Five-time Emmy winner The Pitt earned three Golden Globe nominations and is a favorite for January’s Actor Awards presented by SAG-AFTRA, just like its predecessor, EAST. The NBC series, in which Noah Wyle also starred as a doctor, was the first medical drama series to win SAG’s Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series award.
No show dominated the early years of the SAG Awards like EAST did. The NBC juggernaut won four consecutive awards (from 1996 to 1999) for best ensemble in a drama series, as well as four individual awards during that span – two each for Anthony Edwards, who led the cast as Dr. Mark Greene, and Julianna Margulies, who played head nurse Carol Hathaway.
The series was one of the biggest hits of NBC’s must-TV era and helped make George Clooney (pediatrics resident Dr. Doug Ross) an A-list star and launched the career of Wyle (medical student John Carter); both actors starred alongside Edwards, Margulies, Eriq La Salle, Gloria Reuben, Laura Innes, Sherry Stringfield, Alex Kingston, Maria Bello and others.
Perhaps the best evidence to support EASTThe four-year participation in the SAG Awards comes from the other series nominated for the drama ensemble honor. During his third consecutive victory, in 1998, EAST beat Chicago Hope, Law and order, NYPD Blue And The X Filesall of which are considered some of the best television series of the 1990s.
THR reported in 1998 that after winning, “Wyle said the SAG award was ‘tailor-made’ for the cast of the Warner Bros. television series. “It is the only award given to actors among actors. It’s a testament to the whole thing, which is really what our series is about.”
The series would earn three additional Drama Ensemble Award nominations during its run, putting it in a tie with The Sopranos And Game of Thrones for the second most awards in history, behind Law and order.
This story first appeared in a December standalone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
