Noah Wyle teases 'explosive' Season 3 of 'The Pitt' as finale fans erupt
Bryan AlexanderLOS ANGELES — Noah Wyle is teasing Season 3 of "The Pitt." And it's going to bring the boom.
The star, writer and executive producer Wyle gave USA TODAY key details about the upcoming season before the PaleyFest LA's "The Pitt" event on April 12 at Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre.
The next season of the HBO Max show, which starts shooting in June, will be set in early November at the fictional Pittsburgh ER.
"It will be pre-Thanksgiving, moving into colder weather," says Wyle, 54. "The holidays are approaching. The weather's changing. People are turning on their heaters for the first time."
"It will be explosive," he promises.
Season 1 took place over a single shift in September; the current Season 2 occurred ten months later, over a single 15-hour July 4 weekend shift. The upcoming season is just four months later.
"So it's not as big a (time) jump as the last time," says creator R. Scott Gemmill. "And we'll play with the colder weather."
The current season required an intense nine months of filming, exhausting for cast and crew. But Gemmill says the writers, including Wyle, are already working as the medical series seeks to emulate the old-school Hollywood model of successive annual seasons.
Amid a profound career resurgence and multiple award wins, "ER" star Wyle says that he doesn't need a break anyway.
"I'm too nervous about being unemployed again, so I tend to press my luck," Wyle says. "We're crafting storylines in the writers' room, we'll be back shooting in June, and hopefully get back on the air in January."
Season 1 of "The Pitt" was a "speculative adventure," he says. No one knew it would be this much of a hit. Wyle says he's been able to enjoy the global mania around the Emmy-winning best drama series this year.
"We made Season 1 in a vacuum. It was only after those first episodes started airing early on that we got an indication that this might be really popular," says Wyle. "During Season 2, we've been honored at award shows and been having our pictures taken. It's been very gratifying."
Wyle called his April 6 Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, something he dreamed about growing up right around the corner from the Los Angeles landmark, "the cherry on the cake of a year and a lifetime."
PaleyFest crowd went nuts previewing 'The Pitt' finale
Wyle, Gemmill, along with fellow Emmy winner Katherine LaNasa (head nurse Dana Evans), and Taylor Dearden (Dr. Melissa “Mel” King), felt the love firsthand at Sunday's rowdy PaleyFest event. All four levels of the Dolby Theatre were filled with cheering fans, with many wearing customized "The Pitt" t-shirts.
"I've lived under a rock, so this is helping," Dearden said while looking over the appreciative crowd.
The crowd went even louder when event organizers said they'd preview the Season 2 finale, which doesn't air until April 16 (Max 8 ET/PT). When they showed the full finale episode to hundreds of fans, the mood was positively electric.
Gemmill promised the crowd more of the same in Season 3 as the beloved cast moves forward.
"We're going to take these people and follow them on the next shift," said Gemmill. "We'll follow them on their respective journeys as they go about their lives. Each year, we get to know a little bit more about them."
Wyle said that highly competent, but emotionally troubled Dr. Michael “Robby” Rabinovitch will continue to evolve and learn that he's not effectively dealing with trauma from the ER and his life.
"The thesis of Season 1 is that the doctor is the patient," said Wyle. "Season 2 is doctors don't make very good patients. Season 3, the thesis is that doctors benefit from being patients."