HBO has often been home to some of the most iconic television series in history, whether it’s the compelling craft of The Wire or the shock-and-awe of Game of Thrones. In recent years, HBO’s seen its throne challenged by streaming services like Netflix and Prime Video, but it now has a new series that’s become the talk of the town and a bona fide streaminghit. That series is the medical drama The Pitt, which just wrapped up its sophomore season on HBO Max. Though it’s a fairly new show, The Pitt has proven to be a massive draw that could last for multiple seasons, especially with new info about its ratings.
The official Nielsen ratings for The Pitt reveal that Season 2 clocks in at a whopping 15 billion minutes of watch time, and 1.133 million minutes watched in the week before its season finale. The only other show that’s come close to those numbers is The Boys, which pulled 889 million minutes in the same week. But while The Boys is wrapping up its run this year, The Pitt was renewed for a third season, and if it keeps up its momentum, it’ll continue to deliver a show that wows critics and audiences alike.
‘The Pitt’ Takes a Realistic Look At The Hardships of the Medical Field
The Pitt centers on the staff of the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center, better known as “The Pitt”, which is guided by senior physician Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch (Noah Wyle). Robby and the rest of the Pitt’s staff deal with incoming patients, alongside their own personal issues and trauma. The genesis of The Pitt began when Wyle started receiving messages from medical professionals on social media thanking him for his role in ER, which inspired them to pursue medicine. Wyle showed these messages to ER producer/showrunner John Wells, who later revealed in an interview that he had heard similar stories from other physicians and wanted to explore those issues in a new show.
“There are significant new problems within the healthcare system, particularly within urban medicine, that have reared their heads. A number of physicians we worked with before, who are still practicing medicine, started to tell us these stories, and it was like, well, I guess there is a reason to go back and to think about these issues in the healthcare world, particularly in emergency medicine and urban medicine.”
The Pitt doesn’t hold back from showcasing the toll that the medical field can take on practitioners and patients alike. Robby is struggling throughout his shift in Season 1, as it marks the four-year anniversary of losing his mentor during the COVID-19 pandemic. Another Season 1 episode addresses the shortage of nurses,a very real problem in the medical field. That same episode also has Robby dealing with a patient who purposefully got herself admitted so that she can find help for her son, who is having his own mental health issues. By addressing real-life medical issues and their effects, The Pitt is the rare medical drama that feels truly compelling.
HBO Max’s Biggest Sleeper Hit in Years Lands a Perfect Final Score From Critics
Season 5 premieres tonight.
Other Streaming Shows Should Take Notes from ‘The Pitt’
What makes The Pitt such a gripping watch is that it’s told in real time, with each episode corresponding to an hour of the staff’s shift. Each season consists of 15 episodes, a far cry from the usual 8-10 episodesmost streaming shows are allotted nowadays. This means that The Pitt doesn’t overstay its welcome, but that it also has time to actually develop a story rather than cramming everything into a limited amount of time. While shows like Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord and Invincible have made the 8-10 episode count work, more series could take a lead from The Pitt‘s book and produce longer seasons.
The Pitt also stands apart from its streaming competition due to its production, which has resulted in a season for each year. Again, this is a practice that’s become rare, as most streaming shows have taken years in between seasons. By defying the rules of current streaming shows, The Pitt has become HBO’s newest crown jewel, and its impressive viewership records prove audiences want more shows like it. If The Pitt keeps up its current record, fans will see more of Dr. Robby and his fellow medical practitioners.
Seasons 1 and 2 of The Pitt are available to stream on HBO Max.