Doctors have been the object of fascination, comfort and entertainment on television since the start of the medium. But the medical genre holds the crown for this TV season’s buzziest genre, with a variety of new series debuting across linear and streaming platforms and capturing attention in a crowded space.
Seven new doctor shows have debuted since September. Broadcast networks tend to have as many as two medical series airing concurrently, but this year saw streamers Max and Netflix jump into the fray with their first forays into the genre, as they shift to making originals with longevity potential at a lower price point.
It’s a genre that’s been a reliable kingmaker since the days of “St. Elsewhere” and “ER,” and proves to be the closest thing to a sure bet for audience engagement in 2025 — regardless of where it premieres.
There’s “The Pitt” on Max, a real-time exploration of the chaos inside a Pittsburgh emergency room in the post-COVID era; “Pulse” on Netflix, a romance-heavy drama centered around the team of health workers at a Miami trauma center; NBC’s “Brilliant Minds,” an exploration of neurological disorders inspired by the life and work of Oliver Sacks; Fox’s “Doc,” an American adaptation of an Italian format about a surgeon who loses eight years of memories following a brain injury; “Watson” on CBS, a procedural delving into unique medical cases with a mystery component inspired by Sherlock Holmes’ adventures; and ABC’s “Doctor Odyssey,” a “Love Boat”-like escapist procedural centered around the three-person medical staff aboard a luxury cruise.
There’s also the sole comedy in this season’s trend: “St. Denis Medical,” NBC’s latest show from the team behind “The Office” and “Superstore.”
“[Medical shows are] perennial for a reason … There’s something comforting and familiar about the genre,” longtime TV business affairs executive Ken Basin told TheWrap. “As advertisers become more important in streaming, I expect we’re going to see more and more of a shift back toward classic TV genres and towards longer [episode] orders.”
It’s fair to see this medical drama resurgence as a sign that Hollywood’s streamers are taking a page out of broadcast’s playbook, supplementing their prestige programming with more traditional fare. As budgets tighten and priorities shift from subscriber growth to retention, these platforms need content that can both captivate viewers at launch and grow into a deep-library show that keeps them tuned in over multiple seasons. A medical drama like “The Pitt,” with a reported $4-$5 million budget per episode, or “Pulse” fits that mold to a tee. Moreover, these kinds of productions with relatively few locations can be made faster than your average prestige TV, which means getting new seasons on a yearly release schedule.
An obvious role model is “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC’s cultural phenomenon from Shonda Rhimes and the longest-running medical drama with 21 seasons and more than 400 episodes to date. The show has survived countless cast exits, strikes, a pandemic and more through its international footprint and strong streaming numbers. It was the second most-watched streaming series in 2024 with 47.8 billion viewing minutes across Netflix and Hulu according to Nielsen, behind only the kids’ juggernaut “Bluey.”
Though these new series are surely hoping to snag some of those “Grey’s Anatomy” eyeballs for themselves, the fact most of these shows have boasted viewership wins of their own during their first seasons signals there might be room for all in this competitive streaming landscape.
“You can take a [medical show] as broad as a ‘St. Denis’ or ‘Scrubs,’ or take it as hardcore as ‘ER’ or ‘The Pitt.’ Then there’s a sweet spot in the middle with ‘Chicago Med’ or ‘Doc’ or any of these other shows,” Noah Wyle, star, writer and executive producer of “The Pitt,” told TheWrap. “It’s such a rich tapestry to work in with so many human elements in one environment. Unlike a police station or court, these are environments we’re all extremely familiar with … That’s why they are tried and true.”
Viewership wins across linear and streaming
Nearly all of the new network medical shows introduced this season have boasted significant ratings wins. The premiere of “Doc,” which stars Molly Parker, secured over 16 million viewers across platforms after eight weeks, marking Fox’s most-watched debut in over five years and landing it a Season 2 renewal. The premiere of the Morris Chestnut-led “Watson” caught 18.7 million multiplatform viewers in live-plus-35 days of viewing, boosted by its post-AFC Championship timeslot and making its early Season 2 renewal a given. And NBC’s “St. Denis Medical” was renewed for Season 2 in January.
On the streaming side, Max said “The Pitt” debuted in the top five of its most-watched original series premieres ever a week after its January release. The show was renewed for Season 2 in February, and a Max spokesperson told TheWrap after the release of Episode 10 that the show had moved up to top three, with viewership growing every week. But the streamer doesn’t release viewership data for its originals and “The Pitt” has not appeared in Nielsen’s streaming charts yet. The show will release its Season 1 finale, Episode 15, on April 10, with growing Emmy buzz for Wyle, who never won for his role on “ER.”
“Pulse,” which premiered Thursday, is Netflix’s first U.S.-based foray into the medical procedural genre, mixing the steamy will they-won’t they romance of “Grey’s” with life-or-death medical emergencies.
“The success of ‘The Pitt’ will be enough to light a fire at other streamers to look for their equivalent of that … It’s a very predictable strategy,” Basin said. “If ‘Pulse’ works too, you’re going to see a boom in that genre and then, unfortunately within a few years, a collapse.”
It stands to reason that if both “Pulse” and “The Pitt” are working on streaming, more medical shows will saturate the streaming market — but of course not all will survive.
Could there be another “Grey’s?”
ABC’s long-running medical drama shows no signs of slowing down after 21 seasons. “Grey’s Anatomy” landed a Season 22 renewal Thursday — even as star Ellen Pompeo has stepped back from her on-camera involvement.
The show has cycled through high-profile cast exits, behind the scenes turmoil, creative lulls and outlandish storylines. But it still maintains an international and multigenerational fandom, from those who’ve watched the show from the start to those who jumped aboard after catching up with cable reruns or watching on Netflix (and Hulu as of 2024).
“We have a great writing staff and medical team who help us stay on top of current medical advancements and cases. Medicine and medical training changes constantly, so there’s always something new we can pull from to create storylines,” Meg Marinis, who was promoted to “Grey’s Anatomy” showrunner in Season 20, told TheWrap, also touting the show’s “stellar” cast for bringing the words to life.
Basin credits the show’s longevity to its investment in keeping Pompeo — much like “Law & Order: SVU” has done with Mariska Hargitay — allowing the rest of the cast to evolve around her. “Grey’s” also benefits from having its network and studio owned by the same parent company, which keeps licensing fees from becoming cost-prohibitive — like when “9-1-1” was canceled at Fox before it got new life on ABC. It also launched at a time when the market for international syndication was much healthier than it is today, making its licensing revenue virtually unattainable for new shows.
But Netflix’s “Pulse,” which focuses on the interpersonal relationships of its doctors like “Grey’s,” might be able to get close to that level of success, due to the streamer’s global footprint.
“I’m sure that the programmers at Netflix are really hoping that ‘Pulse’ can take off throughout a lot of the world. It’s the kind of show you can really have those ambitions for,” Basin said. “But success doesn’t mean the same thing to them … From Netflix’s perspective, they paid the cost to make the show once and now they’re using it to drive subscriptions.”
