According to The Hollywood Reporter, Noah Wyle (Feel, ER) discussed the anticipated second season of his new series, The Pitt. “Anytime you mix alcohol, patriotism and fireworks, it’s good for drama and comedy.” The Emmy winner for Outstanding Drama Series returned on January 8, bringing viewers back to the trauma medical center in Pittsburgh. All episodes will take place during the July 4th weekend, with each episode being one hour of a day’s 15-hour shift.

Wyle explained the reasoning behind the second season’s summer setting. He told The Hollywood Reporter at the LA premiere, “We wanted it to be the amount of time it would have taken for Langdon to complete a rehab program — that put about nine or 10 months on it, that put us in summer.” Patrick Ball’s (Law & Order, Entertainment Tonight) Dr. Langdon was suspended in season one for stealing medications to feed his addiction.

Wyle not only stars in the series, but he is also writing, executive producing and directing an episode in the second season. The Hollywood Reporter notes. He inferred that he would like to do more. He believes that since he already knows the other cast members and the crew, this would be a natural progression in his career. Going from acting to a directors chair is very natural.

The Hollywood Reporter mentioned Fiona Dourif (Situations, Chucky) spoke about Wyle’s transition to directing, saying, “I think low key all of us went to Noah at times for directions, he sort of is like the daddy of The Pitt. So it was pretty seamless; it was pretty fun because his stand-in, we call him Dr. Bobby, but he would perform all of Noah’s scenes in rehearsals so Noah could get the camera right.”

With the show receiving an early renewal, Wyle talked about plans for the show in the future.

“I think [showrunner R.] Scott [Gemmill] and I both feel significantly that we employ upwards of 350 people in Los Angeles right now, nine or 10 months a year, and we’d like to keep that going as long as possible,” Wyle told The Hollywood Reporter. “I think we’d also like to enjoy ourselves while we do it, and we’d like the characters of the show to still have something to say when we finish. So throw all of those variables together, and we’ll see how far we get.”

 New episodes of The Pitt air Thursday at 9 P.M. on HBO Max.