The Pitt’s freshman season earned critical acclaim for its unique take on documenting an emergency room shift — but according to Steven Weber, Chicago Med’s grit and grind shouldn’t be overlooked.
Weber, who has been playing Dr. Dean Archer on Chicago Med since 2021, weighed in on The Pitt’s recent hype, exclusively telling Us Weekly on Thursday, September 25, “I love The Pitt.”
He noted that he’s “friends” with The Pitt’s Noah Wyle, who plays Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, and the show “deserves their success.”
However, Weber, 64, explained that the two shows are very different despite both revolving around doctors and nurses in emergency situations.
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“It’s a different world they’re looking at than the world we’re looking at. And ours is no less realistic. Ours is no less gritty,” Weber said of Chicago Med, which focuses on the Windy City’s “ED” or emergency department.
The actor added, “It’s just that they have, they’ve got a different approach. But I absolutely believe that both of these shows serve to show the humanity and the challenges in the medical field in as realistic a way as possible.”
Chicago Med premiered in 2015 as the third Dick Wolf series about Chicago. It follows surgeons and nurses who cross over at times with the characters on Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D., which follow firefighters and police officers, respectively, in the same city.
Elizabeth Sisson/NBC
Unlike Chicago Med, The Pitt takes place in Pittsburgh and season 1’s 15 episodes showcased 15 hours of one shift.
The Pitt premiered in January and is described by HBO Max as “a realistic examination of the challenges facing healthcare workers in today’s America as seen through the lens of the frontline heroes working in a modern-day hospital in Pittsburgh.”
With each episode, fans learned more and more about the characters in a way that hadn’t been done before — at least when it comes to medical dramas.
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“It feels very natural because it means there’s less prologue that you need to be adding into every episode. You’re not trying to catch up all the time,” Isa Briones, who plays Dr. Trinity Santos on The Pitt exclusively told Us in February. “Everything is minute by minute, so the audience is very much in on it with us and we don’t have to catch the audience up at all. That leads to very realistic dialogue. It is kinder to us actors since it makes it roll off the tongue more.”
The unconventional format earned the series 13 Emmy nominations this year and five wins at the September awards show. Chicago Med, meanwhile, has not been nominated for an Emmy in its tenure.
Critical acclaim aside, the Chicago Med team is happy that The Pitt — and Wyle — is doing well.
“I was a writer’s assistant on ER, and I interacted with Noah a handful of times,” Chicago Med showrunner Allen MacDonald exclusively told Us on Thursday. “He is the nicest, gentlest guy. I don’t know him well at all. I wouldn’t even say I know him, but I’ve met him, and he’s just a lovely guy.”
While fans will have to wait until next year for more episodes of The Pitt, Chicago Med returns this week for season 11.
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Season 10 left off with Dr. Hannah Asher (Jessy Schram) learning she is pregnant but not revealing who the father is.
Many fans think it’s Dr. Mitch Ripley (Luke Mitchell), whom she romanced on and off last season. However, the season finale teased that Hannah goes to tell Archer (Weber) about the baby news before Ripley — which, MacDonald previously told Us makes for a “very complicated story” that fans will have to wait and see “play out.”
The showrunner teased in May that Hannah “deeply trusts Archer and that is where she goes when she’s feeling destabilized.”
Chicago Med returns for season 11 on NBC Wednesday, October 1, at 8 p.m. ET. The Pitt season 2 will premiere on HBO Max in January 2026.
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