How the Emmys Face-Off Between ‘Severance’ and ‘The Pitt’ Sums Up the TV Business

The Apple TV+ drama “Severance” and the HBO Max medical series “The Pitt” have only one thing in common: Both shows center on a workplace.

OK, two: Both are favorites to be named best drama at this Sunday’s Emmy Awards.

But that is really about it.

In fact, the many major differences between the shows say a lot about the competing tensions in the TV business right now. Here’s how, and what it might mean for TV’s future:

1. The Money

‘Severance’

Apple executives ordered “Severance” in November 2019, just a few days after the company introduced its Apple TV+ streaming service. At the time, media and tech companies spent lavishly on programming to compete with one another, an era known as Peak TV.

Like some of its competitors, Apple TV+ was willing to spare no expense for megawatt stars and elaborate productions. In the second season of “Severance,” the one being considered for an Emmy this weekend, its budget reportedly swelled to $20 million an episode. Apple declined to comment for this article.

‘The Pitt’

By the time HBO Max ordered “The Pitt” in 2024, more than four years after Apple ordered “Severance,” the Peak TV era had effectively died. Facing pressure to show profits from their streaming services, many media executives slammed the brakes on the number of shows they were willing to greenlight and the number of expensive productions they would agree to.

At the same time, the industry marveled at the popularity of long-running and far less expensive network and basic-cable dramas — like “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Suits” and “Criminal Minds.” Those shows filled up Nielsen’s year-end most-watched streaming charts. So HBO Max executives tried to reboot “ER,” the former hit NBC drama. That plan was dropped — but it did eventually spawn “The Pitt” (as well as an ongoing lawsuit).

“The Pitt” was shot last year entirely in a single location in Los Angeles. Its episodes cost roughly $6 million each.

2. The Stars

‘Severance’

Peak TV’s big budgets made it more acceptable in Hollywood for movie stars to work on TV shows. Among the prominent names Apple attracted to “Severance” was Ben Stiller, who worked on cable and network shows in the 1990s before forging a wildly successful movie career. He is an executive producer of the show and has directed more than half of its episodes.

“Television’s changed a lot,” he said shortly before “Severance” premiered. “The biggest thing I find now is that there’s just the opportunity to do so many different kinds of things and explore so many different genres on a level that maybe back 25, 30 years ago people weren’t investing in because television was looked at very differently.”

The show featured a well-known and seasoned cast, too, including Adam Scott, Christopher Walken, John Turturro and Patricia Arquette.

‘The Pitt’

“The Pitt,” instead, adopted the strategy that used to rule in the industry: TV doesn’t pay for stars, it makes them.

The show’s leading character is played by Noah Wyle, a veteran of “ER” whose career had gone quiet until his star turn in “The Pitt.” He is now the favorite to win the Emmy for best actor in a drama.

Other performers were either unknown or had journeyman careers, like Katherine LaNasa. Those decisions worked, too. “The Pitt” won for best casting in a drama at the Creative Arts Emmys last weekend.

3. The Pace

‘Severance’

“Severance” also features another hallmark of the Peak TV era: a long break between seasons. The first season debuted in 2022, with nine episodes, and the 10-episode second season did not air until nearly three years later. (The 2023 Hollywood labor strikes played a role in extending that delay.)

“Shows have gotten bigger and bigger and more complicated to shoot — we’ve seen with our own shows, and you’ve seen it basically at every streaming service,” said Casey Bloys, the chairman of HBO Max, which still has prestige dramas of its own, like “The White Lotus,” in addition to “The Pitt.” “It can take two years for a show to return.”

‘The Pitt’

It is vital to the HBO Max executive team that “The Pitt” come out every year. The executives also wanted to make more episodes than the six to 10 of most streaming shows. The first season had 15.

“In addition to having more than seven or eight episodes, I really, really was looking for the ability to return the show on an annual basis,” Mr. Bloys said.

4. The Plots

‘Severance’

“Severance” is a so-called puzzle box show, with complex story lines that keep viewers guessing to unravel a mystery at the center of the series. Series like “Lost,” “Westworld” and “Mr. Robot” also fill the bill.

Critics have given “Severance” high marks, as have viewers — the show was the second-most-watched best drama nominee during the Emmys eligibility window, behind only “The White Lotus,” according to Nielsen.

‘The Pitt’

“The Pitt,” by contrast, is a gritty medical drama that takes place over a 15-hour shift in an emergency room, similar to “ER” as well as the former Fox hit “24.” There are some mysteries — why is Mr. Wyle’s character so broken up over the death of a former mentor? — but nothing that would require detailed Reddit threads to help decode.

The show was also a hit with viewers and critics, and among the best drama nominees it ranked fourth on the Nielsen most-watched list.

The Result?

The companies behind TV shows, like Apple, Netflix, Prime Video and HBO Max, continue to invest in pricey series like “Severance.” FX’s “Shogun,” an expensive drama about feudal Japan that won the best drama Emmy last year, will start filming its second season in the coming months. But with tighter budgets, there are not as many of them as there were a few years ago.

TV executives have watched the success of “The Pitt” with envy — but also relief. Many of them are showing greater interest in programming the types of shows that dominated TV in the 1990s and early 2000s.

HBO Max is getting close to greenlighting other network-style shows, including a family drama and a cop show. Others are doing it, too. This week, Netflix renewed “Leanne,” a network-style sitcom with a live studio audience.

“We’ve got other shows that we will try using the same model, that is to say the broadcast model,” Mr. Bloys said. “This was lightning in a bottle, so I don’t expect that the next one out is automatically going to do the same thing. But it’s a model that’s worked for us. It’s been a huge success.”