12 Best TV Shows Like The Pitt

Medical dramas have ruled television for decades now, and “The Pitt” on Max proves that when the formula works, by gum it really works. Even horror maestro Stephen King is obsessed with “The Pitt,” which makes sense because there’s no greater horror in modern society than the American healthcare system. 

But in all seriousness, “The Pitt” is first-class television that even people who don’t normally watch these kinds of shows should check out. Each episode depicts what happens one hour at a time across a single 15-hour shift at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital, and many have called it one of the most medically accurate hospital shows of all time. And in a landscape where many shows were quick to put the COVID-19 pandemic in the rearview mirror, “The Pitt” refuses to shy away from how the pandemic continues to impact an excessively burdened system. 

Partway through the first season, Max renewed “The Pitt” for Season 2, so fans will see another gripping shift hopefully in the near future. But until then, here are the best TV shows like “The Pitt,” encompassing everything from gritty to silly medical shows you can watch no matter what your mood is. 

As the best new medical drama in years, “The Pitt” contains shades of other classic medical series with none as apparent as “ER.” It’s an iconic show created by “Jurassic Park” author Michael Crichton, who actually graduated from Harvard Medical School before his career as a writer really took off. He had to work in the ER as part of his medical training, which undoubtedly helped add a sense of realism to the TV show that hadn’t really been shown up until that point. 

“ER” was a huge success pretty much from the start. It earned praise for its realistic and fast-paced depiction of hospitals and operating rooms. Even beyond all of the medical jargon, the show takes great care to flesh out the cast as three-dimensional characters who all have engaging lives outside of their work that inevitably influences their decisions. 

A lot changes over the course of the show’s 15 seasons, with characters coming and going. Perhaps most notably, George Clooney left the show as Dr. Doug Ross after season 5 to pursue a film career, but the chronic revolving door of characters meant there was still plenty for fans to latch onto. That included Noah Wyle as John Carter, who’s now the lead on “The Pitt” as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch. 

Forget the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Real TV watchers know it’s all about the One Chicago universe, spearheaded by television producer extraordinaire Dick Wolf. “Chicago Med” is one piece of this massive puzzle, which follows the lives of the emergency department workers at the Gaffney Chicago Medical Center. But to get the full experience, it may be necessary to watch the other One Chicago series such as “Chicago P.D.” and “Chicago Fire” as characters from each of these shows regularly interact with one another.

“Chicago Med” has been on the air for 10 seasons and counting, and during that time, it’s tackled an array of topics, from mental health disorders to an infectious outbreak impacting characters from across the franchise. The series knows how to mine the emergency room for drama, often putting characters in conflict with one another about the best course of action. For example, in season 8’s “I Could See the Writing on the Wall), Dr. Daniel Charles (Oliver Platt) and Dr. Dean Archer (Steven Weber) disagree on how to confront a patient faking paralysis. 

The main cast of “Chicago Med” are well-written, setting the stage for ample drama. Like “The Pitt,” it understands that characters come first when keeping audiences on the edge of their seats. 

One of the most compelling aspects of “The Pitt” is how it confronts the harsh reality many physicians face in a post-COVID landscape. Many hospitals are understaffed and don’t have the resources to adequately care for all patients, and things only get worse when a disease impacts large swaths of people. In a way, “Code Black” on CBS served as a precursor to this idea, debuting in 2015 and coming to a close three years later after three seasons. 

“Code Black” draws inspiration from the 2013 documentary of the same name, which follows three residents of a Los Angeles hospital who don’t have enough resources to do their jobs properly. The CBS series is a fictionalized account but tackles the same themes. In a further display of prescience, the final episodes of “Code Black” Season 2 see the emergency room tackle a deadly viral outbreak, requiring quarantine. 

COVID-19 may have made the general public more aware of how ill-prepared many hospitals are for pandemics, but such issues have existed for a long time. If “The Pitt” deals with the fallout of the pandemic, then “Code Black” was a canary in the coal mine. It tried to warn us of how hospitals could quickly become overwhelmed by such an event, and the show is worth another look all these years later. 

“M*A*S*H” might’ve been a sitcom, but it still tackled serious topics with grace. This involved navigating a tricky landscape as the show featured doctors in the Korean War helping others on both a physical and emotional level. This is seen in episodes like season 9’s “Death Takes a Holiday” where Hawkeye (Alan Alda), Margaret (Loretta Swit), and B.J. (Mike Farrell) try to delay a soldier’s death so that his family isn’t told he died on Christmas, forever tainting the holiday. When they’re unsuccessful, they forge the official time of death so that they’ll think he died on December 26. 

“M*A*S*H” wasn’t afraid to tow that line of showing what is “right” by medical standards and what’s right by a person’s own conscience. These are complex themes for a sitcom, and it’s something the world has Alda to thank, as he pushed for “M*A*S*H” to be more than just a straight-up comedy that happens to involve doctors and war. It definitely has comedic moments, as Hawkeye and his associates get into plenty of shenanigans. But its ability to weave in dark subject matter seamlessly and offer thoughtful commentary is what made it an institution for eleven seasons. 

“Grey’s Anatomy” ranked right up there with “Bluey” as one of the most streamed TV series of 2024. Granted, that probably isn’t too difficult for a show with over 400 episodes for fans to binge-watch at their leisure. Since 2005, “Grey’s Anatomy” has been a consistent presence in the television landscape, offering a little something for everyone. It’s a gripping medical drama that occasionally provides some soap opera-esque vibes with the interpersonal drama of all the medical professionals trying to keep it together at Seattle Grace Hospital. 

The great thing about a drama running as long as “Grey’s Anatomy” is that fans have been able to track the progression of the long-running characters. In the beginning, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) is a surgical intern having to live in the shadow of her world-famous surgeon father. But as the series goes on, she ascends the ranks of the hospital an attending surgeon in her own right. Although she still pops in every now and then, Pompeo stepped away from the show during season 19. But this has opened the doors for the supporting characters to get more of the spotlight. 

There are several different shades medical dramas can take. Some are more interested in the interpersonal dynamics of the hospital staff while others offer a more comedic bent. Then you have Fox’s “The Resident,” which is framed as more of a thriller than other series of its ilk.

It’s not so much concerned with a “disease of the week” format. Instead, “The Resident” hones in on the dark underbelly of the healthcare industry, examining everything from insurance to corruption. It can be a bleak show at times, which is showcased in the way many scenes are lit to physically show its darker atmosphere. Doctors overprescribe medicines to make more money, and in one storyline, a Black woman’s concerns are hand-waved away until she dies — sadly, something that’s often true to life. 

It’s easy for some people to ignore medical dramas, believing they get too caught up in which doctors are hooking up with whichever nurses. But “The Resident” is effectively a medical series for people who have never given such shows a chance before. As Variety wrote in its review, “‘The Resident’ is one of the most negative views of modern healthcare we’ve got — I mean, besides any trip to your local general hospital.”

For those who want a combination of a medical show with a prestige drama in the same vein as “The Pitt,” look no further than “The Knick.” The show separates itself from the pack by taking place in the year 1900, where Dr. John Thackery (Clive Owen), surgery staff leader of the Knickerbocker Hospital in New York City, tries his best to save lives with a more limited understanding of medicine, all while battling an opium and cocaine addiction. The series also tackles race relations at the time, predominantly with Dr. Algernon Edwards (André Holland), who’s arguably the most qualified amongst the surgeons but must work so much harder to earn the respect of his white peers.

Since it originally aired on Cinemax, “The Knick” was far more gruesome in its portrayal of medical procedures. Blood and skin getting peeled back is par for the course on this show, so it may not be for the squeamish. Despite acclaim, “The Knick” was canceled in 2015 after two seasons. In January 2024, there was talk the show could return for a third outing with Barry Jenkins directing, but nothing has seemingly come from that since. With only 20 episodes total, it’s certainly more of a manageable watch than committing to something like “Grey’s Anatomy.” 

Anyone who’s ever dealt with the American medical industry for even minor work could probably tell you how broken the system is. It’s something many television shows attempt to address, hopefully making audiences understand the intense pressure that exists for medical professionals and how often their hands can get tied. “New Amsterdam” tried to put a positive spin on this bleak scenario by having the lead, Dr. Max Goodwin (Ryan Eggold), seek to break through the bureaucracy that so often hampers efforts at the New Amsterdam Medical Center.”

“New Amsterdam” is much more invested in the inner workings of the hospital than the personal lives of the staff although there’s plenty of drama there too. But its central premise allows it to be so much more optimistic than other medical dramas. Rather than throw its hands in the air by only showing the hurdles surgeons have to leap over, “New Amsterdam” offers a way forward. It also helps that Dr. Goodwin is bursting with empathy, wanting to help everyone equally throughout the medical center. Can Dr. Goodwin’s speeches get corny from time to time? Sure, but when it comes to the healthcare industry, we could all use some hope once in a while. 

“The Pitt” isn’t the only new medical show you should keep an eye on. “St. Denis Medical” is a vast departure from other shows on this list as it’s a straightforward sitcom. It’s mockumentary style, following the lives of various medical workers at the titular medical center who are all doing their best to give patients the best of care while taking care of themselves. You can see this right from the pilot with Alex (Allison Tolman), who’s struggling to maintain a proper work-life balance. 

And while one might assume a comedy wouldn’t adhere to the strictest medical accuracy, it does a decent job at that. Tolman spoke with NBC Insider about the dedication to ensuring the dialogue is as accurate as can be: “These two great med techs also write all of our medical jargon too,” she said. “So, the script might just say, ‘And then they…[medical].’ Then Jamie and Rachel [the med techs] come in and are like, ‘This is what they’re doing. Here’s what she says. Here’s what he says.’ We would be lost without them.”

In January, “St. Denis Medical” was renewed for Season 2, so this more lighthearted take on the healthcare industry will continue for at least a little while longer. Between “The Pitt” and “St. Denis” getting a lot of attention and plans for more episodes, it’s a good time to be a medical show aficionado. 

A typical episode of “House, M.D.” goes like this: A patient comes in with an odd ailment. The doctors bicker about what the underlying condition is, usually resulting in a misdiagnosis at first. Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), who’s a real jerk most of the time, is the only one who manages to figure out what’s really going on with the patient because his attitude is that patients routinely lie about their background or what could be wrong with them. 

While that sounds like it could get boring after a while, Dr. House’s churlish attitude keeps things interesting, even if sometimes you just want to punch him in the face. There may be 177 episodes total, but if you only want the highlight reel, you at the very least owe it to yourself to check out the top 15 episodes of “House” to see how the formula works at its best and when the show upends its own structure. 

One thing that makes “House” stand apart from other medical dramas is that it’s more of a mystery series than anything else. Dr. House takes on the role of the detective, observing clues and patients’ mannerisms to arrive at the correct diagnosis. 

“Nurse Jackie” is a dark comedy medical series that takes aim at one particular issue that plagues far too many in the medical industry: Addiction. Jackie Peyton (Edie Falco) is addicted to the pills she gets from the hospital’s pharmacist. It’s a subject matter that hits close to home for Falco herself, as it’s something she’s dealt with personally. 

As a dark comedy, “Nurse Jackie” would poke fun at certain areas that may not seem humorous on the surface. But it never belittled those tackling addiction on their own. The show as a whole was fairly groundbreaking during its run (2009-15) in no small part because the writers’ room was mostly women and also included a large number of LGBTQ+ individuals. 

Without giving anything away, the finale of “Nurse Jackie” ended somewhat ambiguously, which may have thrown some viewers for a loop. However, closure might be on the horizon, as it was announced in May 2024 that a “Nurse Jackie” sequel series was in development at Amazon. It’d be a good time to start binge-watching “Nurse Jackie” for when that ever comes out. 

There were plenty of TV medical dramas in the early days of television like “City Hospital” and “Medic,” but it’s safe to say the contemporary template for how these shows are produced today was a little series called “St. Elsewhere.” It brought in serialized storylines and made the doctors at the heart of the show feel like three-dimensional characters. While doctors, nurses, and surgeons all deserve respect, “St. Elsewhere” was really the first drama to show that they weren’t perfect and could make mistakes.

Watching “St. Elsewhere” now offers a chance to see where some big stars got their start, including Denzel Washington having an early role as Dr. Philip Chandler. Future “NCIS” lead Mark Harmon was a main cast member for several seasons, and Bruce Greenwood, Alfre Woodard, and Howie Mandel found success on the series as well.

“St. Elsewhere” won 13 Emmys during its run and remains a cultural touchstone. It’s safe to say that many modern medical shows, including “The Pitt,” may not exist if it wasn’t for this series laying the groundwork for telling compelling narratives about medical professionals. “The Pitt” is just the latest in a lengthy pantheon of medical dramas, and maybe it’ll inspire others to follow its footsteps decades from now, just like “St. Elsewhere” did all those years ago.