Why The Pitt Doesn't Feature Music, According To Noah Wyle

The medical drama has been a staple TV genre for decades, but no example has caught on quite as quickly or as loudly in recent times as Max's "The Pitt." A gritty, grounded emergency room drama series that emphasizes medical accuracy and realistic takes on how hospitals run, "The Pitt" has been heralded as the best medical show in years. It brings that signature prestige TV feel without sacrificing the distinct structural markers that define the medical drama as a genre.

Something viewers may notice when watching the series for the first time is the distinct lack of background music. As you might assume, that was a deliberate choice from the start, intended to keep the realism of the show front and center.

"One of the decisions we made early on was to not employ any soundtrack in the show," as "The Pitt" star Noah Wyle explained during an interview with NPR's "Fresh Air." "By lifting the music out, we've sort of removed the artifice that says you're watching a TV show, and we need you to feel sad here because we're playing strings, or exciting here because we're using percussion." The effect is immediately apparent, and the lack of any dramatic embellishment only adds to the intensity of the series. There's no sound to distract viewers from the constant mayhem of the hospital, and music would only diminish the focus on the assorted natural ambient noises.

While different medical drama series throughout the history of the genre have made their own attempts to keep things grounded and realistic, most embellish things here or there. It's the natural thing to do in the elevated space of TV. Wyle has plenty of experience with the mechanics of the genre, having played Dr. John Carter for over a decade on "ER" (the show largely responsible for popularizing the medical genre on television).

"We're letting the sort of symphony of the sound of the procedures in the room be our cadence," Wyle remarked on "Fresh Air," explaining the show's scoreless philosophy. "A lot of that is the technical jargon that the doctors are employing. It becomes the soundtrack in the scene, and the intensity with which they're delivering those lines becomes the emotional equivalent of the score."

"The Pitt" has earned major praise for its respectful depiction of medical workers, including the sacrifices they make and the strain — both emotional and physical — that emergency room work demands of them. More than anything, it's a show that emphasizes just how miraculous modern medicine can be. "It's really less important the audience understands and more important that the audience sees that the doctors know what they're talking about," Wyle noted.

Though season 1 has come to an end, "The Pitt" season 2 is already in the works.