the pitt entertainers of the year:

Article By: Entertainment Weekly:

For at least the past decade, "Prestige TV" has predominately been synonymous with streaming or premium cable shows, typically with high production value but low number of episodes. On the other end of the spectrum were the network series, still churning out 20+ episodes a season to solid audiences but less accolades.

This year, we got a little something different: The Pitt. Other than being on a streamer, the 15-episode medical series has all the makings of a more traditional ensemble-cast network drama...though with far more accolades.

Emmys for lead actor Noah Wyle, supporting actress Katherine LaNasa, and the series itself have been followed by four Television Critics Association awards — as well as four Critics' Choice Association nominations ahead of the 2026 ceremony.

But perhaps more rewarding for the Pitt crew is the feedback they've received from medical workers, particularly those who work in emergency rooms like the one depicted in the HBO Max drama.

As part of our 2025 Entertainers of the Year celebration, Entertainment Weekly asked Dan Taylor — a Los Angeles-based nurse who started working in emergency medicine at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2020 — why he and his colleagues have such affinity for the series.

I remember hearing about The Pitt pretty early on, before it even came out, and I just expected another medical drama — which I watched a lot of even before I was a nurse. But I could tell right away that The Pitt was sort of a different animal. It really dealt with a lot of modern, real-world issues and emotions that sort of float around the ER.

Sure, the 15 hours covered in season 1 would be the busiest day ever in any emergency department. But every episode, every patient seen on the show represents experiences and interactions that I think most of us have had and can identify with. The show covers a lot of ground and deals with the stuff that's really hard that we deal with every day...and we don't really always deal with it properly. You just don't have the time to, or it's not the appropriate moment.

There’s a darker side to emergency and trauma medicine that many people simply don’t want to see or know about. We see things and engage with personalities that many people avoid at all costs. And that’s just human nature. But it’s incumbent upon us to stare that darkness in the face — to ignore that instinct to turn away — so that we can perform effectively. 

I think a lot of us have realized the toll that can take, and The Pitt did a great job at providing an example for us as clinicians of what happens when we don't reckon with that.

And I think the show's also given the general public a better insight into the psyche of an ER.

Despite the best intentions of friends and family, it can be really hard to share your work life with them. You try to talk about your day — whether it was really good or really bad or really stressful — and they have the best intentions of being a sounding board for you, but a lot of times you can see them fade away because either it's too technical or it's too much for them to take on and think about.

I've noticed that as much as I want my loved ones to go through it with me, they just can't. That's something that I've had to adapt to, but that's also why you become closer with your coworkers in this setting. It's like being on a battlefield: You sometimes just talk at each other even — about whatever experience just happened, or the worst experience of this kind that you've seen — and they just get it. It's a way of venting and dealing with the trauma we see on a daily basis.

The Pitt gives me some of that same feeling. And it does that for my coworkers too.

It's weird, because we don't often talk about medical shows in the professional space. I think only because we can pick them apart, and we tend to do that because we're at work, we're talking technicalities. (I'd also say most medical shows underrepresent the work we nurses do, but I take that with a grain of salt.) But pretty much everyone I've talked to at work has seen The Pitt, and they seem all to really enjoy it and get something out of it.

Our work is often not as succinct or perfectly straightforward as it has been depicted historically in media. And the landscape of healthcare has shifted so much in recent years. The sheer number of patients that we see is higher than ever. And now, having experienced a global pandemic, and a political shift away from science, the anxiety surrounding medicine itself has increased.

So yeah, sometimes there are unbearable wait times, and so many moving parts that may not be clear to our patients and their families, and that can lead to misunderstandings and fear. We in the ER have to constantly mitigate these situations to minimize negative outcomes, and I appreciate that the show sheds some light on this reality. 

What I love about working in emergency medicine is the camaraderie. It's a team sport, and you see that on The Pitt. When a life is on the line, no matter how busy we are, the entire department can come together in an instant to help stabilize that patient. 

While we may hide behind a calm demeanor or dark humor, we are still people just trying to make sense of what’s happening in front of us. To maintain a sense of control in our surroundings. The show provides a sense of vindication for those moments when we might second guess our actions or even our own thoughts. And it’s just nice to know that people get that. It reminds you that, Yeah, I am still human. 

—As told to Patrick Gomez