This '50s NBC Medical Drama Used Real Childbirth Footage In Its First Episode

More than 70 years before "The Pitt" wowed audiences with its unflinching depiction of medical treatment on TV, a groundbreaking NBC series showed real footage of childbirth in its first-ever episode. The '50s show "Medic" was one of the first medical dramas to take full advantage of the drama inherent in a hospital setting. In fact, it was one of the first medical dramas, period. This was still a relatively new TV subgenre at the time, with "City Hospital" (widely considered to be the first true medical drama) having premiered on ABC just a few years prior. However, that show didn't offer the commitment to realism that "Medic" did.

The first episode of "Medic," which aired on September 13, 1954, is titled "White Is the Color." It follows a young expectant mother who comes into the hospital only to find she has terminal leukemia. Richard Boone's Dr Konrad Styner and his fellow doctors work to successfully deliver her baby after she dies, and the show used real footage of a just-born baby. Camera crews observed six births until they were able to get the shot of an umbilical cord being cut that they needed for the show. It's unclear if "Medic" was the first series to ever show a birth on TV, but it was certainly cutting-edge for the time.

"Medic" creator James E. Moser was a writer on the game-changing crime drama "Dragnet," and he delivered another realistic depiction of a vital profession with his medical drama. Audiences in 1954 were shocked by the realism "Medic" offered, but they were sucked in by it nonetheless. Writing at the time, one critic said: "My own feeling while watching might be described as horrified fascination. I'm not at all sure I was enjoying myself but I couldn't tear myself away."

"Medic" ended after just two seasons in 1956, but its legacy is still felt today. Most medical shows that came after it that depict the actual process of treatment follow in its footsteps to some degree. "ER," "St. Elsewhere," "House," and even "Scrubs" have echoes of "Medic," as does the aforementioned HBO Max hit "The Pitt," which received plenty of plaudits for its own childbirth scene. Unlike in "Medic," the mother in "The Pitt" survives despite complications, and the scene was filmed using a complex puppet rather than an actual birth.

This episode of "The Pitt" was celebrated for its upfront depiction of something that's natural but is usually shied away from in filming terms, even in medical dramas. The series pushed boundaries with its childbirth scene, yet "Medic" was a whopping seven decades ahead of it, so it's no exaggeration to call it a seminal medical drama. While you won't find "Medic" on many lists of the best medical dramas of all time, the shows that do populate those lists all owe the NBC series a debt of gratitude.