The Pitt has taken the world by storm, but Fox’s Doc isn’t too far behind it on HBO’s global charts. Medical dramas have dominated network ratings for decades, but that doesn’t mean shows in this genre are shoo-ins. There have been dozens of similar projects that have fallen flat, unable to compete with those that hit it big. A prime example is Netflix’s Pulse, which had the unfortunate task of being put up against The Pitt. It was swiftly cancelled, but another medical drama managed to hold its own.
Doc, which airs new episodes weekly on Fox, is ranking at #9 on HBO Max’s top 10 TV shows (globally), just seven spots below The Pitt (#2), according to Flix Patrol. This is even more impressive when considering that Doc isn’t available on HBO Max in the United States, where it streams on Disney+’s Hulu. The fact that it has managed to rank alongside The Pitt even without that audience base is a great testament to its worth.
What Fox’s Doc Is About
Doc follows Dr. Amy Larsen, a hospital Chief of Medicine who, following an extreme brain injury, wakes up to find that she doesn’t remember the last eight years of her life. She discovers that she is divorced, and that her relationship with her now 17-year-old daughter (who she remembers as being only nine) has all but deteriorated. Add in the fact that Dr. Larsen has forgotten years of medical knowledge, and proceeding with her life seems nearly impossible.
Part of what makes Doc so intriguing is that it is inspired by the true story of Dr. Pierdante Piccioni, an Italian ER chief who forgot 12 years of his life following a car accident in 2013. While Doc is highly dramatized, this detail adds a tone of authenticity to the series. It’s a similar sort of quality that made The Pitt so appealing, making Doc an excellent follow-up for medical drama fans.
Doc Is A Great Watch For Those Who Like The Pitt
Part of what has made The Pitt such a hit is its dedication to realism. Unlike the standard soapy medical drama, the HBO series aims to bring the authentic experiences of ER staff to the screen. It holds nothing back when it comes to hospitals’ most gritty and gruesome cases, but without oversensationalizing. Additionally, The Pitt centers on the real challenges medical staff face amid understaffing, physical and emotional fatigue, and the cold complexities of for-profit medical care.
Doc season 2 is currently ongoing, with new episodes released every Tuesday on Fox at 9:00 PM ET. In the US, these episodes become available to stream on Disney+’s Hulu every Wednesday.
Comparatively, Doc is a far more typical medical drama. It’s not as high-quality as The Pitt, and is more of a guilty-pleasure watch like Grey’s Anatomy or ER. Still, the fact that it is based on a true story allows Doc to appeal to viewers in a similar way to The Pitt. Since both these series are ongoing, Doc is the perfect TV show to watch alongside HBO’s biggest medical drama hit.
