10 Best TV Shows Starring The Cast Of The Pitt

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It takes a lot to stand out in the extremely crowded field of television medical dramas. And yet only two seasons in, HBO's "The Pitt" has already risen above most of its current competitors — and many previous greats to boot — in establishing itself as one of the best entries in its genre. Much of that is due to the incredible writing and the stellar cast, with medical TV show veteran Noah Wyle leading a team of strong longtime character actors and some of the best up-and-comers of the moment.

Given that the characters spend so much time running around hospital corridors and wearing their medical scrubs — scrubs that are sometimes splattered with all manner of bodily fluid — many fans have wondered what the cast of "The Pitt" looks like in real life. And given how strong their performances are throughout, it has also had people curious what other shows some of these actors have previously appeared in. So we compiled what we believe are the 10 best shows in which cast members of "The Pitt" played either a main role or a significant recurring role, limiting it to two shows max per actor.

• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Michelle Hurd, Isa Briones
• Creators: Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Kirsten Beyer, Alex Kurtzman
• Years aired: 2020-2023
• Where to watch: Paramount+

Intern Trinity Santos wastes no time in making enemies right from the pilot episode of "The Pitt," not only through her arrogant nature but also when she learns that a senior resident has been stealing medication. And the last thing you want to do as an intern in a new hospital is get on the bad side of the existing residents. Played by actor Isa Briones, Santos struggles with those aforementioned issues and other pressures of the job, though she still makes sure to find the time and energy to advocate for abuse victims, especially children.

"The Pitt" is the second major television role for Briones, following her big break on "Star Trek: Picard." That show provided an excellent showcases for Briones's acting chops, as she technically played four different characters: twin androids Dahj and Soji; Kore Soong, the girl after which the aforementioned droids were modeled; and Sutra, essentially the early rough draft of Dahj and Soji. Considering that some of the biggest "Star Trek" questions answered by "Picard" were centered around the characters she played, Briones was a huge part of that series and "Star Trek" lore as a whole. 

• Cast: Samuel Barnett, Elijah Wood, Fiona Dourif
• Creator: Max Landis
• Years aired: 2016-2017
• Where to watch: AMC+

Across the two seasons of "The Pitt" released thus far, Dr. Cassie McKay goes from second year resident to third year resident, having turned her life around after previously struggling with addiction. She's also trying to find a good work/life balance between her rising career and the demands of being a single mother. Cassie's history with addiction has given her the ability to connect with patients who are going through similar issues, being more sympathetic than many of her colleagues.

Cassie is played by actor Fiona Dourif, who has screen credits that go back to 2005. Her father, Brad Dourif, is also an actor known for his breakout role in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Deadwood," and being the longtime voice of murderous living doll Chucky. As for Fiona, arguably her best show outside of "The Pitt" is the short-lived 2016 sci-fi series "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency," based on the Douglas Adams novel of the same name. It follows the titular crew who tackle cases not through traditional investigative means, but through nudging fate to take its course. Fiona plays Bart Curling, who is essentially Dirk's dark half seeking to kill him. 

As much as "Dirk Gently" deserved to last longer than two seasons, the plus side to its short length is that you can watch the underrated sci-fi show in one weekend. And once you start it, you'll definitely do exactly that. 

• Cast: James Franco, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Sepideh Moafi
• Creators: George Pelecanos, David Simon
• Years aired: 2017-2019
• Where to watch: HBO Max

When Dr. Robby plans to take a three-month leave of absence, Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi is brought in to cover his duties while he's gone. It's immediately clear that she isn't willing to simply pick up where he left off and do things the way he would, and the two disagree on pretty much everything about the job. Her arrival as a new Season 2 character definitely brought a lot of fiery drama to "The Pitt," a show that was already far from lacking in that department.

Playing the defiant Dr. Al-Hashimi is Sepideh Moafi, who immediately proves that she's got the chops to justify her addition to the already tight ensemble of "The Pitt." Moafi has a few other shows that are worth watching, two of which we will be highlighting. But we start with "The Deuce," HBO's acclaimed period drama that tells a fictionalized version of the early days of the adult film industry in 1970s New York. Moafi plays recurring character-turned-series-regular Loretta, whom the actor described to The Imagista as "a Puerto Rican sex worker turned activist tending bar in the heart of Times Square." 

• Cast: Jennifer Beals, Kate Moennig, Sepideh Moafi
• Creators: Ilene Chaiken, Kathy Greenberg, Michele Abbott
• Years aired: 2019-2023
• Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video (for rent or purchase only)

The other TV show we'd like to recommend starring Sepideh Moafi — who plays Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi on "The Pitt" — is "The L Word: Generation Q." Taking place 10 years after the events of the original "The L Word," "Generation Q" both checks in on legacy characters and introduces new ones as it focuses on a group of friends within the queer community. 

Moafi plays Golnar "Gigi" Ghorbani, one of the "Generation Q" characters who are new to the "L Word" franchise. This will be good news for fans of Moafi's who want to jump straight into "Generation Q," as there isn't any existing lore or backstory to catch up on in regards to her character. That being said, "Generation Q" doesn't fully hold up as its own self-contained series and requires familiarity with the original series to get the most out of it. 

Now, "The L Word" is a terrific show, so you should catch up on it first anyway if you haven't already. But if you truly want to just start with "Generation Q," it's still an enjoyable watch, even if some context will be lost on you. 

• Cast: Tyler Alvarez, Griffin Gluck, Talyor Dearden
• Creators: Dan Perrault, Tony Yacenda
• Years aired: 2017-2018
• Where to watch: Netflix

While mockumentary TV shows are hardly the novelty they used to be, with a handful of them seemingly on the air at any given moment, it's still an incredibly fun genre when it's done right. Enter "American Vandal," the excellent 2017 Netflix mockumentary series that specifically took aim at true crime shows. Each of its two seasons takes place in a high school but center around a different act of vandalism perpetuated on that school. Season 2 attempts to figure out who poisoned the cafeteria food and caused everyone who ate it to have a very unfortunate mess in their pants.

One of the main players in Season 2 is Chloe Lyman, who initially enlists the help of the show's fictional documentary filmmaker sleuths to solve the mystery behind the scatological disaster. Chloe is played by actor Taylor Dearden, who also plays Dr. Melissa "Mel" King on "The Pitt." Mel goes from second to third year resident over the course of the two seasons of "The Pitt," and is notable for not only being neurodivergent herself but also having a twin sister with autism named Becca (Tal Anderson). Unlike Mel, who has become a doctor, Becca lives in an assisted care facility and struggles to gain independence from her high-strung sister. 

• Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Josh Hopkins, Tracy Ifeachor
• Creator: Joshua Safran
• Years aired: 2015-2018
• Where to watch: Hulu

Though she didn't return for Season 2, senior resident Dr. Heather Collins was a major character in Season 1 of "The Pitt." In addition to her complicated personal history with Dr. Robby, Heather's main conflict was that she was pregnant but didn't want to tell anyone until she was further along. Sadly, she ended up having a miscarriage during the course of the season.

Despite the usual assumptions that there was behind-the0scenes drama following the announcement of Heather not returning for Season 2, the show's executive producer claims that Heather would naturally be moving on after the end of her residency and insisted that actor Tracy Ifeachor didn't quit the show, nor did she get fired.

As for Ifeachor, she's been kicking around on television since the late 2000s. Of her pre-"Pitt" shows, the one to check out in terms of sizable roles is "Quantico," the legal thriller that ran for three seasons on ABC. She joined the show in the Season 2 premiere, playing CIA new recruit Lydia Hall. We won't spoil her character arc if you haven't seen it, but we'll say that it is a wild ride full of twists and turns. Which is true for "Quantico" in general, and ended up being the reason it was canceled – it was simply too complex and dense of a show for 2015 network TV audiences. Just a few years later, and "Quantico" would've been more likely to become the hit it deserved to be.  

• Cast: Margaret Qualley, Nick Robinson, Tracy Vilar
• Creator: Molly Smith Metzler
• Year aired: 2021
• Where to watch: Netflix

One of the most unsung jobs in a hospital is the ward clerk, the administrative professional who not only has to handle the lion's share of the clerical and personnel work for the staff but also answer phones and deal with the public. They really are the glue that holds an emergency room together, as the primary point of connect between doctors, patients, and visitors. On "The Pitt," the most visible ward clerk is recurring character Lupe Perez, played by actor Tracy Vilar. 

Vilar has one of the oldest filmographies of anyone in the cast of "The Pitt," with screen credits that stretch all the way back to 1994. But her most notable role outside of "The Pitt" was as part of the ensemble of Netflix's acclaimed 2021 miniseries "Maid." Though most of the accolades went to stars Margaret Qualley and Andie MacDowell, Vilar stole many a scene as Yolanda, the boss of Qualley's titular housekeeper. Not that Yolanda may not be a particularly good boss, but she's a compelling character and Vilar nails the role. 

• Cast: Inbar Lavi, Rob Heaps, Katherine LaNasa
• Creators: Adam Brooks, Paul Adelstein
• Years aired: 2017-2018
• Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video (for rent or purchase only)

When you think of Bravo, thoughts usually go to reality shows about celebrity chefs, in-fighting between the wives of wealthy men, and various families who seem to only be famous for being famous. But the cable channel has done scripted shows from time to time, and one of them — 2017's "Imposters" — was actually great as a black comedy disguised as a murder mystery soap opera with some goofy slapstick mixed in. It may not sound too promising on paper, but it was an extremely fun show that might've gotten more than two seasons if it weren't stuck on a channel that people don't typically look to for high quality scripted shows.

The actor connection between "Imposters" and "The Pitt" is Katherine LaNasa played Sally on "Imposters" and emergency room charge nurse Dana Evans on "The Pitt." And as a testament to LaNasa's talents, the two characters couldn't be more different. Dana has the no-nonsense attitude but with a heaping helping of compassion required for the job, and LaNasa won a well-deserved Primetime Emmy for her work in the role. On the other hand, Sally of "Imposters" is an unhinged villain character that lets LaNasa chew the scenery and camp it up. And, no, she didn't get any Emmy love for it. 

• Cast: Noah Wyle, Moon Bloodgood, Drew Roy
• Creator: Robert Rodat
• Years aired: 2011-2015
• Where to watch: Netflix

He's been mentioned a few times already, but suffice it to say, Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch is the primary protagonist of "The Pitt." He's the prototypical doctor character in that he tries to do right by his patients and colleagues, even when it means bending rules that put him at odds with his bosses. But "The Pitt" is so well written, and actor Noah Wyle portrays him so well, that Dr. Robby rises above any cliched character traits he might possess to be one of the best characters on TV at the moment. Wyle won his first-ever acting Emmy for the role. 

It's no big secret that Wyle has been around for awhile, and everyone who is reading this list already knows what other show he did that most closely relates to "The Pitt." We'll get to that soon enough. But before that, we wanted to spotlight his third-best show behind that and "The Pitt," which is the 2011 TNT sci-fi series "Falling Skies." Set six months into an alien invasion, Wyle plays Tom Mason, the leader of one of the most prominent resistance groups fighting to take back Earth.

"Falling Skies" is easily one of the best sci-fi shows of the 2010s, even if it doesn't seem to remain in the pop culture conversation as much as some of its peers. But Wyle starring in a currently acclaimed show is the perfect excuse for people to check out "Falling Skies" and give it the legacy it deserves. 

• Cast: Anthony Edwards, Laura Innes, Noah Wyle
• Creator: Michael Crichton
• Years aired: 1994-2009
• Where to watch: HBO Max

Yeah, obviously we were going to talk about "ER," that other popular medical drama where Noah Wyle plays a doctor. "ER" wasn't the first medical show, but it was among the first truly great ones, and remains a high water mark to which all subsequent medical shows have been compared. While George Clooney was the main breakout star of "ER," and Anthony Edwards is sometimes considered the main lead when taking in the show as a whole, Wyle definitely held his own as Dr. John Carter, a wealthy, idealistic young doctor who begins the show as a medical student and works his way up become an attending.

Wyle actually appears twice on our list of the 10 best TV doctors, once as Dr. Robby and once as Dr. Carter. That's no small feat given just how many TV doctors there have been — half of them come from "Grey's Anatomy" alone. Wyle just knows how to play a great doctor on a great medical show.