Noah Wyle on writing hit TV show The Pitt and its connection with ER
He starred as Dr Carter in ER for 11 years
In the week that HBO Max launches in the UK, Noah Wyle joined Kate Thornton on Greatest Hits Radio, to talk about his new show The Pitt, how it started out as a continuation of ER, and his friendship with George Clooney.
Noah starred as Dr Carter in ER between 1994 and 2005. Throughout ER, fans got to see the medical student progress through the ranks, ending as an Attending Physician. Now, 17 years after ER finished, Noah has returned to acting in a hospital emergency room on The Pitt, a new show which is set in Pittsburgh.
What is The Pitt?
The Pitt is a show starring and executive produced by Noah Wyle. Explaining the inspiration behind the show, Noah told Kate: "The Pitt is a 15-episode series, it takes place in a hospital emergency room, but each episode is one hour of one shift.
"So at 7am you go to work with my character, Dr Michael Robby Rabinovich, and you stay with me for the next 15 hours while we work through a very difficult shift."
Does it have a connection with ER?
While the series is not directly related to the 90s hospital drama ER, Noah revealed that originally it was intended to catch up with Dr Carter 15 years later. The actor explained: "I was sitting at home not working during the pandemic like most people, but I was getting a lot of mail from first responders who were telling me how difficult it was in the trenches, but also saying how grateful they were that they had ER to watch when they got home.
"And I just, it didn't sit well with me that was something that was part of my past, that I didn't have anything relevant to offer that community, then and there.
"So I called our executive producer, John Wells, and I said, I know you don't want to do the old show, but I think there's another story to tell. And we kind of talked about how we might catch up to (Dr John) Carter 15 years later to tell that story.
"And then ultimately that proved impossible, but it sort of freed us to tell this other story that we're actually kind of more gratified to tell."
Noah went on to explain: "I wanted to make this show that put the spotlight back on this community, that had been in the trenches for five, six years without a break. And their morale is flagging and their numbers are thinning and their job has gotten harder.
"So it just seemed like a perfect time to try to remind everybody what heroic work it is, what angelic work it is, and even though we're frustrated by long wait times or sometimes distracted physicians, they are there attending everybody's worst day four times an hour, 12 hours a day, and it takes a toll."
Along with starring Noah, another connection The Pitt has with ER is that the executive producer John Wells and series creator R. Scott Gemmill, both worked with Noah on ER.
Will George Clooney star in The Pitt?
The Pitt picked up a massive FIVE Emmys this year, and when former ER co-star George Clooney was asked about the success he said: "If I'm allowed to be, I am so deeply, deeply proud of Noah."
Going on to reveal if he was asked to star in the show he would "in a heartbeat", to which Noah joked: "Perhaps his last heartbeat!"
George Clooney starred alongside Noah in ER, as Dr Doug Ross for many years, and Noah reflected on their friendship saying: "It's been lovely to reconnect with him, although, you know, we've kept in correspondence, Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas sort of thing.
"But I got to go and celebrate his Broadway debut a couple of months ago when he starred as Edward R. Murrow on Broadway."
When pressed if he would like to have him on the show, Noah admitted: "He doesn't really want to come on The Pitt," revealing that if he did want to, "sure" he would have him.
Noah added: "But why doesn't George ever put me in one of his movies? Suddenly I'm on a hit show he wants to come and play.
"The last 15 years. Where has he been? Oceans 12, 13? (I) never made the cut."
Music in The Pitt
Noah also opened up about the use of music, or lack of it, in the hit TV show, explaining the reason why they decided not to use a lot of music in this latest production.
"It was a bit of a protracted negotiation," he explained. "Because nobody quite believed that it would work. If you pulled the soundtrack out, that somehow it would be even more engaging.
"But our executive producer, Scott Gemmill, had produced two ER episodes where he pulled the soundtrack out and he felt that the aggregate tension of just an environmental soundtrack, the machines and the sounds of patients and the voices of the doctors becomes rhythmic in and of itself. And if you're looking to have something be the most authentic and realistic version of a hospital, you know, you got to take the music out.
"I've noticed just watching my own children when they watch, that as soon as they hear a music cue, they immediately look down to their phone because they kind of know what's happening.
"And when they watch The Pitt, when they don't get that music cue, they look up from their phone. So they have to look for a clue in the frame and it becomes a less passive viewing experience and a lot more voyeuristic."
How to listen to Greatest Hits Radio
You can listen to Greatest Hits Radio across the UK on FM, DAB and through your smart speaker, by saying "Listen to Greatest Hits Radio". Download our free Rayo app for iPhone or Android.
How to get HBO Max
You can watch The Pitt on HBO Max UK which launched on 26th March 2026. Prices start at £5.99p/m, more information can be found here.
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