Support for the Nocturnist comes from the California Medical Association.

At the Nocturnist, we are careful to ensure that all stories comply with health care privacy laws.

Details may have been changed to ensure patient confidentiality.

All views expressed are those of the person speaking and not their employer.

This is The Nocturnous Conversations. I'm Emily Silverman.

As you may know, we recently launched our uncertainty series here at The Nocturnus,

and those episodes will continue to drop on Thursdays as planned. But today, Tuesday, we're bringing you a special bonus episode, because this conversation was just too fun to postpone. Today, I sit down

with the creative minds behind the HBO Max television show, The Pit, a new medical drama that has

captivated so many of us in the healthcare world.

At the time of this interview, the first 11 episodes of The Pit had aired, and since then, the stakes have only

grown higher. The characters on the pit feel so incredibly real. My personal favorite is Dana,

the charge nurse. And the medical cases on the show

also hit close to home, which just goes to show how much the writing team understands what

it's really like to work in an emergency department. And part of why they nail the authenticity

of the show is that they have a lot of doctors involved in the creative process.

Which brings me to today's three extraordinary guests.

Our Scott Gemmel, longtime television writer and producer,

known for his work on ER, NCIS, Los Angeles,

and now the creator and showrunner of the pit.

Joe Sacks, an emergency physician and TV writer who worked on ER for years and now

brings his clinical expertise to the pit, and Mel Herbert, a beloved educator in emergency

medicine, the founder of the MRAP podcast, and consultant on season one of the pit.

...