Max’snewest original medical drama is officially a runaway streaming hit, after previously scoring with Rotten Tomatoes users to the tune of a 91% audience score. Launched in 2020,Max offers an array of movies and shows plucked from WBD’s extensive library of content, including iconic HBO series. The streamer’s slate of original dramatic shows may be small, but it includes numerous interesting projects by major filmmakers.
No less a figure than Ridley Scott contributed to the former HBO Max’s very first original drama series, the strange sci-fi excursionRaised By Wolves. The streamer has since explored a variety of other genres with help from some big names in movies and TV. They did true crime with 2022’s buzzyThe Staircase, starring awards-season darlings Colin Firth and Toni Collette. Also in the true crime space, 2023’sLove & Deathwas penned by TV veteran David E. Kelley, and starred Elizabeth Olsen. The streamer even took a trip to Yakuza-controlled Japan with Michael Mann’s real-life crime dramaTokyo Vice.
The Pitt Is One Of The Top 5 Most-Viewed Premieres In The History Of Max Originals
It’s A Hit Both Globally And Domestically
2025 sees Max still ticking items off its checklist of genres, hitting the medical drama space with its newest series,The Pitt. Created byERveteran R. Scott Gemmill,the show takes a pulse-pounding look at one shift in a Pittsburgh emergency room, with each of its 15 episodes depicting an hour of action. Gemmill brought alongERstar Noah Wylie toheadline thePittcast, dropping the first two episodes on January 9, with new installments arriving weekly thereafter.
The Streamer Hopes It Found The New ER
Custom Image by Milica Djordjevic
ERwas a game-changer when it hit NBC back in the 1990s, bringing a greater realism to the classic medical drama form, much as the contemporaneousNYPD Bluedid to the cop show genre. Grittiness and edge help makeThe Pittrealistic as well,as the show endeavors to capture the hour-by-hour goings-on in a bustling emergency room,with a level of graphic - and sometimes downright gory - detail befitting a 2025 streaming series.
The Pittproducers were sued last August by the widow ofERcreator Michael Crichton, who claims Crichton’s heirs are owed money from what they argue is essentially anERreboot.
It’s yet to be seen how things shake out forThe Pitt, but early returns suggest Max has a major hit on its hands. The streamer has already produced a signature comedy inHacks, whose fourth season is set to arrive in 2025. Perhaps their gritty hospital-set pulse-pounder can step up and become the first ongoing Max drama series to make major waves, both in terms of streaming numbers and awards.
Source: The Wrap
The Pitt - Season 1
The Pitt is a medical drama developed by veterans of the television series ER. The series will follow healthcare workers set in Pittsburgh, showing he challenges faced in the modern-day United States by nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals.
