Time to check the pulse on Max's spiritual successor to ER.

"The Pitt" may take place in an emergency room and star Noah Wyle, but nothing else about Max's new medical drama resembles the classic series "ER" -- at least according to the show's creators. The new series,

When watching the premiere of Max medi- cal drama “The Pitt,” one might feel as if they’ve stepped into a time machine. The series stars Noah Wyle, who rose to stardom in the future-celebrity-studded cast of “ER.

The cast of Max's medical drama "The Pitt" is clocking in for their shift. The series, which explores the everyday challenges healthcare workers face in a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania emergency room, was produced by John Wells ("ER,

"The Pitt" is a smart show that values character detail and intricate medical science that sometimes succumbs to doses of melodrama that can be forgiven for everything that it does very well.

The series speaks to contemporary issues in the way it attempts to dramatize the toxic drug crisis and issue of systemic bias in medical care

The premiere of The Pitt covers 07:00-08:00 and 08:00-09:00 of a single continuous shift at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center; it’s a two-episode, two-hour span of drama that turns out to be long enough to make it feel like you’ve been punched in the stomach,

Max's first foray into medical dramas is intense and uneven, but The Pitt will likely delight fans of the genre — and especially ER.