes]

Still deciding the best thing to do. Interestingly, that's one of the stories where I told a couple people, if you have aging parents, watch out for this socking you right in the aging parents, you know, and I think you're probably right that different people are going to take different levels of interest in different stories. But, you know, we heard that clip in the intro where he was talking about the fact that they have all of these people who are only in the ER because they're waiting for beds upstairs in the hospital. And there's a lot of really, to me, really interesting kind of territorial, departmental warring going on about, you know, you're just. You have beds. You're just pretending you don't have beds because you don't want to give up the beds that you have, which I think is interesting, because that kind of bureaucratic business is always going on everywhere.

[Trevill Anderson]

One thing I did feel was missing, perhaps for me, is, you know, I really wanted a meaty piece of, like, script for somebody just to give me a really good, you know, scene, you know, where they were deeply feeling something or challenging something. My favorite, you know, medical drama as of late is the Good Doctor. I was looking for a Good doctor scene where somebody stares into the camera and a single tear falls down their face. Like Denzel Washington in Glory.

[Linda Holmes]

Denzel Washington and St Else Fair.

[Trevill Anderson]

I did not get that. And that is something that I just felt like I was expecting. But that might just be, you know, more of a comment on me as a viewer, less on, you know, the show itself.

[Linda Holmes]

Well, it's perhaps a comment on some of the advantages and disadvantages of perhaps a more realistic way of approaching how these people are working. Because. And I would say, too, it's possible that more of that is going to come up in those last episodes that we haven't seen where they're kind of building to kind of the doctor loses it over, you know, something. But I do think that the way that they approach that is that even the doctors who are having serious personal crises, they just sort of have to go back to work. And so that's one of the reasons that you don't get those big emotional scenes is that, listen, you may have something happen to you, but you have to go back to work. Now, is it realistic necessarily, that everybody on this show would have major personal things going on on the same day? Maybe not. I think all these things could happen. But it's interesting because I think you're right. There's not a lot of time for these folks to sit around and have deep emotional discussions about their lives because they're running around trying to deal with so many emergencies.

[Trevill Anderson]

Yeah. And I just feel like it just requires you as a viewer to, like, you got to pay a little bit more attention because a lot of the acting is, for me at least, was internal. You know, you could see it on people's faces, but they're not necessarily saying anything. As a viewer, it requires you to like, actually pay attention to what's happening or you might miss something if you're just, you know, playing the pit in the background while you're cooking dinner.

[Andrew Limbong]

I was scared in the first episode where we get that first Covid ER flashback from Robbie. I thought we were going to get one of those, like, in an episode. I was like, do we need to be. But they're really tasteful. It's like they let you know, like, when he's like, dealing with it in his head just enough and they don't, like, they trust that you're watching it, not making dinner. Ice soup. Right. Yeah. Right.

[Linda Holmes]

Yeah. And I think they do a good job acknowledging that, at least for some people, it continues to be something that they think about all the time, depending on what their losses were, depending on what their experiences were, depending on what they have or haven't done to kind of deal with it since then. But I agree with Andrew that it could have become kind of all about looking back at that, which it doesn't.

[Trevill Anderson]

Yeah.

[Linda Holmes]

Is there anything else that you would like to talk about?

[Andrew Limbong]

I didn't realize that they were still making like, cocky students, like, at the. At the med student faculty. I didn't realize that that model of the archetype was still. Was still being made. I was like, oh, okay, we're still. We're still cranking these guys out. Okay.

[Linda Holmes]

I thought you were some kind of kid genius.

[Unknown Announcer]

I'm like any other third year med student, clearly.

[Linda Holmes]

I like the medical students. It's fascinating to me that, like you say, they have a lot of the same. They make a lot of the same errors that young doctors used to make for a long time, not just on ER but on other medical shows. It's the balance of, like, you have to have confidence and you have to, you know, you have to be humble.

[Andrew Limbong]

But I think they deploy them smartly. Like they spread them out across.

[Trevill Anderson]

They're spread out. Yeah.

[Andrew Limbong]

There's no canoodling in this show, right?

[Linda Holmes]

No, not really.

[Andrew Limbong]

There's some hints of past canoodles that have happened.

[Linda Holmes]

Yes.

[Andrew Limbong]

But there's no active.

[Trevill Anderson]

Yeah.

[Andrew Limbong]

Which I think is interesting and refreshing almost.

[Linda Holmes]

That's the sense in which it's not Grey's Anatomy, certainly. Like, it's not all about the doctors all sneaking off to make out with each other and all that.

[Andrew Limbong]

ER had a fair share of.

[Linda Holmes]

Absolutely, absolutely. ER did too. All right, well, the Pit is streaming on Max. We want to know what you think about the Pit. Find [e-mail] PCHH that brings us to the end of our show. Trevill Anderson, Andrew Limbong, thank you so much for being here.

[Andrew Limbong]

Thank you.

[Trevill Anderson]

Thank you, Linda.

[Linda Holmes]

And just a reminder that signing up for Pop Culture Happy Hour plus is a great way to support our show and public radio. And you get to listen to all of our episodes sponsor free. So please go find out more at plus.npr.org happy hour or visit the link in our show notes. This episode is produced by Liz Metzger and Lennon Sherburn and edited by Mike Katoff. Our supervising producer is Jessica Reedy. And hello, Come in provides our theme music. Thank you for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from npr. I'm Linda Holmes, and we'll see you all next time.

[Unknown Announcer]

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