‘The Pitt’ Cast on Using Fake Penis for Erectile Dysfunction Emergency Scene: ‘I Have Nightmares About That’
“The Pitt” is tackling erectile dysfunction.
In Season 2’s second episode of the hit HBO Max medical drama series, a patient (played by Christopher T. Wood) is admitted to the ER for a case of priapism, or a prolonged erection lasting more than four hours, after he has injected himself with double the recommended dosage of a liquid ED medication. (Injectables are prescribed when oral meds, like Viagra or Cialis, are ineffective.)
He tells Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball) that he did it because he wanted to be prepared to celebrate his 20th wedding anniversary. Dr. King (Taylor Dearden) and Dr. Santos (Isa Briones) are seen administrating a paracentesis, a procedure to drain blood from the penis, on a very realistic prosthetic.
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“I’m in that scene,” said Sepideh Moafi, whose character attending physician Dr. Al-Hashimi observes the procedure, at the Season 2 premiere earlier this month in Los Angeles. “I remember that scene very well. I have nightmares about that scene. I saw [the prosthetic] in the hair and makeup trailer and I was like, ‘Who’s having fun between shots?’ I was like, ‘What is happening?’ And then I quickly realized what is it was.”
Producers filmed the scene on a closed set. “Every day I thank my lucky stars I was not in that,” said Supriya Ganesh, who plays Dr. Samira Mohan. “I don’t think I could have kept a straight face.”
“The Pitt” Season 2 is 15 episodes and takes place over July 4 weekend. “There are some more terrible stories eventually we’ll get to,” said “The Pitt” creator and showrunner R. Scott Gemmill. “Some of them are pretty nasty.”
The show picked up two Golden Globes on Sunday for best television series – drama and best male actor in a TV drama for Noah Wyle.
“The Pitt” has been renewed for Season 3. Wyle doesn’t think it will feature a holiday.
“Probably not,” he said. “Although we might not push it so far into the future this time — 10 months was a long jump. I don’t think we need to make that long of a jump next time.”
It was also announced Thursday that “The Pitt” that the Season 2 premiere attracted 5.4 million viewers over the its first days of release, marking a 200% increase from the series premiere in 2025.
