Why Noah Wyle Was ‘Unapologetic’ About the Cancellation of the Planned ‘ER’ Revival
Noah Wyle expressed that he is “not sorry” for taking on a new character in The Pitt rather than revisiting his iconic role as John Carter in the canceled ER reboot.
Following the premiere of The Pitt on Thursday, January 9, Wyle, 53, addressed the transition from plans for an ER revival to an original series.
“That raises questions about the different timelines and versions of this,” Wyle stated in an interview with TVLine. “The original intention began in 2020 during the pandemic, aiming to explore the experiences of frontline workers and the contrasting healthcare systems for the wealthy and the underprivileged.”
The connections between The Pitt and ER are deliberate.
“We aimed to address these issues back in the ’90s when millions of Americans lacked health insurance and relied on emergency rooms for primary care. Those themes were important to us then and continue to be so,” Wyle noted, referencing his role as John Carter in the beloved series. “The question then became whether using old intellectual property was the best approach. Although it generated enthusiasm, it wasn’t the main focus of what we aimed to achieve.”
While there was enthusiasm around reviving ER, Wyle was more intrigued by creating a fresh narrative, saying, “As we delved deeper, we realized the reunion and reboot aspects obscured our primary message. Thus, I was not disappointed that we had to shift gears and find a new storytelling method.”
He added, “In many ways, not reviving ER liberated us from narrative constraints we would have otherwise faced and the need to pay homage.”
ER, which aired from 1994 to 2009, depicted the life inside a fictional emergency room resembling Chicago’s Cook County Hospital. The series featured stars like George Clooney, Julianna Margulies, Anthony Edwards, Eriq La Salle, and Sherry Stringfield, later joined by John Stamos, Mekhi Pfifer, and Linda Cardellini, among others.
Over a decade after ER‘s finale, Wyle re-emerges as both the star and executive producer of a new medical series on Max called The Pitt. The platform describes it as “a realistic look at the obstacles healthcare workers face today, told through the lens of frontline heroes in a contemporary hospital setting in Pittsburgh.”
The Pitt captures both the triumphs and challenges of healthcare work, using its 15 episodes to represent 15 hours of a single shift.
“[Fellow EP] John [Wells], alongside Max and Warner Brothers, aimed to leverage streaming services to explore whether we could tell this story in a more visually impactful way than in the ’90s,” Wyle explained. “This method allows for a more photorealistic approach, devoid of the standards and practices that once existed. We can now ask not ‘What can we depict?’ but rather ‘What is appropriate and tasteful to show?’”
Wyle found it immensely fulfilling to bring a new medical drama into existence.
“I aimed to recapture the feeling we had during our initial run – something that’s been absent for a long time. Could we relive that experience? John and [creator] R. Scott [Gemmill] shared this goal, as we all longed for that magic we felt 15 years ago. The work was invigorating, we enjoyed each other’s company, and respect permeated our interactions. It was inclusive and groundbreaking, and we wished to see if lightning could strike again – and in some respects, it already has.”
In addition to The Pitt, Thursday also brought the premiere of Wyle’s former co-star La Salle’s Prime Video series On Call. When asked by TVLine about this coincidence, Wyle quipped, “No, I had no idea, but what can I say? The ’90s are back.”
New episodes of The Pitt stream Thursdays on Max.
