‘The Pitt’ would be the first show to win Best Drama Series since ’24’ with a season longer than 13 episodes

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As one of the biggest risers in the Emmy odds, The Pitt has the opportunity to accomplish something that has not been done in almost 20 years: winning Best Drama Series with a season longer than 13 episodes. The last time this was achieved was by 24 in 2006. The Fox action serial starring Emmy winner Kiefer Sutherland produced 24 episodes per season as it chronicled a single day. It was also the last time a broadcast-network series won Best Drama.

The Pitt is only the second series in a decade to be nominated in the top category for an elongated season, after This Is Us, with 15 installments. Before that time, broadcast networks dominated the category.

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Premium cable first made the nominations cut in 1999 with HBO’s The Sopranos; the family crime drama was the first cable series to win Best Drama in 2004. It triumphed again for its final season in 2007, beginning a series of Emmy achievements for cable dramas, including multiple triumphs for Mad Men, Game of Thrones, and Succession, each varying between eight and 13 episodes per season. Eventually, those cable dramas with shorter seasons would be the norm for the category, with fewer season-long network dramas being recognized each year.

Kiefer Sutherland in 24chris Raphael/FOX

Despite streaming on HBO Max, where most current programming has a cable-standard 13 episodes or less, The Pitt harkens back to the earlier days of the premium television service where some of its shows had season numbers similar to their broadcast-network counterparts. Those included the Emmy-winning comedies Dream On, The Larry Sanders Show, and Sex and the City, which had season orders of 18 episodes up to 27. Nowadays, it is rare to find a drama that surpasses 13 installments, with most hovering around the six- to 10-episode mark. Of this year’s Best Drama Series nominees, Andor is next in line with 12 episodes, followed by Severance with 10, and the rest making the eligibility with six to eight.

The Pitt’s number of episodes is vital to its format as it covers a 15-hour hospital shift at the emergency department. Each episode serves as an of the day, adapting a similar structure to the 2006 Best Drama Series Emmy winner, using the same real-time narration method on a weekly release. If The Pitt were to prevail, it would be a fitting homage to 24.

As it currently stands in the Gold Derby odds and rankings, The Pitt is comfortably in second place for Best Drama Series, right behind Severance. The medical procedural may have a few pivotal categories that could help propel it to a victory such as Best Drama Actor for Noah Wyle, Best Drama Supporting Actress for Katherine LaNasa, and Best Drama Casting, the latter being a key bellwether to determine Best Drama Series. With The Pitt‘s 13 nominations and intense word-of-mouth, a victory would come as little surprise.

Below are the Best Drama Series Emmy winners since 2006, with the number of episodes produced for that particular season: