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 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 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,

Consider this example both an enticement and a warning. Created by ER alum R. Scott Gemmill, The Pitt takes a ruthlessly realistic approach to its depiction of our beleaguered/broken healthcare system — but it’s also the most engrossing and addictive medical drama to come along since Grey’s Anatomy and, well, ER.

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

In Canada, The Pitt will air on the newly rechristened USA Network (formerly The Discovery Channel) with episodes going out weekly at 10pm ET / 7pm PT starting Thursday, January 9. You stream USA Network live via Sling TV ( get half off your first month with this deal ).

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,