Max Eyes More Traditional Procedurals As Streamer Readies ‘The Pitt’; Casey Bloys Addresses Lawsuit

Peter White
·3-min read

The Pitt, the upcoming medical drama starring Noah Wyle, could be the first of many traditional procedurals that could roll out on Max.

The streamer is set to roll out the series weekly in the first quarter of next year, but HBO boss Casey Bloys is already eyeing other projects that could be greenlit using a similar model.

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“The Pitt, for lack of better words, would have been a basic cable or network show and by that I mean it has self-contained stories where you could watch an individual episode, you could watch all of them, done at a price that makes it possible to do 15 episodes. I would like to make that feel more like the Max brand,” Bloys said at a press gathering Tuesday.

“The Pitt is one of the shows that we’ve been developing, some procedurals in the format with the qualities that I just talked about. We’ve been developing a number of them. Obviously I’d like to see how it goes. I’ve seen seven of the episodes and I think it’s really, really good, so I’m excited about it. We’ve got others in development, more traditional procedurals, and we’ll see,” he added.

As Deadline previously reported, The Pitt, which comes from ER alums John Wells, Noah Wyle and R. Scott Gemmill, was conceived under a different business framework that could usher in a wave of new, modestly budgeted, broadcast-style dramas to streaming.

Said to be budgeted north of $4 million an episode, The Pitt first drew attention with its unusually large order when it was picked up straight-to-series for 15 episodes in March. That is bigger than a typical streaming drama order and close to the size of a broadcast season, but there’s also a surprising way that the casting was done through a fixed two-tier salary system.

Bloys added that he likes being able to do shows that are “experimental” and “break boundaries” as well as those that are procedural with more closed storylines.

Earlier this summer, the widow of ER creator Michael Crichton filed a lawsuit, accusing Warner Bros Television, Wells, Wyle, Gemmill and others of breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and intentional interference with contractual relations over supposed similarities between The Pitt and ER.

Warner Bros Television responded earlier this month, saying that The Pitt “is a completely different show from ER.”

Bloys addressed the situation today. “I’m sure I’m not supposed to talk about [it], but the idea that a show can’t be set in an ER seems kind of unrealistic on its face, that no other show can be set in a hospital emergency room. I mean, it’s kind of a staple of television, but I don’t anticipate impacts on the show itself,” he added.

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