Last night I watched the first episode of The Pitt. My first impression was that this was not the type of show that interests me, but by the end of the first episode I very much wanted to see more. I think the show is a thinly disguised soap opera, but it succeeds because it makes us care about the characters.
I'm not sure about the format in which every episode represents a single hour in the shift of an ER doctor. In this respect, it is like the TV series 24, where each episode represents one hour and all 24 episodes cover a single day. In The Pitt, events are heavily compressed for storytelling purposes. Sometimes a doctor walks into an exam room, makes an assessment in 15 seconds, and then walks out again. That is hardly realistic, and the relentless pace is noticeable, but it allows the show to pack more story into its 53 minutes.
My personal experiences with emergency rooms have varied by location. In a small city or town, the ER staff were helpful and the facilities were not overcrowded. But in the heart of a large city, the ER was overcrowded and the experience was a complete nightmare. That is the kind of emergency room The Pitt is portraying.
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