The Pitt’s Emmy has major implications, beyond just the evening’s crowning prize. HBO’s latest hit is a procedural medical drama focused on a team of hospital workers as they navigate an intense shift. The series took home the 2025 Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, winning the night’s major trophy.
The Pitt’s cast is led by Noah Wyle, a veteran actor whom most will remember from the NBC medical procedural ER, which ran from 1994 through 2009. Wyle also took home tonight’s Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series award, confirming the series among the biggest achievers at the 2025 Emmys.
The Pitt Is The First Procedural Drama To Win Outstanding Drama Since 1999
The television industry has seen drastic changes in the first quarter of the 21st century, notably involving the culture shift away from network procedural shows (where each episode contained a different, self-contained story) to serialized streaming or cable titles, with prestige shows like The Sopranos and Breaking Bad.
This makes it all the more noteworthy that The Pitt is the first procedural show since 1999 to win Best Outstanding Drama. The 1999 Emmy Awards saw ABC’s The Practice earn the award, with the only non-procedural title nominated that year being The Sopranos season 1. This has drastic implications for the TV industry.
The Pitt’s Emmy Win Could Signify A Culture Shift For The Television Industry
The “Golden Age of Television” has been marked by the streaming era, movie stars shifting to television, higher production value, and longer-form narratives. However, recent years have seen audiences grow tired of streaming trends. Many have deemed the Golden Age to be over, and two primary issues stand out as common grievances.
Streaming shows are constantly critiqued for having too few episodes, as well as massive gaps between seasons. In the network television era, shows typically ran from Autumn to the Spring of the next year, with roughly 23 episodes and only three months between seasons. Now, many shows offer just eight episodes every two years.
The Pitt is almost like a perfect marriage between prestige television and traditional network TV.
The astounding success of The Pitt is significant, as it’s not only a critically acclaimed work of art, but it also utilizes many of the typical network drama qualities. Sure, it’s an HBO series, but the network developed fifteen episodes, and the show is set to have an annual release schedule.