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The Pitt and a few other things...
Finished The Pitt S2 and here's an interview with Noah Wyle, producer, writer, director and star of The Pitt (he wrote the 14th Episode). I admittedly started watching it because of Noah Wyle (well that and I have a weakness for medical dramas). Now I love most if not all the characters. It's my favorite show at the moment. The Bear is close second. The only two characters I wasn't overly fond of - left the show during S1 or are about to. So, lucky me? I'm ignoring the fandom, because it's insane and doesn't appear to understand how television works. Sigh. Online fandom has become increasingly insane and insufferable since the early 00s, which considering it wasn't exactly sane to begin with... The nerd fandom is a little less crazy but not nearly as insufferable (nerds don't tend to ship romantic pairings (or care who is with whom) and are more into debating consistency issues, such as why is Spike's reflection visible in the glass of that store, along with the nitty gritty details of how a worm hole actually works and can you really fly that that thing through space - which is much easier to deal with.) (I miss the days in which I didn't know shows like the Pitt had a fandom.)
The Pitt is not a melodrama. Even if the crazy marketing folks online keep trying to pretend it is. It's a strict medical procedural that is hyper-realism, kind of like Homicide Life on the Streets was or Law and Order, or This is Going to Hurt (except more so than that).
Anyhow it was a good season. And I found it relatable and comforting. In the interview, Wyle provides five reasons for why it works so well and how it differs from other medical dramas (I'm a medical drama fan - so have seen all of them.)
Five things that make the Pitt work so well
"“It’s a couple of things that work beautifully in concert.
1.) No music. Audiences are so sophisticated, but what they’re not accustomed to is not being told how to feel,” Wyle says. “You take all that out and it forces a level of engagement where you’re now looking for clues within the frame of the screen, which forces you to look up from your phone. And I think that is extremely engaging, especially to young viewers who aren’t accustomed to being asked to participate in a nonpassive way in the viewing experience.
[The no music thing - I've seen used effectively before, with Buffy the Vampire Slayer's episode The Body. After a little while you forget there isn't any. But it is effective. ER in direct contrast to The Pitt - relied heavily on music and even had a recognizable score. It also had the credit sequence. The Pitt is shot in the modern film style of no front credit sequence, the cast names are usually at the final credit reel. Grey's Anatomy went overboard with the music - using it a wee bit too much, to the point that you can't hear the dialogue and require close captioning, and the song lyrics often overlap it, then they added voice over narration. The sound editing on Grey's is abysmal. Taking music out - has another benefit, it makes the show cheaper to make. Music is expensive. Even basic musical scoring can add cost. I personally think it is required for some types of television series - such as soap operas or melodramas. General Hospital (soap opera) did away with it a bit - and it was jarring. Also shows like Buffy, Angel, Supernatural, and horror require it. Hyper-realism doesn't - it's actually more real without. I can't remember if the Bear or Succession has it. The Wire did as did Homicide Life on the Streets.]
2) Shooting it with almost exclusively 50-millimeter or 65-millimeter lenses, which is the most comparable to the human eye—and only shooting from the point of view of a human being that’s present in this space. There are no cameras on gurney wheels going in the hallway. There’s no cameras on the ceiling looking down from a God point of view. You are limited to the perspective of a participant. You can look away, but you can’t leave, and it becomes an endurance test for you to stay on your feet as long as we’re on our feet. [The Bear did that too to a certain extent - to heighten tension and provide a real sense of what it was like working in a busy stressful kitchen.]
3) Taking place in real time. Real time has an aggregate sense of tension that you don’t get in any other form of storytelling. What happened before is happening now, and these two things are going to add up to the next thing. And if we throw more ingredients into this cooker and keep ratcheting it up, it’s going to pop.”
[The Bear does this at times. I've also seen other hyper-reality series do it. It's hard to do effectively. With a medical series - it will work, because you just do an hour for each hour of the fifteen hour shift. You limit the action to that period of time, and don't show anything outside of it. It provides boundaries for both the writers and the audience. The action is happening within this specific period of time, place, setting, and work environment. It's only about this.]
4). The election went the other way,” he says with a shrug. “We could have been a really good show with a lot of nice things to say in a perfectly normal Kamala Harris universe. And instead we became almost a beacon of hope and humanity in an alternative universe."
[People complain about art being political? But good art is political. And most are is. Even Friends was political, not always in a way that I agree with and often in ways that I found offensive - which is why I jumped in and out of it. The politics, beliefs, views of the creators of any work of art will often leak into the art. That said - hyper-realism works better if it does, since we live in a political world, whether we want to or not. It's always there.]
5.) This is essentially competence porn. You’re watching really smart, dedicated people do what only they know how to do at a level that you don’t know how to do it, and you’re so fucking glad that they’re there doing it, and compartmentalizing their own stuff to put your broken pieces back together. You’re so reassured by knowing that there are people out there that laugh and joke and have the ability to lock in like that.”
Note, while the article may have spoilers, the above does not, and if anything tells you whether you'd enjoy the series. It's not for everyone? I don't like criminal procedurals for example - for some of the same reasons a lot of folks don't like medical dramas.
***
I completed Grantchester S2 as well. It surprised me, and not necessarily in a good way. I thought it was swinging more towards hyper-realism than, well it actually is? At the end of the final episode of S2, Amanda, the protagonist (Sydney Bellow) one true love - comes running towards him, telling him she's left her husband, and her father has disowned her and she has nothing and no one. Also her husband is furious with her.
Small wonder considering...she's about six months pregnant, with an obvious belly.
And Sydney says, but you have me, you'll always have me.
And I'm thinking, uhm, what about your baby? I mean you're six months pregnant? I get that it's not an actual living human being at the moment?
But it's rather callous of you to treat it as non-existent, considering?
Did she think about this kid at all?
Sydney is a Vicar? It's the 1950s? Why isn't he thinking about the child?
If it were 2026, yes, this would work for me a little better? But it's 1954, English Countryside? (Oh well, at least I know why Sydney getting married results in Sydney leaving Grantchester - I can't imagine that's going to go over well with the residents.)
Leonard's, the gay Vicar, storyline is working a bit better for me.
***
It was very warm this past week, but over the past three days it's cooled a bit, and we're back to spring like temperatures. It's in the 50s and upper 40s today, overcast, with a slight breeze. Rain is in the forecast.
While this did affect my health a bit, it didn't as much as usual - ie. no vertigo. Which means what I'm taking to fend off the vertigo and doing to fend it off - seems to be working? I still think it is a combination of neck and sinus issues. The neck resulting in the vestibular, the sinus resulting in the headaches.
Had troubles getting to sleep last night. Spent time before bed on social media - which probably caused it. I got triggered - and as a result, my brain wouldn't shut off. But, I found a cure finally? My Calm App - I used two separate sleep meditations which managed to calm my brain and dis-spell the onslaught of negative thoughts churned up by time wasted on the internet. Note to self - stay off the internet at night.
The Pitt is not a melodrama. Even if the crazy marketing folks online keep trying to pretend it is. It's a strict medical procedural that is hyper-realism, kind of like Homicide Life on the Streets was or Law and Order, or This is Going to Hurt (except more so than that).
Anyhow it was a good season. And I found it relatable and comforting. In the interview, Wyle provides five reasons for why it works so well and how it differs from other medical dramas (I'm a medical drama fan - so have seen all of them.)
Five things that make the Pitt work so well
"“It’s a couple of things that work beautifully in concert.
1.) No music. Audiences are so sophisticated, but what they’re not accustomed to is not being told how to feel,” Wyle says. “You take all that out and it forces a level of engagement where you’re now looking for clues within the frame of the screen, which forces you to look up from your phone. And I think that is extremely engaging, especially to young viewers who aren’t accustomed to being asked to participate in a nonpassive way in the viewing experience.
[The no music thing - I've seen used effectively before, with Buffy the Vampire Slayer's episode The Body. After a little while you forget there isn't any. But it is effective. ER in direct contrast to The Pitt - relied heavily on music and even had a recognizable score. It also had the credit sequence. The Pitt is shot in the modern film style of no front credit sequence, the cast names are usually at the final credit reel. Grey's Anatomy went overboard with the music - using it a wee bit too much, to the point that you can't hear the dialogue and require close captioning, and the song lyrics often overlap it, then they added voice over narration. The sound editing on Grey's is abysmal. Taking music out - has another benefit, it makes the show cheaper to make. Music is expensive. Even basic musical scoring can add cost. I personally think it is required for some types of television series - such as soap operas or melodramas. General Hospital (soap opera) did away with it a bit - and it was jarring. Also shows like Buffy, Angel, Supernatural, and horror require it. Hyper-realism doesn't - it's actually more real without. I can't remember if the Bear or Succession has it. The Wire did as did Homicide Life on the Streets.]
2) Shooting it with almost exclusively 50-millimeter or 65-millimeter lenses, which is the most comparable to the human eye—and only shooting from the point of view of a human being that’s present in this space. There are no cameras on gurney wheels going in the hallway. There’s no cameras on the ceiling looking down from a God point of view. You are limited to the perspective of a participant. You can look away, but you can’t leave, and it becomes an endurance test for you to stay on your feet as long as we’re on our feet. [The Bear did that too to a certain extent - to heighten tension and provide a real sense of what it was like working in a busy stressful kitchen.]
3) Taking place in real time. Real time has an aggregate sense of tension that you don’t get in any other form of storytelling. What happened before is happening now, and these two things are going to add up to the next thing. And if we throw more ingredients into this cooker and keep ratcheting it up, it’s going to pop.”
[The Bear does this at times. I've also seen other hyper-reality series do it. It's hard to do effectively. With a medical series - it will work, because you just do an hour for each hour of the fifteen hour shift. You limit the action to that period of time, and don't show anything outside of it. It provides boundaries for both the writers and the audience. The action is happening within this specific period of time, place, setting, and work environment. It's only about this.]
4). The election went the other way,” he says with a shrug. “We could have been a really good show with a lot of nice things to say in a perfectly normal Kamala Harris universe. And instead we became almost a beacon of hope and humanity in an alternative universe."
[People complain about art being political? But good art is political. And most are is. Even Friends was political, not always in a way that I agree with and often in ways that I found offensive - which is why I jumped in and out of it. The politics, beliefs, views of the creators of any work of art will often leak into the art. That said - hyper-realism works better if it does, since we live in a political world, whether we want to or not. It's always there.]
5.) This is essentially competence porn. You’re watching really smart, dedicated people do what only they know how to do at a level that you don’t know how to do it, and you’re so fucking glad that they’re there doing it, and compartmentalizing their own stuff to put your broken pieces back together. You’re so reassured by knowing that there are people out there that laugh and joke and have the ability to lock in like that.”
Note, while the article may have spoilers, the above does not, and if anything tells you whether you'd enjoy the series. It's not for everyone? I don't like criminal procedurals for example - for some of the same reasons a lot of folks don't like medical dramas.
***
I completed Grantchester S2 as well. It surprised me, and not necessarily in a good way. I thought it was swinging more towards hyper-realism than, well it actually is? At the end of the final episode of S2, Amanda, the protagonist (Sydney Bellow) one true love - comes running towards him, telling him she's left her husband, and her father has disowned her and she has nothing and no one. Also her husband is furious with her.
Small wonder considering...she's about six months pregnant, with an obvious belly.
And Sydney says, but you have me, you'll always have me.
And I'm thinking, uhm, what about your baby? I mean you're six months pregnant? I get that it's not an actual living human being at the moment?
But it's rather callous of you to treat it as non-existent, considering?
Did she think about this kid at all?
Sydney is a Vicar? It's the 1950s? Why isn't he thinking about the child?
If it were 2026, yes, this would work for me a little better? But it's 1954, English Countryside? (Oh well, at least I know why Sydney getting married results in Sydney leaving Grantchester - I can't imagine that's going to go over well with the residents.)
Leonard's, the gay Vicar, storyline is working a bit better for me.
***
It was very warm this past week, but over the past three days it's cooled a bit, and we're back to spring like temperatures. It's in the 50s and upper 40s today, overcast, with a slight breeze. Rain is in the forecast.
While this did affect my health a bit, it didn't as much as usual - ie. no vertigo. Which means what I'm taking to fend off the vertigo and doing to fend it off - seems to be working? I still think it is a combination of neck and sinus issues. The neck resulting in the vestibular, the sinus resulting in the headaches.
Had troubles getting to sleep last night. Spent time before bed on social media - which probably caused it. I got triggered - and as a result, my brain wouldn't shut off. But, I found a cure finally? My Calm App - I used two separate sleep meditations which managed to calm my brain and dis-spell the onslaught of negative thoughts churned up by time wasted on the internet. Note to self - stay off the internet at night.
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