R. Scott Gemmill makes difficult hospital work absorbing television. His writing is strongest when it lets us get to know the staff through the job; it becomes less convincing when it pauses to explain them.
Fi1m perspective
In The Pitt (2025), treating patients takes time, and Gemmill makes that time part of the drama. Its real-time structure lets procedures occupy their actual duration rather than hurrying them along to the next story. We felt worn out watching the staff work, because the medical routine is so persuasive about the effort it requires. It is absorbing television, with an awkward opening worth getting past.
Gemmill joined ER (1994) in its sixth season in 1999, as a writer and supervising producer, later becoming an executive producer. Its achievements belong to a large ensemble and writing staff, and we would not assign him sole credit for what makes Michael Crichton’s series gripping. The work is difficult, the people fallible, and the crowded storytelling is worth tolerating for their company. His subsequent work on NCIS: Los Angeles (2009–2023) included becoming showrunner from the eighth season. With The Pitt, he returned to hospital drama as its creator, reunited with ER colleagues John Wells and Noah Wyle.
His working method helps explain both the strength and the occasional strain: he develops character arcs first, then chooses cases to support them. Consultation with doctors and detailed procedures give his medical writing something solid to build on. But in The Pitt, Gemmill, Joe Sachs and their fellow writers sometimes assign staff a trait before supplying enough behaviour to make it convincing. We can see the intended character before we believe in the person. Some performances then push harder than the scenes can bear, and the soapiness stands out against such credible routine.
The ensemble becomes easier to distinguish as The Pitt settles, although some supporting characters remain thinly written. Wyle and Katherine LaNasa give the staff a weight and warmth that help us stay with them through those early difficulties. Start here for Gemmill’s work, with a little patience for the introductions.
Biography
R. Scott Gemmill is a Canadian television writer and producer. Born in Orangeville, Ontario, he began his career as a story editor and writer on Friday the 13th: The Series in the late 1980s, later contributing to Tropical Heat and Side Effects.
He wrote and produced episodes of JAG (1995–1999) and ER (1999–2007), serving as a producer on the latter. Gemmill wrote for all fourteen seasons of NCIS: Los Angeles (2009–2023) and became its showrunner from the eighth season. He created, showruns and writes for the medical drama The Pitt (2025–present), which won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series.
