The Pitt is an obvious banger, but these looming controversies make it difficult to fully enjoy it

The Pitt has been a welcome breath of fresh air in the stale genre of medical dramas, but even with the glowing reviews, a few looming controversies cast a dark cloud over the show.

Releasing its first season in 2025, The Pitt quickly became one of HBO’s standout shows with 96 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. Its second season, released this year, got an even better 98 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Pitt was also lorded over at awards shows, picking up nominations (and wins) at the Emmys, the Astra TV Awards, the Gotham TV Awards, and the Critics’ Choice Television Awards.

Suffice it to say that it’s been pretty well received, but spending any time on Twitter might alter your opinions.

Tracy Ifeachor’s exit from The Pitt

Tracy Ifeachor played Dr Heather Collins in season one of The Pitt, but she did not return for season two despite being a well-loved main character.

In a line that will quickly become tired, executive producer John Wells told The Hollywood Reporter that her sacking was due to the nature of a teaching hospital. Doctors come and go as they complete their training, so it made sense.

“Look, the show is set at a teaching hospital,” he said. “And if you’re a fourth-year resident in a teaching hospital, your time there is done at the end of that year … people don’t stay at these hospitals forever.”

Though rumours emerged claiming that Tracy was involved in an anti-gay London church, her rep refuted those allegations.

Oh, and The Pitt sacking Supriya Ganesh

By the end of season two, which has just finished airing in America, it became clear that the “teaching hospital” vibe would play a major part in the show going forward. Dr Samira Mohan’s actress, Supriya Ganesh, was also fired.

“Emergency rooms have a high revolving door. As always, we try to bring in new characters or promote from within as we go through these cast changes and try to keep the storylines fresh, but obviously, Supriya has been a huge part of our show since the beginning,” lead actor Noah Wyle said.

Sorry, turns out there’s a lot of backlash

One decision can be written off as a coincidence, but after numerous women of colour exited the show, people argued there was an emerging pattern. Alongside Tracy and Supriya, the characters Kiara Alfaro and Gloria Underwood were also written off.

Showrunner R. Scott Gemmill was directly asked about it, and he explained: “We have a lot of women, and a lot of women of colour. It’s just coincidence more than anything else.”

He said it was merely a “by-product of having a diverse cast.”

There was some legal trouble in season one

When season one premiered, people immediately noticed the similarities between The Pitt and the classic medical drama ER. Coincidentally, Noah Wyle, John Wells, and R. Scott Gemmill had all been a part of that TV show as well.

At the time, the estate of the late ER author, Michael Crichton, launched a lawsuit at The Pitt. They alleged that it was an unauthorised reboot of ER, claiming a breach of contract for the above three names.

“Noah Wyle’s character is Dr John Carter from ‘ER’ in all but name, only 30 years later, and imbued with the experience and lessons learned during the 15-year run of the original series,” the lawsuit alleged.

Proceedings are still ongoing.

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Featured image credit: HBO