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This spring has been a great season for television. Several popular, weekly shows are currently airing and generating loads of discussion and excitement online. One of these shows is The Pitt, a medical drama created by ER writers R. Scott Gemmill and John Wells alongside ER star Noah Wyle.
Set in an emergency department in Pittsburgh, season one takes place over the course of a 12-hour shift, with each episode covering one hour of that shift. Viewers have been singing its praises since it premiered in January, and many medical professionals have called it the most accurate hospital series they’ve ever seen.
American audiences have always loved medical dramas—from The Pitt’s predecessor, ER, to the smash hit Grey’s Anatomy—so it’s not a huge surprise the show is a success. But the series differs from most shows of this ilk in both its real-time premise and its status as a prestige medical drama airing on Max.
Fans react passionately to ‘The Pitt’
Many fans have noted these unique elements and expressed their passion for the series online. After only a few episodes, fans found themselves deeply invested in the characters and their storylines. Some used common TV fandom lingo, calling the characters their family. “Those are my parents and they raised me,” one fan said of two characters on the show.
Despite only knowing them for a few hours, many viewers quickly professed their devotion to the characters, creating fancams and posting rhapsodic comments. Some conveyed their anger and indignation when such characters were treated badly, or their despair when they were sad.
Indeed, one of the aspects that’s made the show so successful is the way its characters spark such strong reactions from viewers. Many fans immediately latched on to superpowered charge nurse Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa), with one quoting the famous Oprah clip “I don’t know a better person.” Others stan Dr. Mohan (Supriya Ganesh), a patient, kindhearted resident, and Mel (Taylor Dearden), a socially awkward doctor with a heart of gold. “I would kill for her,” one fan wrote about Mel.
Debate arose about intern Dr. Santos (Isa Briones), who some fans root for and others despise. There is even a megathread about Santos on the r/ThePittTVShow subreddit to compile everyone’s different opinions about her. Regardless of who you stan, watching The Pitt “legitimately makes you feel like you’re a character in the show,” as one fan put it.
Like most medical dramas, The Pitt is a highly emotional series. As such, fans have been discussing it in hyperbolic terms. “every episode of the pitt leaves me like this,” one fan wrote, posting a Gif of a limp child being dragged down a hallway. “fuck me dude the pitt is hitting me like a train,” wrote another. “Time for my weekly anxiety trip,” wrote a third. “i do not have anymore emotions left,” one X user posted.
Even waiting a week in between episodes has fans in agony. “having to wait an entire week for new the pitt eps is like being in withdrawal,” a viewer wrote. “i don’t think i can wait another week for the next episode of the pitt,” another wrote, using a gif of Leonardo DiCaprio suffering in The Revenant.
‘The Pitt’ is giving fans something to look forward to
Despite these seemingly distressing responses, many fans describe The Pitt as a vivifying force in their lives. Several X users called the series a “reason to live.” One fan called it their “emotional support show.”
These feelings are heightened for the fans watching several currently airing shows this season (such as Severance and The White Lotus), giving them extra content to look forward to every week—and even more to live for.
Such reactions indicate how much fans are clinging to their favorite TV series right now. In this case, fans are holding the show in a vice grip and integrating it into their weekly routines. TV fans have always engaged with television this way, but it seems many viewers are finding the promise of new episodes more serious than ever.
Max should take heed—if The Pitt is fans’ “reason for living,” a season two renewal is of vital importance.
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