Posted in: Max, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: opinion, The Pitt

The Pitt Producers, Max Made The Right Call Not Binge-Dropping Season

The success of John Wells, R. Scott Gemmill, and Noah Wyle's The Pitt was due in large part to the show having time to grow its audience.

If it felt like EP John Wells and series creator R. Scott Gemmill's EP Noah Wyle-starring and executive-producing The Pitt was a hit, you would be right – with Max sharing the news of just how big of a hit that the critically acclaimed medical drama was for the streaming service. Heading into this week's season finale, we learned that the first 14 episodes were averaging over 10 million global viewers – with the first episode of the series taking in 16.2 million global viewers so far. But it was this fact that hit our radar hard. This week's season wrap-up capped off a 13-week streak of week-over-week growth – meaning that every single episode since the show's two-part premiere back in January out-performed the previous. If there was ever a better argument for shutting down the practice of binge-dropping seasons, Max's The Pitt would be the latest and one of the best.

Full disclosure: We were never big fans of binge-dropping from the start, and that changed to a whole lot of hate when we saw many quality shows never get a chance to establish themselves with viewers. Take a minute and think about some of your favorite shows – and then ask yourself how many of them needed time to find themselves. Would they have survived an eight-episode drop on a Thursday when there are four other big-name shows dropping on three different streamers around the same time? With Max's The Pitt, you have fans mapping out the backstories and storyline connections for characters that they've only gotten to know over a 15-hour "shift" – and yet, they're posting and debating about them as if they've been watching for years. That kind of bond between a show and its viewers isn't something you can buy or manufacture – it comes naturally… when given time.

Just to be clear, we have seen Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, Max, and others move more towards either weekly releases or "hybrid" releases where 2-3 episodes premiere before shifting to weekly releases. Even Netflix – which still acts like it's "ride or die" with binge-dropping – has been playing fast and loose with its previously rigid release policy, utilizing split-season approaches and even daily releases. But as much as we would like to think that it has to do with a renewed understanding of why creative vision should be given time to capture an audience, much of this comes down to who won "The Streaming Wars" (Netflix) and who didn't (everyone else). That means a lot of folks are still licking their financial wounds from some questionable decision-making, which translates into a lot less money being spent on shows. It also means that the shows being produced will have to have longer "shelf lives," so the days of dropping $250M series in one day have become few and far between.

So maybe it's time to tell the impatient folks out there that Television isn't Film and that it's the serialized journey that makes the television-viewing experience unique. No one is saying you shouldn't enjoy binge-watching if that's your thing – just wait until the season's over and have at it. But the studios/streamers and the creative teams behind the shows also have the responsibility of keeping viewers engaged between episodes. There are a number of shows that have done – and continue to do – excellent jobs at keeping the viewers engaged. STARZ's "Power" series universe, Max's Peacemaker, and Disney+'s X-Men '97 are just some examples of shows that understood the assignment and turned the viewing experience into a kind of 24/7 "watch party" for fans. When you give shows like Max's The Pitt the time that they need to establish that bond, you can see rewards that can be reaped.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!