Photo courtesy of AFP

When Mariska Hargitay opened the envelope for the Outstanding Drama Series award at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles this past Sunday, everyone in the audience knew that only two shows had a chance at winning the most coveted prize of the night: “The Pitt” or “Severance.” Not only would the winner walk away with a pile of golden trophies, but they would also take with them an endorsement that their model of television-making was superior.

Let’s take a step back. “Severance” is a sci-fi drama on Apple TV+. It is about a hypothetical company that invents a procedure that allows workers to split themselves into an “innie” and “outie.” The “innie” is solely a worker — they go to work and perform their tasks, while the person themselves, as the “outie,” just wakes up at the end of the workday with no memory of what occurred. It stars Adam Scott (“Parks and Recreation”), Britt Lower (“Man Seeking Woman”) and Patricia Arquette (“Escape at Dannemora”). 

“The Pitt,” on HBO Max, is a classic medical drama with a twist. Noah Wyle (“E.R.”) leads an ensemble of doctors and medical students as the attending physician of an emergency department in Pittsburgh (hence, “The Pitt”). However, the entire 15-episode season takes place over a single shift in real time and reckons with modern-day issues such as transgender rights, substance abuse, and gun violence. 

In many ways, “Severance” represents the “cinema-fication” of TV. The show is produced as more of a blockbuster movie instead of operating within the traditional bounds of television production. “Severance” has just ten episodes with sprawling multi-season story arcs, one principal character, and multiple filming locations along the Atlantic in New York, New Jersey, and Newfoundland, Canada. Throughout the series, there are 3,500 visual effects shots, a 540-degree camera spin requiring careful choreography and stunt work in the very first shot of the show, and a hefty price tag of $20 million per episode. 

In contrast, “The Pitt” is much more emblematic of traditional TV. Its 15 episodes are shot almost entirely on set in Los Angeles, it mostly contains character stories to one episode, and it hosts a large cast of guest actors. And, it only costs a mere $4-5 million per episode. 

However, both shows were nominated in the same category — Outstanding Drama Series — at the Emmy Awards this past Sunday, even as they perfectly represent the growing divide in modern television production. Both have done extremely well with critics, with “Severance” sitting at 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and “The Pitt” at 96%. Both have done extremely well viewership-wise. Both shows have lots of adoring fans. 

But the Emmys, and we, as viewers, are faced with a dilemma: which show should win the top prize? 

While it is easy to say that the “better show” should win, that is subjective, and many agree that both are excellent. Additionally, this year especially, the Outstanding Drama Series is more than choosing what is “best,” it is an endorsement of a kind of TV production by the industry. Fantasy show “Game of Thrones” received four Drama Series wins in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019, which led to a revitalized interest in fantasy television, and business drama “Succession,” about the succession crisis at the fictional company Waystar Royco, had three wins in 2019, 2022, and 2024, which resulted in heightened industry interest in business and finance television shows. 

A victory for “Severance” could represent a full-fledged acceptance of a new television model. It would say that the lengthy break between seasons, when speed of production is sacrificed in favor of quality, is worth it in exchange for something so grand, and it would legitimize studios moving beyond conventional TV-making styles. 

On the other hand,“The Pitt”’s victory would not be regressive, but rather a recognition of excellence in traditional TV. Studios could make nearly three 15-episode seasons of “The Pitt” for the same cost as a single season of “Severance.” “The Pitt” also employs many more actors than “Severance,” with a cast size of about 276 individual actors compared to “Severance”’s 70. 

The medical drama is also produced on a traditional TV schedule, and is already filming its second season, while the cast of “Severance” is held up in a bit of an acting limbo waiting for the writers to finish season three. 

Ultimately, the Television Academy crowned “The Pitt” Outstanding Drama Series Sunday night. However, “Severance” still took home many awards, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Britt Lower (Helly R.), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Tramell Tillman (Mr. Milchick), and six more categories. This demonstrates that even though “Severance” was highly regarded by the Emmys as one of the best acted and designed shows of the year, they still preferred the grounded, traditional show when compared to the interesting and “cinema-fied” new one, at least this year. 

There is no “right” answer to what show should have walked away with the top prize, and, no matter what won, this debate will still exist within studios. In fact, next year, the second season of “The Pitt” will be released, and it could find itself competing against more cinematic shows such as “Stranger Things”’ long-awaited fifth season and “Alien: Earth”’s first. No matter what the future of television may hold, the best thing a viewer can do is to check out both “The Pitt” and “Severance” because they are both excellent, exciting, and highly entertaining.