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The one change HBO Max wanted from The Pitt — and why they backed off
HBO Max wanted many of the key scenes in The Pitt to feel more like other television dramas, but the showrunner showed them why that wasn't necessarily the best solution
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When you watch a show, it is rarely silent. Between dialogue, sound effects, and music, there is almost always some audio present, as it helps keep viewers focused and sets the tone for many scenes. However, there is something powerful about silence used in the right doses, which is why the showrunner for HBO Max’s The Pitt fought the network to keep certain scenes free from background music – and why the network eventually agreed.
During an interview, The Pitt showrunner John Wells discussed the give and take between the executives who had opinions about how certain scenes in the show were presented. Which is fair; that is their job, after all. “The only thing we ever got pressure about – and then they’ve been gracious about it – was wanting music to underscore the emotions,” he explained. “We felt the audience is more sophisticated and can follow exactly what we’re doing; we don’t need to tell them how to feel. There isn’t really music when you’re a doctor or a nurse in the emergency room. There was some reluctance and when we tested it [without music], audiences did come along. They’ve been gracious about it since saying, ‘Yep, you’re right, it works.’”
Letting a scene run in relative silence is a difficult thing to do well. It requires knowing that your actors and directors can capture the emotion visually and being brave enough to trust your audience to make the connection. For The Pitt, it meant pushing back against the network’s preconceptions, but the result is a more honest, raw show.
The Pitt season 2 drops new episodes on HBO Max every Thursday.
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