HBO MAX is headed back to Pittsburgh…in a sense. Announced via press release and on Max’s X account, shooting on Season 2 of a commercially and critically acclaimed show began on Monday at Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank, California. A tonal fusion of 24 and The Bear, the fast-paced medical drama follows Dr. Michael Robinavitch (Noah Wyle) and the personnel at a fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center over one fifteen-hour shift, taken hour by hour. Billed as a “realistic examination of the challenges facing healthcare workers in today’s America,” per the official synopsis, the show has been praised for its unflinching accuracy of the current state of medicine in the U.S.
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Since the series’s premiere in January of this year, The Pitt has remained among the top three of the streaming platform’s most-watched titles globally. A runaway hit, the series was renewed for a second season a month after it debuted. In addition to the sneak peek of the first day of filming, HBO Max confirmed that Season 2 of The Pitt will return in January 2026. In April, at a Deadline Contenders TV event, the show’s creator and executive producer, R. Scott Gemmill, revealed that the next shift on The Pitt will occur over Fourth of July weekend.
The Secret to The Pitt‘s Success? The Lead Creative Team Are All Alums of One Hit Medical Drama
While there wasn’t too much to mine from the brief tease HBO Max posted to their X account on Monday, it’s clear that both EP/Director John Wells and EP/Lead Actor Noah Wyle are back in action. Wells, Wyle, and Gemmill became household names through their involvement with the smash hit medical drama series E.R. Wells ran the series while Gemmill climbed up the ranks of the show’s writing staff over its 11-season run. Wyle played young Dr. John Carter on the show and was nominated for 5 Primetime Emmys during E.R.‘s run for portraying a man who begins the series as a third-year medical student and ultimately becomes an attending physician.
Therefore, Wyle’s role as Robinavitch, the fictional Pitt’s chief attendant feels like a spiritual successor to his character on E.R. So much so that the estate of Michael Crichton, the creator E.R. is suing Warner Bros. Discovery and The Pitt‘s producers, claiming that “The Pitt” is an unauthorized reboot of the original show. Even so, an ongoing legal battle can’t slow The Pitt’s momentum. The cast and crew in Max’s video appeared engaged and eager to be back on set. Wyle was also recently nominated for a Gotham TV Award for his portrayal of the weary but relentless Dr. Robinavitch, and we’re pretty sure another Primetime Emmy nomination is in his future.
The Pitt stars Noah Wyle, Tracey Ifeachor, Patrick Ball, Katherine LaNasa, Supriya Ganesh, Fiona Dourif, Taylor Dearden, Isa Briones, Gerran Howell, and Shabana Azeez. Season 1 of The Pitt is now streaming in its entirety on HBO Max.
