noah wyle

Supriya Ganesh is leaving HBO medical drama The Pitt at the end of season two

The Pitt is set to lose one of its leading stars at the conclusion of season two.

American actress Supriya Ganesh, who portrays Dr. Samira Mohan in the popular HBO series, is apparently departing the medical drama despite being a key character since the programme’s inception, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Here’s everything you need to know about the reported departure from the HBO show.

Why is Supriya Ganesh leaving The Pitt as Dr Samira Mohan?

Her exit is understood to be a “story-driven decision”, according to an “individual with knowledge of the situation” as reported by Variety.

The publication further notes that as the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center operates as a teaching hospital, it’s common practice to have a rotating cast of characters as medical staff arrive and depart.

Season two also dedicated considerable attention to Dr Mohan’s professional journey as she contemplated her next steps following the completion of her residency.

According to IMDb, the star appears in 29 of The Pitt’s 30 episodes across both seasons, making her departure all the more significant.

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Actress Ganesh, who previously had minor roles in programmes including Grown-ish, Billions and Chicago Med before securing The Pitt, has yet to address the news on social media.

Alongside her departure, Ayesha Harris – recognised by Pitt viewers as senior night shift resident Dr. Parker Ellis – has now allegedly been promoted to series regular status for the upcoming season.

Actress Harris has featured in productions including Netflix’s Glamorous with Kim Cattrall, Daisy Jones and The Six on Prime Video, alongside roles in Grey’s Anatomy and Matlock.

She has starred across eight episodes spanning two seasons of The Pitt. HBO commissioned a third season of The Pitt prior to the second season’s debut back in January this year.

The Pitt has been developed by R. Scott Gemmill, with John Wells and lead star Noah Wyle serving as executive producers.

This represents the second partnership between the trio, who previously collaborated on the hugely successful ER.

The series follows Wyle’s Dr. Michael ‘Robby’ Robinavitch as he commences a shift at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center’s emergency room, commonly referred to as ‘The Pitt’.

Each instalment chronicles one hour of his shift as he confronts different patients and scenarios, navigating various challenges and administrative matters that arise throughout.

The Pitt has garnered considerable acclaim for its authenticity and maintaining emphasis on the medical drama realm rather than interpersonal relationships amongst staff, unlike comparable programmes.

Season three is anticipated to comprise another 15 episodes documenting Robby’s most recent shift.

A 10-month interval separated seasons one and two, though it remains unclear whether there will be another temporal gap before the third series.

Wyle secured Best Actor in a Drama Series at the Critics Choice Awards and stated in his acceptance speech, according to Deadline: “I can’t even tell you how moved I am.

“I owe everybody at this table everything: from my partner [R.] Scott Gemmill, to Sarah Aubrey and Joey Chavez at HBO Max, to everybody at Warner Bros, to my beautiful wife Sara [Wells], to my costars, to my cowriters, to the directors who make the show, to our crew, to our cast.”

The Pitt season 1 is streaming on HBO Max UK now and season 2 episodes are airing weekly on Thursdays

With hit medical drama The Pitt finally available to watch in the UK on HBO Max, leading man Noah Wyle has shared some tantalising insight into its future beyond season two

The Pitt’s Noah Wyle has delivered an exciting update on the third season of HBO’s smash-hit medical drama.

He also teased his hopes for the future of the drama, hinting it could run “forever” if audiences are still tuning in.

Wyle portrays Dr Michael ‘Robby’ Robinavitch, a senior attending physician working in a crowded and underfunded emergency room in Pittsburgh.

Throughout each season, Dr Robby, along with a team of doctors, nurses, and medical students, experience a single 15-hour shift, with the second instalment taking place during a busy 4th of July.

The former ER star was in London this week for the UK launch of the series where he spilled two important rules that every episode of the hit series must follow.

Speaking to HBO Max Chairman Casey Bloys, Wyle was asked how soon the cast and crew will be ready to start up production on season three.

“Very soon, boss, very soon,” Wyle joked. “We are in the process of writing character arcs for season three for everybody.”

He went on to explain how the series’ unique storytelling format presents a compelling challenge for the writers, which includes himself and creator R. Scott Gemmill.

“It’s a very interesting show to break because, unlike a lot of shows that are 22 episodes that may play over a calendar year, this is 15 hours of one day,” he continued. “So you’re painting with a much finer brush.

“The character’s arc is not really enough to go through the courtship of a romance, but it’s enough to get your head turned.

“It’s maybe enough to lose faith, maybe enough to find faith, but these are really small arcs that happen over the course of the day but can be really satisfying if you’re engaged with that character.”

Thankfully, The Pitt quickly found a devoted audience in the States, with the second season premiere amassing an impressive 7.2 million US viewers within its first week of release.

“We have these characters who seem to be resonating on a one-to-one with audiences,” Wyle added.

“Everyone’s feeling, ‘I’m a little Javadi (played by Shabana Azeez), I’m a little Samira (Supriya Ganesh), and I have a little Langdon (Patrick Ball) in me, or I know a Whitaker (Gerran Howell)’, and that makes it really exciting to see where they’re going to go next, and to write for where they’re going to go next.”

Hinting at the third season’s narrative, Bloys and Wyle revealed that the upcoming instalment is also building to an explosive and potentially life-changing event in much the same way as the first two seasons.

“We’ve built a pressure cooker where every hour we turn up the temperature, we add more ingredients, then just when it’s about to explode we drop a piano on it,” Wyle revealed.

“You’ve done that successfully for season two and now you’re thinking about it for season three?” Bloys clarified, and Wyle confirmed “Yes”.

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“One of the gratifying things about season two is that we realised we don’t need a big ‘deus ex machina’ plot device to keep this engaging,” he said. “There’s something really satisfying about watching everyday people trying to get through the course of the day, beset by all the trials and tribulations that come over the course of that day.

“If that is satisfying television then this show could run forever, because we don’t need a helicopter to come down in the ambulance bay, we don’t need to jump the shark.”

The Pitt is available to stream on HBO Max with new episodes on Thursdays.

California’s economy might see a boost from the state’s expanded film tax credits, but local lawmakers say it’s not enough.

Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom authorizing a $750-million film and TV tax credit program last summer, the impending merger between Paramount and Warner Bros., and the projected budget cuts that are expected to follow, has reignited fears about Hollywood jobs and U.S.-based productions.

“State programs cannot simply substitute for the kind of global, federal and competitive tax incentives that are needed to bring production back to American soil and stop its offshoring,” U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said during a news conference Friday morning.

“We must act, and the urgency could not be greater,” he said. He revealed he is working on a bipartisan federal film incentive proposal that would be competitive with what other countries are offering for film productions.

He said the program isn’t about Hollywood’s stars; it’s about the jobs that productions create, including roles for set designers, carpenters and lighting crews.

“These are the people who make that magic happen. We want to keep those jobs here, and many of us are deeply concerned about what this potential merger will do to those jobs,” Schiff said.

Earlier this week, the California Film Commission revealed that 16 shows had recently received tax credits for filming in the state. The projects represent $871 million in qualified in-state spending and are expected to generate $1.3 billion in economic activity in California. Schiff said the state tax credit has generated more than $29.1 billion in motion picture production wages and supported more than 220,000 jobs.

Even as shows start to see gains in Southern California, Los Angeles film activity was still down 13.2% from July through September when compared with the same period in 2024. The downward trend extends the loss of 42,000 jobs in L.A. between 2022 and 2024, the continued suffering of local sound stages and the offshoring of productions internationally.

“Federal policymakers must act to level the playing field and make the U.S. film and television industry more competitive on the global stage,” said Matthew Loeb, the president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. “A globally competitive labor-based and tax incentive is. For us, production that supplements state incentives is essential to return and maintain film and television jobs in America.”

HBO Max’s medical drama “The Pitt” is filmed at one of Warner Bros. soundstages in Burbank and it’s one of the shows benefiting from California’s tax incentive.

Noah Wyle, the star and executive producer of the show, said during the news conference that “it’s really hard to shoot a TV show in Los Angeles, and it’s really expensive, prohibitively” — so adopting an economic model that allows productions to take full advantage of the California tax incentive was essential to “The Pitt” filming in L.A.

“As an Angeleno with generational roots to this city and as a seasoned member of its creative community, advocacy for Los Angeles-based production is something that is very close to my heart,” Wyle said.

“‘The Pitt’ has blessedly become proof of that speculative concept. I’m happy to report we’ll commence shooting season three this summer, and that a rising tide has indeed lifted all boats in season one under the 3.0 tax program,” he added.

The show received a 20% tax rebate on many above-the-line costs. The budget for one episode was approximately $6.6 million, so the show received a rebate of about $760,000 per episode. By the end of season one, the production was able to save over $11 million. Wyle estimated that the first season of “The Pitt” contributed around $125 million toward California’s gross domestic product.

Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), who is working with Schiff on production tax incentives, said that because California is already seeing benefits from the current program, there’s no reason it wouldn’t work nationally. Friedman added that tax incentives are a common practice among many industries in the U.S.

“Hollywood is not asking for special treatment. Whether it is computer chips, the energy sector or pharmaceuticals, this is something that is standard in the United States,” said Friedman. “In terms of our nation, Hollywood and its ability to tell the story of America, it is something worth saving.”