The Era of Network Nostalgia Is Here, and The Pitt Stands to Benefit

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Welcome again as we gear up for another Emmys season here at Gold Rush! The Emmy nominations are about 3 months away, and the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards will be held in five months. Over these coming weeks, we’ll be exploring where things stand in this year’s race as we near the end of the 2024-25 TV season. To start off, let’s ponder: Will Max’s fresh medical drama, The Pitt, which has garnered praise for its traditional medical procedural approach tailored to streaming platforms, manage to secure significant Emmy recognition?

Discussing The Pitt’s first season, which follows a single shift in an emergency room under the guidance of senior attending physician Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch (Noah Wyle), without mentioning its clear influence from the iconic NBC series ER would be challenging. It’s evident that R. Scott Gemmill, The Pitt’s creator and showrunner, is a former writer for ER, John Wells, who was once the boss at ER, serves as executive producer for this new show, and Wyle himself portrayed Dr. John Carter on ER for 11 seasons. Over the course of its 15-season run, ER garnered an impressive 124 Emmy nominations and won 23 awards, including the Outstanding Drama Series award in 1996. Alongside shows like Law & Order and The West Wing, ER represents the final golden age of network prestige drama, with the last network show to win the Drama Series Emmy being 24 in 2006.

Initially, the Emmy contenders in Drama categories appear to be dominated by shows that have come back after an extended absence: HBO’s “The White Lotus” and “The Last of Us”, Apple TV+’s “Severance”, Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale”, Disney+’s “Andor”, and Netflix’s “Squid Game”. With the Outstanding Drama Series category allowing eight nominees, there isn’t much space left for new shows. Among the fresh contenders, NBC Universal’s “The Day of the Jackal” and Hulu’s “Paradise” are notable, but it’s the highly anticipated “The Pitt” that is generating the most buzz. (There are rumors about a second season of Netflix’s popular new show “Adolescence”, but nothing has been confirmed yet. If a second season does get confirmed, due to its anthology format, it would still compete in the Limited Series category for now.)

One significant point is that critics have highly praised the series titled “The Pitt“. Our very own Kathryn VanArendonk commented, “It possesses many aspects that contemporary medical dramas often lack: It moves swiftly and challenges your understanding, and it focuses more on everyday hardships rather than unusual medical enigmas.” The Atlantic even called it “the best representation of [the medical drama] in over a generation”. Noah Wyle was praised as an endlessly captivating lead by Vanity Fair. However, what truly impressed critics is how much “The Pitt” draws from the appealing qualities of shows from the past. The similarities to the classic series like “ER” made these comparisons inevitable, but references to TV shows from three decades ago aren’t always positive. Fortunately for “The Pitt“, it debuted at a time when people are yearning for the good old days of television due to streaming exhaustion. As Alan Sepinwall wrote in Rolling Stone, “For the most part, it serves as a strong reminder of why certain structures are so resilient, how enjoyable they can still be when executed skillfully, and why we shouldn’t be too quick to discard all the elements that have made TV TV for such a long time.” Indeed, we seem to be entering an era where nostalgia for networks is prevalent, and “The Pitt” looks set to reap the benefits.

In essence, The Pitt appeals by recapturing the charm of 1997 network TV with its blend of science and magic, making it a captivating series. This unique quality serves as an effective hook, particularly when it comes to Emmy awards campaigns. Unlike other throwback shows, The Pitt stands out as a bridge between the conventionality of network television and the innovations of the streaming era. With its season length – 15 episodes in the first season, concluding this week – it occupies a midpoint between the traditional 22-episode seasons on network TV and the shorter 8-to-12 episode runs on streaming platforms. Moreover, while structured as a continuous story divided into multiple parts, characteristic of streaming TV, The Pitt also incorporates self-contained arcs that unfold and resolve within a few episodes, allowing characters to progress to new patients.

Among its assets, The Pitt’s most compelling card for Emmy recognition lies with its leading actor, Noah Wyle. Known for his role in the legendary ER cast that featured George Clooney, Julianna Margulies, Eriq LaSalle, Anthony Edwards, and Sherry Stringfield, Wyle was the newcomer among them, often providing the audience a relatable point of view. (This strategy is reminiscent of The Pitt’s approach with its trio of interns.) Wyle received five consecutive Emmy nominations for his role during the initial phases of the show, although he did not take home the award. (ER only won three acting Emmys throughout its run: one for Julianna Margulies in the first season and two guest-acting awards later on for Sally Field and Ray Liotta.) As The Pitt’s storylines progressed and Carter matured to a principal character, the Emmy Awards began focusing on shows like The West Wing and The Sopranos.

Since his days on ER, Wyle has continued to work extensively in television. Among other actors, no one has boosted the TNT Original Series brand more than Wyle, who starred in The Librarians franchise and Steven Spielberg’s Falling Skies. During the SAG-AFTRA strike, his visibility demonstrated his commitment to the industry, a trait that others in the field recognize. Wyle’s portrayal of Dr. Robby seems like a fitting conclusion to his career, and it’s quite poetic that this role has earned him Emmy consideration for Lead Actor at last.

There’s a reason to be a bit wary about The Pitt’s Emmy prospects, apart from the usual first-year jitters with Emmy voters who favor established shows. This is because two heavyweights in the Drama Series category are also HBO productions: The Last of Us and The White Lotus. In their last eligibility year, these shows received 24 and 23 nominations respectively, with The White Lotus particularly shining in the supporting-acting categories, accounting for nine out of the total 16 nominees. However, it was HBO’s Succession that garnered the most nominations that same year.

I’m thrilled to share that Casey Bloys, the chairman and CEO of HBO Max Content, seems to be enthusiastically backing our project, “The Pitt.” He’s particularly intrigued by its potential to set Max apart from HBO as a unique brand. In an engaging chat with Josef Adalian, Bloys expounded on how “The Pitt” embodies his vision for what he envisions as a “Max show”: a captivating and distinct production that truly represents our brand’s identity.

The question that had been on everyone’s mind was, “What distinguishes an HBO series from a Max series? How can we differentiate them?” An HBO show is something well-known and easily recognizable; you can point to many examples and say, “This is what it should feel like.” On the other hand, a Max show was still up for debate. One thought was that a network-style show doesn’t typically fit with HBO. I am particularly pleased with The Pitt, as it offers a clear example of a Max original; it does something that an HBO show doesn’t, and now it’s not just theoretical—it’s a successful series across all metrics: reviews, performance, and audience engagement. Remarkably, it has even sparked discussions in the medical field about being the most realistic medical procedural yet. Many articles have been written by doctors or nurses who tell their spouses, “If you want to know what I do every day, watch this.” That’s significant.

In an intriguing turn of events, during a recent chat, Max Mindfully hinted at a strategic Emmys campaign for the gripping series, “The Pitt”. With “Hacks”, another captivating original from Max, leading the pack in Comedy categories, a triumphant Emmy win for “The Pitt” in the Drama category would undeniably magnify Max’s reputation as an autonomous powerhouse in the industry. This strategic maneuver appears to be exactly what Max is striving towards, subtly distinguishing itself from HBO.

A confidant of Max takes a tactful stance regarding collaborative branding during awards season, stating that the Warner Bros. Discovery sector won’t distinguish between Originals from HBO and Max, instead choosing to promote “The Pitt” equally with all their productions, emphasizing the series’ unique qualities. This method appears to be consistent with the advertisement aired prior to the finale of The White Lotus, which showcased both HBO and Max shows together without any discernible differentiation.

Regarding its distinct qualities, “The Pitt stands out to us at HBO and Max due to its unique aspect of being a 15-episode series unfolding in real time, filmed right here in Los Angeles, providing employment opportunities for hundreds of highly skilled professionals across various production aspects.

In a period after the strike and wildfires when the LA industry is rebuilding, the fact that The Pitt has a 15-episode production based in Los Angeles is a significant advantage. Compared to The White Lotus, which films at various international locations, or Severance shooting at a dystopian office park in New Jersey, supporting this medical drama set in Pittsburgh can be seen as supporting LA itself. This gives The Pitt a strong campaign position.

As a dedicated movie enthusiast, I’m particularly optimistic about the Emmy nominations for “The Pitt.” In my view, it has the most promising chances in three categories: Outstanding Drama Series, Lead Actor in a Drama (for Wyle), and Outstanding Directing. The Drama Series category holds eight slots, and after considering heavyweights like “White Lotus,” “Severance,” and “The Last of Us,” there’s quite a crowd jostling on the ‘maybe’ list. In terms of Directing, John Wells, who masterfully directed the pilot, is an Emmy veteran with 26 nominations and six wins, mainly for producing shows like “ER,” “The West Wing,” and “China Beach.” Interestingly, he secured his first Directing nomination in 2022, for “Maid.

In addition to “The Pitt”‘s ensemble, there is speculation about which actors could potentially be nominated in the Supporting category. At this moment, Gold Derby doesn’t see any member of “The Pitt” ensemble as having a chance greater than 1%, but I am more optimistic. If I were to make predictions based on my crystal ball gaze, the odds would likely be arranged as follows:

– Katherine LaNasa for her portrayal of tough-but-kind nurse Dana Evans
– Fiona Dourif as single mom Dr. Cassie McKay
– Gerran Howell as the overwhelmed rookie Dennis Whitaker
– Taylor Dearden as the stealthily capable Dr. Melissa King

Lana Nasa’s character Dana stands as the calm center amidst the chaotic storm that is the Pitt’s emergency room, and a deep sense of loyalty towards Dana arises as you follow the series. Award voters often vote for characters they admire. This also applies to Taylor Dearden’s character Mel King, who sparks “I would die for her” tweets. John Dourif’s Cassie McKay has many significant scenes and complex emotions, which can catch the attention of award voters. It’s hard not to consider nominating Whitaker, a newcomer in The Pitt, alongside the original Dr. Carter himself.

Regarding The Pitt’s Emmys prospects, a quote from Casey Bloys interview resonates: “I mean, look,” Bloys said regarding an Emmys push for HBO, “first-season shows — who knows? But the show deserves recognition, and Noah Wyle, particularly, is worthy of it.” At this point, Noah Wyle appears to have the best chance, but nothing is set in stone.

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2025-04-12 19:55