LOS ANGELES — Freshman drama "The Pitt," HBO Max's hour-by-hour look at a day shift inside a Pittsburgh emergency room, won best drama at the 77th Emmy Awards on Sunday night.

The medical drama entered the night as a dark horse contender, with many predicting Apple TV+'s "Severance" would win the category. "The Pitt" also beat out "The Last of Us" (HBO), "The White Lotus" (HBO), "Andor" (Disney+), "The Diplomat" (Netflix) and "Slow Horses" (Apple TV+).

Series creator R. Scott Gemmill dedicated the win to health care and front-line workers and first responders.

"Respect them, protect them, trust them," he said in his acceptance speech.

The first season of the drama unfolded over 15 gripping episodes that tracked a grueling 15-hour shift in an emergency room to present a realistic portrayal of the challenges health care workers face. It brought star and executive producer Noah Wyle back into scrubs 15 years after the end of "ER," NBC's long-running medical drama in which he starred as Dr. John Carter, and reunited him with "ER" producers John Wells and Gemmill, its showrunner.

The series made headlines even before its premiere when the estate of Michael Crichton, creator of "ER," sued Warner Bros., producer of "The Pitt," arguing it was an unauthorized reboot of the NBC medical drama. In response, Warner Bros. said "The Pitt" is not a "derivative work" of "ER." The case is still pending.

"The Pitt's" debut season received 13 Emmy nominations, and ended the season with five total wins, including actor in a drama for Wyle and supporting actress in a drama for Katherine LaNasa.

"The Pitt" will return for a second season in January 2026.

©2025 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.