I tend to be somewhat allergic to hype. I didn’t clue into U2 for a long time because it seemed like they were everywhere – including on the cover of Rolling Stone as ‘“the world’s greatest rock band”. (If I knew then what I know now, that that rag stopped being relevant or interesting long before they anointed Bono and the lads, I wouldn’t have let that be a factor. And for the record, the thing that got me to listen was when someone asked Pete Townshend who of the new generation of guitar players was doing good stuff. He hemmed and hawed and said some tactful stuff about not being overly impressed, but then paused and said: “But The Edge, The Edge is a giant”. Not an endorsement to ignore. Thanks, Pete.) I even resisted “Ted Lasso” despite its being a pretty obvious no-brainer for a coach, because it was just too damn hyped. I recognize this has caused me to be late to some excellent parties, but it has also saved me from some well-avoided scams and flops. You know the only things Stanley cups and Yeti coolers excel at is costing more, right? So when “The Pitt” began to climb the hype mountain I not only instinctively shied away, but actively doubted it could be legit. C’mon, Noah Wylie in an “ER” reboot cannot be the next great thing.
Do not mistake me here. I was a devotee of “ER” and still think it was an outstanding show. It probably, like so many other huge shows, went a few seasons long with some pretty serious shark jumping towards the end, up to and including Rocket Romano having a helicopter fall on his head having previously lost an arm to another helicopter, which was bad enough. (Funny story, I got to hang out with the actor who played Rocket, Paul McCrane – his daughter played for me at Vassar, and he was genuinely and hysterically contemptuous of his demise on the show. Let’s just say he wasn’t crushed to be leaving the show. No pun intended.) But, man oh man, when it was good it was really good. It was genuinely compelling, had kickass writing and some really strong characters with interesting arcs. It launched a few legit careers (Julianne Margulies, Ming-Na Wen, the underappreciated Maura Tierney, oh, and some guy named Clooney), boosted some others (Linda Cardellini, also not given enough love, Anthony Edwards, John Stamos) and had the obligatory eventually-huge star fly-bys (Don Cheadle, William H Macy, Stanley Tucci). It also, however, had some burn-bright-but-not-long folk as well. Whatever happened to Eric LaSalle, Goran Visnjic and Alex Kingston? No knock on those folk, they work and in that industry it counts as a win, but they aren’t exactly household names. And it has to be pointed out at this point that Noah Wylie fits into the last category more than the others. It isn’t like he hasn’t had a solid career, but wasn’t quite an A-lister. I love Wylie in “ER” and thought John Carter was a fabulous character (I maintain, in fact, that the show really belonged to Carter as both central figure and catalyst) and give him nothing but love. But. Do we need to put him back in the hospital, this time as a new version of Mark Greene (huge Anthony Edwards fan by the way)? My answer was a hard no so I didn’t watch. That turned out to be a mistake.
I have an embarrassing weakness for award shows. It might be car-crash syndrome, or I might be a sucker for stars being stars or I might just hope for the few and far between moments of genuine emotion and the reassurance that not all celebrities suck. I love movies and TV and want to find reasons not to flee. I should probably also admit to loving tuxes. It’s a thing, don’t judge me. So we watched the Globes this past weekend and didn’t hate it. People like Stephen Graham and Paul Thomas Anderson fit the bill for the not sucking mentioned above so I was redeemed. The same happened with Noah Wylie. And while using any industry awards as a filter for choosing what to watch is increasingly ill-advised, how well the show did, combined with the seemingly genuine appreciation for its success convinced me to give it a try and I am very glad I did.
First, I didn’t know the show was shot and shown in real time. You are spending an hour in the ER with the cast, roaming and jumping around as the shift unfolds. We are three episodes in, which means we have seen three hours of action and time passing. Crazy. There have been some notable films done this way – 12 Angry Men, Rope, My Dinner with Andre, and two that I love a lot, Dog Day Afternoon and Run Lola Run – but TV has had limited success with the format. I know, I know, what about “24”? It was huge and supposedly very good, but I can’t speak to it because I never watched it. See my comments on hype allergy above and know that I despise Keifer Sutherland. Also, “The Pitt” is not only real time but single set. It is a combination of which I was skeptical but now acknowledge as effective and powerful. It also benefits from avoiding the held camera feel that is so great when done well – see “The West Wing” and “Friday Night Lights” – but can be just awful when not deftly handled. The camera work and blocking are so good that you feel more like a fellow participant than observer. Very cool. Which is a good thing because there are some elements that aren’t as good.
Some of the characters are far too recognizable and a few even border on stereotypes. The hot shot arrogant surgical intern (Peter Benton returns), the wunderkind struggling to be taken seriously, the cocky almost abrasive med student, the heartless hospital administrator and the unflappable and amazingly efficient charge nurse with a heart of gold are all a bit facile, but weirdly no less effective for being so? It will be interesting to see if they can save familiar characters by giving them interesting arcs when you only see them an hour at a time. A different kind of challenge from a writing perspective and I imagine a very daunting prospect for an actor. Maybe they have to be borderline stereotypical so we can recognize and understand them in the short time we have to know them? Hmmm.
So far the show has also excelled at what I call the “Barney Miller” trick. If you are unfamiliar, this was a late seventies sit-com set in a NYPD precinct squad room that I loved a lot. The small ensemble cast was excellent – hard to go wrong with Abe Vigoda and Jack Soo – but what made the show work was the amazing collection of single episode characters that provided the stories. The casting director was some kind of genius because they were always great, and good thing too, because even a great core cast could only be as good as the walk-ons with whom they got to work. “The Pitt” has so far nailed this, with a variety of tiny characters being very well portrayed.
Lastly, it is very possible that Noah Wylie deserves every bit of the hype. The man is putting in work. It is very hard, for me at least and I imagine for many “ER” fans, to separate him from John Carter – not that one, the “ER” guy, silly – given the context. And I imagine not channeling Mark Greene is a constant challenge since he has almost literally become that character. It is almost meta. But he brings a soft but narrow focus to what could be a broad, even simple persona that is very appealing. There is also a very subtle but wonderful physicality to what he is doing that gives great texture to Dr. Robbie. Good stuff, hype be damned. Give it a look, or tell me I’m a knucklehead for not watching sooner, but no spoilers! Thanks for reading.