00:00We all have had to compartmentalize trauma and experience in order to meet the demands of the day
00:06and show it for our families and show it for our co-workers and our bosses.
00:11But that doesn't mean that stuff goes away.
00:14And this is an examination of that and an attempt to kind of exercise it
00:18and get it out where we could all kind of hopefully heal from.
00:22It's like exposure therapy every an hour a week to try and get over our trauma, collective trauma.
00:30Hey, Dave, what's the good word?
00:31We're fucked.
00:3352 in the waiting room and it's not even seven.
00:37Every episode covers one hour.
00:40One hour in a hospital emergency room following the doctors and staff of a single 15-hour work shift.
00:46In the pit, every minute counts.
00:48As does every detail, which is why the show is praised for its precision.
00:52Welcome to the pit. Let's go save some lives.
00:54The most gratifying feedback has come from the medical community.
00:57Doctors, roughly my age, who've been doing it a while, reaching out and saying,
01:02you guys got it right.
01:03And in our efforts to be the most authentic medical drama on TV,
01:08I feel like that validation was most appreciated.
01:13As soon as I saw the script, yeah, it became very clear.
01:16They were taking the medicine very seriously and it really stood out.
01:21I loved making the show so much that when they would show us the first cuts of the episodes,
01:27I was terrified.
01:28Oh, does this scene run? Is it too slow?
01:30Are people going to tune up? They're going to stop watching.
01:32I thought everything had to be just perfect because I loved it so much.
01:36I wanted people to love it.
01:37There's always this belief that it's, when you're doing it, that it's going to pop,
01:42but it's not until it pops that you know.
01:45The first season was incredibly stressful to film from start to finish
01:48because it was such an experiment and none of us had done medical except for Noah.
01:52And so it was a big, like, I have no idea if I look competent.
01:56And it wasn't until actual, the reception of the audience that it was like,
02:00you're watching and liking. This is crazy.
02:03When we got together, finally, I was like, it's a hit. I think it's a hit.
02:06We need to get her up to 90 if you have any chance of restarting her heart.
02:08Remind me again why we picked this specialty.
02:10It was also, like, a kind of slow burn.
02:13It feels like it skyrocketed, like, around episode, like, 8 or 9, 10.
02:20And then all of a sudden, I was just, like, on the street
02:22and everyone I passed would be just, like, by the way, I love the show.
02:27I'm so happy to be here.
02:29Trinity Santos, intern.
02:31Victoria Giavati, MS3.
02:33Dennis Whitaker, MS4.
02:35A lot of us are playing something that's very close to our actual personalities.
02:41Genuinely, I drew a lot from my own terror.
02:45For me, it was just, I'm an actor coming onto a big American TV show.
02:50It's always going to be a little bit scary.
02:52So, genuinely, I think I really kind of lent into that.
02:54It's Whitaker's first day in an ER.
02:57So, I just kind of mirrored that a little bit
03:00and let myself be a little bit scared and a little bit overwhelmed
03:03and just ran with it.
03:06Dr. McKay is trying her best and rooted in wisdom, I believe.
03:12This character is very, very close to the bone for me.
03:15Either you like me or you don't.
03:17I am so grateful that there's a mixed reaction to her.
03:21People are going, why is she like that?
03:24And having to work to understand her.
03:26She is so socially inept.
03:27She's not effortless at all.
03:29She's really putting in the work in every part of her life
03:31and she doesn't shy away from things she's bad at.
03:33And I think she is so good at being like,
03:35okay, I've never asked somebody out, but I'm going to try that.
03:38We could grab a coffee together sometime
03:40and could like help me get the lay of the land, so to speak.
03:45You asking him out?
03:48No.
03:48What?
03:48No.
03:49I get a lot of pity.
03:51A lot of people asking, what's the next bodily fluid?
03:55Medical professionals who come up to me
03:56and they really relate to Whitaker.
03:58Women really love Samira, I think because she's such a patient advocate
04:03and I think so many women have had the experience of going to a doctor
04:08and not being believed and not being listened to.
04:10So I think that's why a lot of women, particularly from Nicole,
04:12really love and appreciate her.
04:14Santos is a very, she's a very guarded person.
04:18She has a lot of walls up, just meets you with combativeness
04:22and at the end of the day, it's like a scared kid inside
04:25who just wants like love.
04:26And I think Santos has a very interesting way of searching for that
04:32and wanting it by saying like, I don't want it and actually you.
04:36You ready?
04:38One, two, three.
04:41Dana is giving, tough and compassionate and smart.
04:47My mom loves you.
04:49My aunt loves you.
04:50My, you know, I think a lot of tired old working women really love Dana.
04:56Dr. Mel is the sweetest human being, I think, on earth.
04:59My frustration manifests itself emotionally
05:01and then I get upset and then it looks like I can't handle things
05:05and, you know, then I can't cry in front of the patient
05:07because no one wants to see their doctor cry.
05:09That's just a big red flag.
05:10The thing that hits me the most too is just
05:12people within my own community saying that it's a positive representation.
05:18I think we're so used to seeing such negative representations
05:22or just like complete stereotypes without nuance.
05:26And so that, any feedback on that has been special, really special.
05:30Everybody was, you know, having fun with how much fun Langdon had
05:35and I think getting to come in the door and spar with my co-workers
05:38in a fun and sassy way.
05:40And you also got to meet him sort of at the height of his ability
05:43and the height of his confidence.
05:45And then everybody watches him watch the cracks start happening.
05:51Sure you want to work today, huh?
05:52For Abbott, that is, there's tremendous comfort in knowing your purpose
05:57and he knows it and, um, and Dr. Robbie is still figuring that out.
06:04It's been 18 years since a medical show was last nominated
06:07for a Best Drama Series Emmy
06:09and 26 years since Noah Wiley was last nominated for acting.
06:13Now a frontrunner, the pit could deliver Wiley his first Emmy win,
06:18playing a character leading his team, much like real life.
06:21But it brought out the best in the rest of us.
06:23I can't tell you how proud I am of all of you.
06:27Noah's leading the charge and you can see the, the passion instantly there.
06:32He sees, he sees everyone, cast and crew.
06:36So he instantly just gives this really lovely, warm vibe
06:40and everyone feels seen and we're just following his lead.
06:43He's an incredible leader.
06:44I feel like I'm really learning how to lead a set from him
06:47because he's such a great example.
06:49Noah really sets the tone
06:50and he is gracious, he is generous, he is patient, um, he's all about the work
06:58but also there's just this, like, kindness.
07:00Noah has created such a great environment of encouraging everyone.
07:04It's amazing.
07:05It's such a great, great family that we have.
07:07He's been a great mentor to me throughout and I think to all of us
07:11and he's, like, really held my hand as far as teaching me how to be on a television show
07:16and how to find your shot and how to do a breathing tube
07:19but also, like, how to navigate this moment in life.
07:22He's been really available for that.
07:23I joke that I'm more of a cheerleader than a leader.
07:26You know, everybody is so incredibly talented and qualified.
07:29One of the benefits of shooting a show in Los Angeles, which is a rarity these days,
07:34is you get the benefit of the talent pool that lives here.
07:36So we have kind of an all-star team of crew
07:39and this cast is so incredibly talented and personable
07:44and dedicated and committed and funny and intelligent.
07:48A wise man once told me that you learn to live with it,
07:52learn to accept it,
07:54and find balance if you can.
07:58By the end of season one, audiences have followed one long, very trying day
08:02at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center,
08:05a day filled with triumphs and heartbreak,
08:07bravery and breakdowns,
08:09surprise punches,
08:10and shocking reveals.
08:11Oh, he is...
08:13He's homeless.
08:14It was the cherry on top of everything that happened to Whittaker.
08:18But, yeah, I think every character in the show has...
08:21has a little surprise at the end of the season.
08:24Not like you think.
08:25I'm not high.
08:26I'm not high.
08:27You've seen what I do, Robbie.
08:29Could a drug addict do what I do?
08:32Apparently.
08:35Realizing that he might have a shadow,
08:39might have a dark side that he wasn't necessarily sharing from the beginning.
08:44And then you watch him really to the depths of his desperation.
08:50It's uncomfortable to watch.
08:51It's uncomfortable to watch.
08:57It's okay.
08:58We see her come in like a bloody zombie.
09:01That was the one I was most afraid of
09:03because you can't...
09:04You can't halfway do that.
09:06Your whole body, your whole psyche,
09:08like everything has to read like you've just been punched
09:12and you have blood all over you.
09:14But, you know, acting is a little bit magic.
09:16As much preparation as you can do,
09:18it's just a little bit magic whether it works or not.
09:21So, we had the magic with us on that day.
09:23It's nightmares.
09:24Jesus!
09:25Gloria!
09:29Robbie!
09:31Get some air, brother.
09:32The way it's set up in the beginning,
09:33that you think that Abbott is the one
09:34who maybe won't make it.
09:37And by the end of the show,
09:40they are mirrors of each other.
09:42The Abbott says to him,
09:44you know,
09:44I'm not sure why I keep coming back here.
09:47If you jump on my shift,
09:49that's just rude, man.
09:50And then after the end of this horrifying day,
09:53he figures out that I know why.
09:57It's because we can do it.
09:58We're the bees that protect the hive.
09:59It's in our DNA.
10:00It's a beautiful role to reverse it
10:02and so well drawn by our writers.
10:04The show was intended to take a look
10:07at what we've all gone through since COVID
10:09and haven't been able to really process
10:12or synthesize how much the world has changed,
10:15how much has been normalized
10:16that wasn't normal before.
10:18I really tried.
10:20We all did.
10:20If this had been any other day, man.
10:22I went through two really rocky periods
10:25in my life
10:26and it really showed me
10:28that I need work
10:29for my own personal orientation,
10:31my own sense of contribution,
10:32my own sense of artistic expression.
10:35mental health.
10:37So to get to do a show
10:39that is in Los Angeles
10:40where I can go home every night
10:41and sleep in my own bed
10:42and be with my kids and my wife
10:43to help employ 300-plus Angeleno artists
10:47in this city right now
10:49which has gone through
10:50a labor strike, a pandemic,
10:51and then some devastating wildfires.
10:54And to be able to tell a story
10:55that is contemporary,
10:59relevant,
11:00and is resonating all over the world
11:02is like the most gratifying thing in the world
11:04to feel like what you're doing every day
11:06is being seen and appreciated.
11:07So this is truly an answer for Green Country.
11:11Yeah, it's winning a lottery.
11:13Pinch me.
11:14Pinch me.
11:14Pinch me.
11:15Pinch me.
11:15Pinch me.
11:16Pinch me.
11:16Pinch me.
11:17Pinch me.
11:17Pinch me.
11:18Pinch me.
11:19Pinch me.
11:19Pinch me.
11:20Pinch me.
11:20Pinch me.
11:21Pinch me.
11:21Pinch me.
11:21Pinch me.
11:22Pinch me.
11:23Pinch me.
11:23Pinch me.
11:24Pinch me.
11:24Pinch me.
11:25Pinch me.
11:25Pinch me.
11:26Pinch me.
11:27You
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