TV Talk: Emmy-winning ‘The Pitt’ returns to Pittsburgh for filming

Coming off an Emmy win Sunday for best drama series, the cast and crew of HBO Max drama “The Pitt” will have something to celebrate when the series returns to Pittsburgh to film scenes for its second season this week.

Allegheny Health Network’s Allegheny General Hospital on Pittsburgh’s North Side announced the show will again film at the hospital, including on the rooftop’s LifeFlight helipad that offers scenic views of the city, and various entryways to AGH, which plays the role of Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center on “The Pitt.”

An announcement seeking extras to work during filming Wednesday to Friday this week in “Pitt” scenes was posted briefly to Facebook Friday by movieextraspittsburgh.com but soon after removed, with the casting agency writing, “Since it’s just a handful of days — we are now booked.”

The casting notice sought background actors to play parkgoers, pedestrians, bike riders and “precision drivers” with non-white or red cars. The request for drivers suggests the show will film some driving scenes during its local production period, which will likely include some scenes filmed off AGH property.

On Sunday, “The Pitt” won Emmy awards for best drama, best lead actor (Noah Wyle for his role as Dr. Robby) and best supporting actress (Katherine LaNasa for her role as nurse Dana). They were the first Emmy wins for Wyle and LaNasa.

The series won two awards a week prior (for casting and guest actor Shawn Hatosy, who plays Dr. Jack Abbot) at the Creative Arts Emmys, bringing its first-season total wins to five.

On CBS’s Emmy pre-show Sunday, Wyle said of season two, set over July 4th weekend, “Americans have a lot of creative ways to hurt themselves and we’re going to exploit a lot of them on America’s 250th birthday.”

Wyle previously starred on “ER,” also from “The Pitt” executive producer John Wells and Warner Bros. Productions. Upon winning the lead actor award, he thanked Wells and the studio for “allowing me the conditions to exist for lightning to strike in my life twice; John Wells, thank you for being that lightning.”

Wyle dedicated his award “to anybody going on shift tonight or going off shift, thank you for being in that job, this is for you.”

After winning her Emmy for playing a hardscrabble Pittsburgh nurse who’s the heart of the ER, LaNasa said, “All the nurses and people in the medical community also feel really seen by Dana and all that she gives and endures, it’s kind of a love letter to them.”

The majority of “The Pitt” films on stages at Warner Bros.’ studio in Burbank, Calif., but this week’s local filming mirrors when the show came to Pittsburgh in September 2024 and shot scenes inserted in the first and last episodes as well as in some episodes in between.

“The response to ‘The Pitt’ has been overwhelmingly positive, and our employees have been incredibly excited to see their workplace featured on a national stage in such a compelling way,” said Imran Qadeer, M.D., president of AGH, in the hospital’s filming announcement release. “We are proud to welcome the production team back and continue our partnership with this important series, which shines a light on the dedication and resilience of health care professionals, and the life-changing impact they have on patients, families and communities.”

Pittsburgh native Michael Hissrich, who, like Wells, is a Carnegie Mellon University grad and executive producer on “The Pitt,” said AGH and Pittsburgh were “a big part of the visual impact of our first season.

“We’re very excited to be back in town to show the city and hospital in season two,” Hissrich said in the AGH release. “AGH and its dedicated health care professionals continue to help us tell compelling stories and show the hardworking people of the Pittsburgh area. I couldn’t be happier to be filming in my hometown.”

HBO Max has not announced a premiere date for season two of “The Pitt,” though Wells suggested in an interview it will be Jan. 8. The first season of “The Pitt” will air on cable’s TNT sometime before the second season debuts, but dates for those linear airings have not been announced.