The Pitt is a classic case of taking an old premise and making it feel brand new. Dramas that pivot off the life and death stakes of a hospital or emergency room have been around for decades, but The Pitt—initially conceived as a direct sequel to one of the greatest medical dramas of all time, E/R—has perfected the mix of realism, real-time pacing, and great character work. It's justifiably been a sensation since its debut in 2025.

If your whole week revolves around new episodes of the series, that leaves you with a lot of time on your hands in-between—and, soon, a long wait until the third season. To fill some of that void, you can peruse this list of other TV shows you should check out. And if you want to expand beyond TV, here are the books, movies, games, and podcasts that can deliver similar themes and vibes.

The best books like The Pitt

With its unusually long season (compared to most other modern series), focus on character, and slow-burn themes, The Pitt is pretty novelistic. Here are some of the best books that will give you the same feel.

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This Is Going to Hurt, by Adam Kay

Based on Adam Kay’s personal experience working on the obstetrics and gynecology ward for the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS), the adaptation of This is Going to Hurt starring Ben Whislaw is on our list of shows like The Pitt. It’s great, but it’s also different from the source in many ways. Kay’s book is less bitter and more urgent, taken directly from his diary entries and featuring more of his sardonic voice. If you want a more unvarnished, absorbing, and powerful look at the challenges that doctors and nurses face every day of their careers, give it a read.

Five Days at Memorial, by Sheri Fink

If your favorite parts of The Pitt are the big moments like season one’s mass shooting event, you’ll find Five Days at Memorial the perfect read (its adaptation is also on our list of TV shows for Pitt fans). When Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans in 2005, the hospitals there faced a challenge beyond anything imaginable. Fink’s book dives into the experienced of people working at Memorial Medical Center, who struggled with a deluge of desperate patients, shrinking supplies, and impossible medical decisions made under the worst possible conditions.

The Emergency, by Thomas Fisher

Fisher’s memoir describes his experiences as an attending physician in the University of Chicago Medical Center, beginning in 2006. If you love the individual stories that The Pitt serves up with each episode, this is for you—Fisher details some of the cases he dealt with at, delving into fascinating maladies and how he approached diagnosing and treating them. He also makes it clear what’s wrong with our modern approach to medicine, and how it often fails the people who need it most.

The House of God, by Samuel Shem

A bit dated these days, but Shem’s 1978 semi-autobiographical novel captures the sense of competitive camaraderie among medical interns and residents, as well as the psychological damage the pressures of their training can cause. It’s a sharp and funny indictment of how residents were trained, and may have influenced reforms that have taken place since.

The Shift, by Theresa Brown, RN

The Pitt knows that the most important people in an emergency department are often not the doctors, but the nurses. In The Shift, Brown uses the same conceit as The Pitt, recounting a single 12-hour shift so you can be there at every step of a patient’s care from her perspective. The result is everything you could want in a read-a-like: A fast-paced story of professionals making life-and-death decisions under pressure, and the people whose lives depend on them.

The best movies like The Pitt

If your one complaint about The Pitt is that the episodes aren’t long enough, check out these movies that have similar themes and storylines.

Code Black (2013)

In a lot of ways, Code Black is a real-life The Pitt. Filmed in 2013 at one of the country’s busiest emergency departments (the Los Angeles General Medical Center), this documentary follows a team of young doctors as they deal with a seem

The Best Books, Movies, Video Games, and Podcasts to Check Out After Watching 'The Pitt'