ER fans have got a December to remember this year because The Pitt is coming to network television on TNT. ER is generally ranked among the greatest medical dramas of all time, and even if you’ve never seen a minute of it, the acronym still probably conjures up Dr. Doug Ross before it does a literal emergency room.
The series ended back in 2009, but over 16 years later, ER still holds a place in the pop culture conversation. Every medical drama that has come afterward is necessarily compared to the groundbreaking series, and only a few have gotten close to the quality. Fortunately for ER fans, one that has is coming to TNT.
The Pitt Is Coming To TNT On December 1
It’s recently been announced that The Pitt, a 15-episode original HBO medical drama that premiered in January 2025, will be airing on TNT beginning December 1st, 2026, at 9 PM EST in anticipation of The Pitt season 2, set to premiere on HBO Max on January 8, 2026.
The first three episodes will air back-to-back on the first, with another three episodes coming out every Friday through December 29. Notably, every episode of The Pitt will air unedited, a first when it comes to HBO shows arriving on a network TV station, and a crucial decision for Warner Bros. and its subsidiary channel.
While Peacemaker, True Blood, and other shows have made their way to network television, the HBO-ness of those shows is usually scrubbed away, leaving a version that won’t damage any children who happen to wander in on their parents’ TV time. The Pitt will be shown exactly as it premiered on HBO.
Why Every ER Fan Should Be Watching The Pitt
The decision to show The Pitt unedited is a very wise one. The medical gore and trauma of the series is necessary to show what the doctors and the nurses of Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center’s emergency room are up against and why it’s not so easy to relax and decompress once their shifts are over.
It’s a realistic aspect of The Pitt that fans of ER will recognize and appreciate. There’s quite a bit linking ER and The Pitt beyond both taking place in the emergency room. Both series carefully weave together engrossing character arcs with real medical emergencies that don’t sugarcoat the difficulties of life in the hospital.
What’s more, Noah Wyle stars in both series. In ER, he plays Dr. John Carter, while in The Pitt, he leads the ensemble as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch. Producers R. Scott Gemmill and John Wells, who worked on ER, also helped co-create The Pitt, and ER fans without HBO Max can check out what all the fuss is about.
- Release Date
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January 9, 2025
- Network
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Max
- Showrunner
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R. Scott Gemmill
- Directors
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Amanda Marsalis
- Writers
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Joe Sachs, Cynthia Adarkwa
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Noah Wyle
Dr. Michael ‘Robby’ Robinavitch
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Tracy Ifeachor
Dr. Heather Collins
