Over the last three decades, Noah Wyle has been working consistently in TV, acting on shows like ER, The Librarians, Falling Skies, Leverage: Redemption and more. Now, he's continuing his Emmy-winning role as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch on Season 2 of The Pitt, which has been airing on the 2026 TV schedule. While he has done a handful of movies, he’s kept a steady television career, even though he originally turned his nose up at having a career on the small screen. Now, he's explained how he ended up on this TV-trajectory, and yes, it does involve ER.
Wyle has been blowing up lately thanks to his critically-acclaimed HBO Max series, which saw him stepping back into the medical drama genre years after ER ended. He even recently earned a well-deserved Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. So it’s surprising to know that when he was first starting out, he “had a little snobbery about doing TV,” as he recalled to Variety. And when it came to ER, he was initially on board for it until he realized it wasn’t a movie:
I thought it was a movie, so I auditioned for it. When I found out it was a show, I didn’t really care, because I thought, it’s so good, they’re going to cancel it. There’s no way this is going to last.
Not only is ER’s first episode two hours long, but it’s written and created by novelist Michael Crichton, who is behind Jurassic Park and Sphere, along with other bestsellers. So it makes sense that Wyle would think that ER was a movie rather than a show.
Article continues belowIt is funny that Wyle thought ER wouldn’t last when it went on for 15 seasons, was essentially the blueprint for medical dramas, and was the longest-running primetime medical drama up until Grey’s Anatomy passed it. So it’s a good thing he ended up changing his tune, because it was definitely for the better:
But I kind of turned my nose up at the idea of a television career, which is ironic, because that’s exactly what I’ve enjoyed for the last 30 years. I love what I thought would be constricting. I found I love the consistency, and what I thought would get boring, I’ve managed to find infinite complexity. And instead of having variety, I’ve found family.
While some TV actors opt to do movies instead, it seems like Wyle has certainly found his calling and loves working in this episodic medium. It can be tiring playing the same role and working with the same people for who knows how long, but that’s what Wyle loves about it. And it’s not like he’s always doing the same thing. Sure, he keeps playing the same role, but with television, you never know what to expect with storylines and cast changes. There’s a reason why Wyle was on ER for 254 episodes and why he’s still doing television after all these years.
Even though Season 2 of The Pitt is coming to an end for those with an HBO Max subscription on Thursday, Wyle’s TV career is not ending any time soon. The Emmy-winning drama has already been picked up for a third season, and some details have already been shared about what to expect. Filming has not yet started, but more information on when it will come out and when it will take place should be revealed in the coming months.
In the meantime, let's all thank Noah Wyle for realizing he was very happy working in TV, because he's clearly meant to be doing it.
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