'The Pitt' review: Noah Wyle's back in hospital scrubs as 'ER' meets '24'

WHAT IT'S ABOUT The "pitt" is what the overworked doctors and nurses of the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital refer to as the place they spend most of their waking lives. Everyone in Pittsburgh who has suffered anything — from a life-threatening emergency to trivial medical setback — ends up in their underfunded underappreciated ER, where sometimes those seemingly minor setbacks do in fact turn into emergencies. Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch (Noah Wyle) presides over the chaos, but he's got a lot of help, including Dr. Collins (Tracey Ifeachor) and, on this particular day, a group of residents who are about to witness the insanity firsthand.

This 15-parter — each episode covers one hour of a 15-hour day — is in fact an "ER" (1994-2009) reunion, with former showrunners John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill at the helm.

MY SAY Since "ER" wrapped in 2009, Wyle has probably been in a couple dozen movies and TV series, most recently the "Leverage" spinoff, but that hardly matters to "ER" fans. Once Dr. John Carter, always Dr. John Carter.

 That's just the way it goes, which is probably unfair but hardly an injustice: There are simply some roles, some series, which are inescapable for certain actors. Their gravitational pull is too strong, their impact too indelible, and with "The Pitt," Wyle appears to have finally conceded the point.

There's certainly no shame in this, certainly none for a series as good as "The Pitt." On screen and back in scrubs, the years have both melted away and piled on for Wyle. The lines on his face have deepened, the hairline has retreated perceptibly. His Dr. "Robby" has a beard, which adds to the effect of someone who's hiding an emotional scar but who also has enough vanity to know he looks pretty good in one. Any hint of that youthful Carter vitality is long-gone but it pretty much was by the time he rejoined the last season of "ER" anyway. In its place is a depth and maturity, but also a command. Robby obviously knows what he's doing because Wyle knows what he's doing. After all, he has had lots of practice.

Predictably — or requisitely — "The Pitt" sets up all those tensile dramatic flashpoints we've come to expect of any hospital show. There's the penny-pinching hospital administrator who has got a target on Robby's back; the attending (Ifeachor's Dr. Collins) who may or may not become part of a romantic arc as both abide the worst day of their professional lives; the passel of newbie doctors, so fresh-faced and idealistic, who are about to get a crash course in raw (and bloody) humanity.

 What's surprising, although it probably shouldn't be, is the humor. "The Pitt" excels in the gallows type that"ER" did so long ago. Strewn with viscera, excrement and human fallibility, the emergency room is the comic's equivalent of a (very) tough crowd. How could any doctor endure all this without the timing of a seasoned stand-up?

For the 15-part structure, "The Pitt" has borrowed from another TV classic — "24" — but this conceit feels less effective. The idea is that each episode unfolds over 60 minutes. But much as it did with "24" all those years ago, the unfolding can sometimes scale ludicrous heights. At least three, maybe four, patients die between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., which seems like a high mortality rate for any ER outside of a war zone. And how much chaos is too much chaos? You are about to find out.

But that's OK. We get it because we got "ER" and "24," too — visually, dramatically, emotionally. Likewise, the beats here are familiar and comfortable. Perhaps best of all, they are actually moving.

BOTTOM LINE Terrific start for this "ER" redux.