The new Max medical drama chronicles a 15-hour shift at a fictional Pittsburgh emergency room. The second episode of The Pitt — the new Max medical drama starring Noah Wyle as the chief attending doctor in an overwhelmed emergency room in Pittsburgh — ends with the grimmest four minutes I've seen on TV in a while.

He's immersing himself in work, but he's doing exactly what anybody would be doing in his job on shift,' says Wyle.

"The Pitt" is a medical drama from the studio behind "ER," the producer behind "ER," and centered on one of the signature stars of "ER." But it's not "ER." Sure, it may or may not have begun its life as an attempt to reboot "ER,

A medical drama going for bracing realism is anchored by a strong central performance from a veteran TV doctor.

That landmark show, lauded for its character-driven, gritty realism (which set the standard for future IV-infused TV) launched on NBC in 1994 and gave Wyle his breakout role as an earnest medical student,

Max's new hospital drama The Pitt aims to bring some gritty realism to medical procedurals. Noah Wyle leads the series as Dr. Michael "Robby" Rabinovitch. The show was created by ER writer R. Scott Gemmill and executive produced by ER showrunner John Wells.

The Pitt,” on HBO’s streaming platform Max, is a weekly medical drama that emulates the kind of shows that have long been — and remain — a staple on network TV. It’s an instructive blueprint for other streamers to follow suit.

Experience a 15-hour hospital shift in real-time with Max’s new emergency room series. Health care workers have been through hell and back over the last five years, and one new show is looking to give you an inside look at the daily grind they go through to save people’s lives.