“The Pitt” sent PaleyFest LA 2026 out with a bang on Sunday by treating audiences to a surprise advanced screening of the show’s Season 2 finale.
Actors Noah Wyle, Katherine LaNasa and Taylor Dearden, as well as series creator/showrunner R. Scott Gemmill, joined audiences after the screening for a Q&A moderated by The Ringer podcaster and cultural critic Joanna Robinson. While much of that conversation delved into spoilers for the season finale, Wyle did give the crowd the first tease as to when the show’s third season might be set.
“It’ll probably be in the fall, November,” Wyle said. “Play with the cold weather, different cases.”
It was at this point that one member of the audience shouted out “Night shift!” alluding to a potential spinoff series focused on the night crew at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center, who cycle in at the end of both seasons (led by Emmy winner Shawn Hatosy as Dr. Jack Abbot). Wyle shut that one down pretty quickly.
“You’re getting just enough night shift,” Wyle laughed. “You don’t want any more. You think you do, but you don’t.”
Gemmill, who was loose-lipped this time last year and revealed that Season 2 of “The Pitt” would take place over Fourth of July weekend, joked that he was keeping his mouth shut regarding anything about Season 3. The people on stage, however, did acknowledge that the gap would likely be smaller than the 10 months between the first and second seasons.
During the Q&A, Robinson asked the stars and creatives behind “The Pitt” various questions about the Season 2 finale and the season as a whole. At one point, she brought up “The Cosby Show” alum Geoffrey Owens, cast in “The Pitt’s” second season as Dr. Clay Barrett.
“I’m curious, as just a thought experiment for all of you, are there any other sort of actors that you’d love to see on future seasons of ‘The Pitt?’” Robinson asked. The question got an obvious smile out of Wyle before LaNasa blurted out the answer many in the room were thinking: “George Clooney,” she laughed, evoking Wyle’s former “ER” co-star. “I’m just a girl!”
PaleyFest LA advertised that fans of “The Pitt” were in for a “Preview Screening and Conversation” at the event Sunday night, though it was never divulged that the full season finale would be screened. When the crowd learned from Robinson that they would be watching the full episode, titled “9:00 P.M.” and written by Gemmill, the room burst into applause.
Similar cheers were heard a few times throughout the episode, as the packed Dolby Theatre treated one of the earliest audiences to the finale set to release on Thursday. It’s a novel experience, one that will be replicated Monday when healthcare workers can gather at various Alamo Drafthouse locations to watch the episode for free.
“The Pitt” Season 2, Episode 15 airs Thursday, April 16, on HBO Max.
