At the inaugural Guns to Gardens, volunteers accepted surrendered firearms and broke them down with an eye toward repurposing them into tools and art later.
EATS & DRINKS
Rockfish’s Camp Bowie location is a relaxed spot for simple seafood done right. BY
KENA SOSA
STAGE
Stage West’s Fat Ham gives Hamlet a Black, queer, Southern-fried twist. BY REESE PIERCE
SCREEN
HBO Max’s The Pitt is the first great hospital show since ER. BY
KRISTIAN LIN
MUSIC
Ryker Hall is back with a new record and new itinerary. BY
STEVE STEWARD
INSIDE
Fake Folk Singer
Emo acoustic singer-songwriter Ryker Hall tackles artifice while stepping out on his new record.
By Steve Steward
Bearing Arms
At
By Stephen Cervantes
THC Safe … for Now
Gov. Greg Abbott will soon issue an executive order to regulate THC and set a minimum age of 21 to purchase the products in Texas. By The Texas Tribune
Ghosted
At Stage West, Fat Ham is a Black, queer, Southern retelling of Hamlet that delights.
By Reese Pierce
STAFF
Editor: Anthony Mariani
Publisher: Lee Newquist
General Manager: Bob Neihoff
Art Director: Ryan Burger
Marketing Director: Jennifer Bovee
Regional Director: Michael Newquist
Sr. Account Executive: Stacey Hammons
Account Manager: Julie Strehl
Account Executives: Tony Diaz, Wendy Maier, Sarah Neihoff, Wyatt Newquist
Proofreader: Emmy Smith
Brand Ambassador: Clint “Ironman” Newquist
CONTRIBUTORS
E.R. Bills, Jennifer Bovee, Jason Brimmer, Jess Delarosa, Buck D. Elliott, Danny Gallagher, Juan R. Govea, Mark Henricks, Patrick Higgins, Kristian Lin, Cody Neatherly, Rush Olson, Wyatt Newquist, Emmy Smith, Steve Steward, Teri Webster, Ken Wheatcroft-Pardue, Elaine Wilder, Cole Williams
9
EDITORIAL BOARD
Laurie James, Anthony Mariani, Emmy Smith, Steve Steward
COPYRIGHT
The entire contents of Fort Worth Weekly are Copyright 2025 by Ft. Worth Weekly, LP. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without the express written permission of the publisher. Please
Thursday, September 18
5–8 p.m. | FREE
Cover photo by Stephen Cervantes
METROPOLIS
Guns ’N Roses
At the inaugural Guns to Gardens, volunteers accepted surrendered firearms and broke them down with an eye toward repurposing them into tools and art later.
STORY AND PHOTOS BY STEPHEN CERVANTES
New Mount Rose Baptist Church recently hosted Fort Worth’s first Guns to Gardens event, where community volunteers dismantled 36 surrendered firearms using chop saws, grinders, and blacksmithing.
The remaining metal parts will later be repurposed into garden tools and art, transforming the
Static
Reefer Gladness
Gov. Greg Abbott will soon issue an executive order to regulate THC and set a minimum age of 21 to purchase THC products in Texas, according to three people who spoke with the governor’s office recently.
The Legislature’s second special session of the year ended last week after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced that the House, the Senate, and Abbott would not reach a deal on the matter. Patrick has been dead set on a full ban, but Abbott called for a regulatory framework like one he outlined on Page 3 of his Senate Bill 3 veto letter in June.
At Friday’s “camp safety” bill signing, reporters asked Abbott whether he would wait until 2027 for a THC bill or call a special session.
“I will say, ‘Stay tuned on that,’ ” Abbott answered. “Something may be happening soon.”
The timeline for an executive order isn’t certain, but Abbott is expected to direct the
components of unwanted firearms into symbols of growth. The effort seeks to reduce unintentional shootings, suicides, and violent crime.
The morning began with event organizer Rev. Kyev Tatum leading volunteers in prayer. He highlighted the devastating effects of gun violence and the need for community action, including within the 76104 ZIP code, where New Mount Rose Baptist Church is located.
continued on page 5
Department of State Health Services to establish rules governing THC. Sources have seen a document outlining a potential framework for the rules, although they stressed that the framework isn’t final.
• 21-and-up age minimum to purchase THC products or enter certain businesses
• ID checking
• Distance requirements from schools
• Labeling requirements
• Testing products for THC content
• Fee increases for businesses
Rules like that would regulate THC sales in a manner akin to liquor stores and could be seen as picking liquor stores as a winner amid declining alcohol sales nationally. Supermarkets and other stores that sell beer and wine — and THC products currently — could be barred from sales.
“Legislators could consider a structure similar to the way alcohol is regulated, with strict enforcement by an agency like the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission,” Abbott floated in his June veto letter.
Abbott’s office declined to comment.
Renzo Downey
A version of this story originally appeared in The Texas Tribune
The timeline for an executive order isn’t certain, but Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to direct the Department of State Health Services to establish rules governing THC.
4
Ira Tatum (no relation), a member of the ministry coalition that helped organize the event, spoke on the need for the program due to the lack of care regarding gun violence in Black communities and “life expectancies getting cut short.”
The prevalence of gun violence in 76104, home to primarily Black and Latino residents, makes initiatives like Guns to Gardens particularly important, providing constructive outlets and safety education to the community. According to U.S. Census data, more than 30% of the community live below the poverty line, which is more than double the North Texas average.
These economic challenges, stemming from generations of segregation and economic neglect, are contributing factors to the area’s high crime rate and low average life expectancy of just 67 years old, the lowest in the state, based on data from UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Throughout the day, trained volunteers worked in an assembly line, breaking down the guns into their parts in accordance with the standards of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). This process includes cuts in at least three critical spots: the forward wall or barrel mounting area, the rear wall, and the fire control component pin with the firearm receiver ultimately melted.
A way gun owners can help prevent unintentional gun violence is by becoming familiar with continued on page 6
Metro
continued from page 5
firearm safety. Event organizer Rev. Jan Orr-Harter says Guns to Gardens leaders learn firearm safety through NRA education and training.
Nearly half of gun owners do not store their firearms securely, and the ATF estimates roughly 266,000 guns are stolen from cars and homes annually. Orr-Harter emphasized the importance of properly securing firearms at home, noting gun violence involving minors, such as school shootings, occurs with guns belonging to family members.
Guns to Gardens plans to host an upcoming family-friendly festival, likely in the spring, focused on blacksmithing the disassembled parts into garden tools. The festival will allow families affected by gun violence to partake in the hammering process of blacksmithing, providing a space for cathartic release toward the weapons that took loved ones.
As Fort Worth’s first event of its kind came to a close, Rev. Tatum gathered the volunteers for a second prayer. He said gun violence is rooted in trauma, but he expressed hope for the future, saying that “when you plant hope, when you give hope, it grows.” l
STAGE
Hamming it Up
Stage West’s regional premiere of Fat Ham offers a new side of Hamlet.
BY REESE PIERCE
When it comes to adapting Hamlet , there have been many retellings and iterations. While it certainly doesn’t surpass Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol as the most adapted work, there have been no shortage of attempts. It’s so often alluded to, your unfamiliarity with the original text could cause you to miss a joke on The Simpsons or Friends (for all the Gen Xers out there). From Lion King to The Northman , and Strange Brew to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead , each has its own spin, but none are quite as bold or audacious as James Ijames’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Fat Ham now at Stage West Theatre.
Directed by vickie washington and starring Tyler Ray Lewis (Juicy), Calvin Gabriel (Rev/Pap), Jori Jackson (Opal), Cherish Love (Rabby), Nikka Morton (Tedra), Caleb Mosley (Larry), and Zachary J. Willis (Tio), the show runs two hours with a single intermission. At the center of Fat Ham , we find Juicy (the Hamlet character of this adaption), a queer Black man
in a traditionally Southern family. True to its source material, Juicy’s uncle has murdered Juicy’s father and married Juicy’s mother, and the father’s butcher knife-wielding ghost wants revenge with Juicy’s help. Though Fat Ham may be framed as a routine adaption, it’s more of a deconstructed Hamlet , one that has been reassembled as a comedy instead of a tragedy, and it’s this twist that makes it unique.
The action is set against the backdrop of a backyard barbecue on the day of Tedra and Rev’s wedding. Lewis’ brooding is less fueled by anger and more exacerbated by the solitary feelings they carry from not belonging in this still overtly masculine household. Lewis shines in this role, both expressive and brave when the script demands it, but also able to teeter on the verge of collapsing in on themselves when the
brunt force of Gabriel’s Rev touts his brand of masculinity.
Gabriel, pulling double duty as the slain father and the uncle, deftly carries the force of the generational trauma that Juicy and the other characters are dealing with throughout the play. The moment he enters the stage, he is a commanding presence. Morton’s Gertrudeesque Tedra offers humor but also serves as an effective buffer between Lewis’ softer side and the toxic dynamic that Gabriel enforces as the new head of the household.
Without spoiling some of the surprising beats, it’s worth mentioning that this show is well cast all around. Jackson and Mosley, as the Ophelia and Laertes figures, bring in a needed second-half complexity that helps to pull Lewis’ Juicy out into the open to bare his soul as the temperature rises at this backyard party. Likewise, Willis’ Tio does some philosophical heavy lifting to layer in some of the more existential themes found in the original Hamlet while bringing in some much-needed levity.
Donna Marquet’s excellent set design utilizes this space well to allow the various threads of the narrative to coexist while not running on top of one another. Though this cast is rather small, they often break into smaller groups as both generational divides, and gender divides, require the spacious blocking of this well-designed set. washington’s ambitious directing also provides for some surprising emotional moments as the events unfold and every character goes through a redemptive transformation.
Fans of the bard’s original work may struggle a bit with the modernization of this play and the playful nature of the bending of its themes. It does not play straight ahead. As with the work itself, getting immersed into the story takes some imagination. But when you witness Juicy’s fresh new take on “What a piece of work is a man” and Radiohead’s “Creep,” it’s impossible not to enjoy yourself in James Ijames’ deconstructed and reconstructed world of Hamlet l
In James Ijames’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Fat Ham at Stage West Theatre, Tyler Ray Lewis stars as Juicy, a queer Black man in a traditional Southern family rife with toxic masculinity.
This exhibition is supported in part by Frost. Promotional support provided by American Airlines, NBC 5/Telemundo 39, and the Fort Worth Report.
The exhibition is co-organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and Fondazione Torlonia, in collaboration with the Kimbell Art Museum, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the Museum Box.
NIGHT & DAY
Don’t You Forget About ND
I’ll be alone, dancing, you know it baby. Actually, I’ll be getting my Wednesday hustle on and enjoying a retro movie. This and more below.
If you didn’t get The Breakfast Club theme-song clues above, here’s the deal. Saturday detention for everyone’s favorite nerd, jock, basket case, princess, and criminal was 40 years ago. If you went to high school the same time as these guys, it’s time to get a better
Annually on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks Way, Arlington, 817-274-1861). Usually, the center is open 10am-5pm daily, but it’s now open until
take place in the museum’s Urban Lantern, home to N-101, a full façade panel from the World Trade
Alamo Drafthouse celebrates the 40th anniversary of The Breakfast Club with two screenings Wed, Sep 10.
The Fort Worth Museum of Science & History’s 9/11 Tribute exhibit is on permanent display.
When it’s time to water your lawn, think 1, 2…zero. Once a week if it needs a little water. Twice a week if it’s dry and hot. Zero if it’s been raining. Make sure your sprinklers aren’t leaking or pointing the wrong way. And try drip irrigation for flowers and shrubs. Visit Water is Awesome.com for more tips.
WATER IS AWESOME.COM
Last call for Best Of voting! Tonight at midnight, the ballot closes for the readers’ choice portion of our Best Of 2025 nomination process. Make your voice heard by participating in our online-only write-in ballot to determine the best of almost everything in the sections Getting & Spending, People & Places, Arts & Culture, Good Grub, and On the Town Did we forget a category? I’m sure we did. No worries. Each section above includes a Wildcard field to write in whatever else you feel strongly about. Plus, you can help us decide which local artists will make the cut for our upcoming Music Awards season by also making choices in the Music Awards Nominations section.
For an article explaining all the options, all the rules, and how to promote yourself (looking at you, business owners and bands), go to FWWeekly.com and search for “steal this art.” Happy voting! As for the special edition itself, Best Of 2025 will hit stands on Wed, Sep 24. If you need space, speak up soon. This thing will go to press earlier than usual. For the answers to any and all questions about Best Of, email Marketing@ FWWeekly.com.
Tattoo Show hosts the sixth annual Fort Worth Ink Masters
Tattoo Expo 1pm-11pm Fri, 11am-11pm Sat, and 11am-9pm Sun at Will Rogers Memorial Center (3401 W Lancaster Av, Fort Worth, 817-392-7469). This event features 150 tattoo artists doing live tattooing all weekend, plus vendors, food, and more. Tickets are $20 per day or $35 for a three-day pass at the door. (Note: If your one day is Friday and you arrive before 5pm, you’ll receive $5 off.)
By Jennifer Bovee
Pumpkin Fest is an annual tradition at Martin House Brewing (220 S Sylvania Av, Ste 209, Fort Worth, 817-2220177). From noon to 5pm, there will be contests, live music, pumpkin beers, and vibing in the backyard. In chronological order, because it’s all awesome, here’s what’s going down. Live music by the Whiskey Boys starts at 1pm, followed by a pumpkin pie-eating contest by the stage at 2pm. Then, at 3 pm, there’s “punkin’ chunkin’” in the grass. There will be photo ops and vendor shopping all day, a food menu by Oh Balls! Food Truck, and 30 beers on tap, including three pumpkin varieties. Entry is free for kids and nondrinkers. If you’d like to enjoy some beers, the $20 wristband gets you a souvenir pint glass and four pours of your choice. Wristbands are available at the front of the taproom and on the patio by the bar. Reality TV show Ink Masters
Ink Masters’ tattoo festival goes down at Will Rogers all weekend.
Complete your ballot for Best Of 2025 by Friday!
EATS & drinks
Glam Metal
Rockfish’s Camp Bowie location is perfect for a seafaring bite or two.
Having treated myself to a film-themed photoshoot at Dynamite Dames Photography, I stopped in for lunch at nearby Rockfish on Camp Bowie Boulevard in full makeup and lashes. For a midday Saturday in the middle of a storm, I’m sure I was a sight to see, but a girl’s gotta eat.
Not every Rockfish is the same, not even the ocean kind. Made up of around 100 species, they have subtle differences. The same could be said for the Rockfish chain.
Open a little over a year, the Camp Bowie Rockfish took over the site of a pizzeria, completely redesigning the interior into a more refined state. A neutral but elegant look gives vanilla-latte vibes but with a full serving of class. From the outside, Rockfish looks small, but the space smashed into a bustling food and shopping center expands into a cathedral all its own once inside.
I was greeted and seated quickly in a comfy booth since the doors had just opened at 11 a.m. continued on page 17
Come break the rules and say “yes!” to new art experiences at the Carter’s Second Thursdays! Every Second Thursday is different than the last — mingle with fellow art lovers, make art, and meet visiting artists, sometimes with live music and always with themed cocktails. You’ll never think of museums in the same way again.
Discover the exhibition East of the Pacific: Making Histories of Asian American Art and learn about these visionary artists’ influence on American art.
The po’boy-sized dipping bread accompanying the traditional mussels added up to a meal on its own.
Rockfish’s blackened Atlantic salmon and adornments, held up by corn tortillas, were endless in flavor.
Eats & Drinks
The first thing I noticed was the leveled-up decor from what I expected. Many seafood places have the same ambiance, fish and sea tchotchkes all over the walls and tables. This Rockfish location offers a classy, clean aesthetic with a neutral white-andwood palette.
My server Kylie gave me a minute after I ordered my Maple Old Fashioned because I couldn’t seem to make up my mind. All the options were worthy of a taste. As a big fish and chips fan, I was tempted to go for Rockfish’s version but wanted to give the restaurant’s unique menu a true chance. I opted for the traditional mussels for my starter. Expecting a small portion, I was shocked by the generosity. The bowl came with po’boysized bread for dipping. And, wow, the Chilean mussels were flavorful, but bites of bread dipped into the white-wine garlic butter with artichokes and tomatoes were more exhilarating than what I expected. I could have made a meal of it by itself. The intention was for the mussels to be a starter.
I chose the Atlantic Salmon tacos for my entree. Wrapped in corn tortillas, the fish was decorated with lettuce, feta cheese, and pico de
gallo with a side of cilantro lime rice. The salmon, blackened and rich, was tasty and nicely complemented by the rice. I didn’t realize the aioli would resemble mayo so much so that I was a bit surprised at first when I got to the bottom of the taco. Being queen of Team Get That Mayo Away from Me,
I openly admit I will send food back when there is unsolicited mayo involved. Overall, the four salmon tacos with rice were a solid choice.
To finish strong, I chose a slice of key lime pie. I was hoping the tang would pair well with
creamy pie had a yummy, crumbly graham-cracker crust and a hefty helping of whipped cream on top. It’s not the tang that makes one of your eyes squint, but this pie was a little sweeter than usual. Which is a great summary of my visit.
The weather required an umbrella and felt like getting swept away by the sea, but the lighthouse was on at Rockfish, rounding off a simple
The Key Lime Pie had a thick foundation of graham-cracker crust that gave a sought-after crunch.
Rockfish’s Maple Old Fashioned offered sweet, rich depth and a splendid splash of citrus.
birria tacos and fluffy quesadillas. Right now, TicTaco is offering up to 25% off with $14 and $28 vouchers worth $20 or $40 toward eats and drinks Mon-Thu at Groupon.com/deals/tic-taco-1.
By Elaine Wilder
FRIDAY, SEPT 12TH
FRIDAY,
FRIDAY, SEPT 26TH COPPERHEAD JONES
FRIDAY, OCT 10TH MEREDITH CRAWFORD FRIDAY, OCT 17TH THE .410'S
Tabla Indian Restaurant serves a fusion of Indian and Indo-Chinese cuisine.
MUSIC
Road Warrior
With his new, longawaited EP, Fake Folk Singer, emo acoustic singer-songwriter Ryker Hall branches out — stylistically and geographically.
BY STEVE STEWARD
A couple of weeks ago, Ryker Hall offered his new record, Fake Folk Singer, as a pre-release $5 download to generate buzz both for the EP’s debut on streaming services and his opening slot for the album release of honky-tonk balladeer Cory Cross’ album on September 6 at The Post. After Venmoing Hall five bucks, I had this thought: When was the last time I saw him play?
“Open Streets, this year, at the [Boiled] Owl,” I reminded myself, proud to recall something that had happened all the way back in April, but it also occurred to me that Hall had put out music pretty regularly since his 2018 debut, Soon You’ll Be a Skeleton — Fake Folk Singer is his sixth release in seven years — but that he just sort of fell off my radar. Turns out it’s been three years since his last release (Dystopian Chic, from 2022). That gap seemed kind of weird given the momentum and enthusiasm he had for his music a few years ago, at least in a “Hey, where’ve you been?” sort of way.
“I kind of disappeared for a while,” Hall said of that interim between recordings. “I dabbled in shows every now and then, but I kind of put music on the back burner.”
He declined to offer details about that time but allowed that he “got lost in trying to be someone I wasn’t. I was trying to fit a role … but at the end of the day, I’m just not ready to do that. I wanna be a musician. It’s all I care about. I learned a lot of hard lessons. … There were a lot of those over those couple years.”
Coming out of that period, Hall needed to reset his life. He moved back to his parents’ home in North Richland Hills to save money, working from home in a customer service job to rebuild his finances. Though reliable, that gig was as soul-crushing as it sounds, but the reset did provide him the time to pick up his guitar again.
“I’ve been working my ass off writing songs,” he said.
About a year ago, the idea of a “fake folk singer” popped into his head. “I just kinda was like, ‘That’ll be a funny name for a project.’ ”
Ryker Hall: “Playing in [Fort Worth] all the time kind of gets exhausting, and people don’t wanna see you all the time, so branching out has been huge for me.”
But then he thought about what a fake folk singer is like — he said Americana hitmaker Zach Bryan comes immediately to mind — and the EP’s title track was born. Its chorus goes, “A public drunk on fake folk singer blues / Buzzword outlaws and bubblegum truths / Substance feels bludgeoned, it feels like a bit / I sound bitter and old, I guess.”
It’s a rueful middle finger thrown up at the facile pop that passes for folk songs these days, and it provided Hall with a little bit of catharsis, like he cleared a blockage in his soul. Working on the song delivered the jump-start Hall needed. “I just kind of started creating again … and I found the confidence to pursue this and make it my No. 1 [priority] again and give it my all. I feel like myself. I’ve never felt more like myself than I do now. I’m unashamed.”
Hall has always peppered his live performances with wry asides and self-deprecating jokes — a singer-songwriter’s between-song “tuning banter” is often just as critical to a good show as the songs, and Hall’s an affable engager of audiences — so one might argue that he’s always seemed pretty unashamed. But here, both his new lease on life and his penchant for planting his tongue firmly in cheek are at the forefront of his songs, even when his cynicism and disillusionment go deep as rust beneath the paint of a used car. The clearest distillation of this sentiment is in “Moshpit Retirement,” a defiant declaration to keep the rock ’n’ roll dream alive, in which he yells, “I’m as bald as I am bold.”
“Shit, dude,” he told me. “I’m as bald as it gets.”
One might also say he’s always been bold, having played in bands since he was in middle school, starting with a pop-punk outfit called the Borrowed Band (“like a 13-year-old’s Sum41”) that was followed by another pop-punk group, Signed in Scarlet. Music has always been his favorite thing. “I put down the skateboard and picked up the guitar when I was 10 and made more progress with that. I was too fat to kickflip, but I got serious about writing songs when I was, like, 17.”
Now approaching his mid-30s, Hall has long since honed his songwriting chops and pop-punk influences into the kind of acoustic emo tunes that made Chris Carabba famous, filtered through the emotional burnout common to his generation, a childhood bracketed by 9/11 on one end and the
Great Recession’s fallout on the other, with two wars and dozens of school shootings in between. Hall processed this on Fake Folk Singer with “Thirst Trappin,’ ” about “my numbness to tragedy. As a generation, [millennials] have seen so much shit. By now, nothing’s shocking. It’s awful. Nothing ever changes, and the bad shit keeps happening. But, hey, at least the stock market’s OK. Allegedly.”
For all that millennial emotional anesthetization, Hall sounded kind of agitated discussing that shit, but overall, resuming his musical path has been a pretty affirming, empowering adventure.
In his telling, recording Fake Folk Singer sounded like a lot of fun. Its four songs were tracked, mixed, and mastered in two days by local producer Cuervo “357” Jones at his 3Fifty7 Studios in Fort Worth. Other than 357’s keyboard lines on “Hell of a Year” and “Thirst Trappin,’ ” Hall performed all the instrumentation, which, admittedly, is mostly acoustic guitars, some percussion, and a bass track on opener “Dreamy.” Hall often plays these songs live with a backing band, but as rendered in the studio, the space allowed by stripped-down accompaniment is a huge part of the EP’s appeal. His voice sounds huge, too, especially when he’s screaming into the void.
“We just scheduled two days when we could both get in there and powered through,” Hall said. “It was really fun process, just two dudes chilling, making a record, man.”
And since he’s gotten back in the songwriting saddle, he’s ranged far afield of the Cowtown bars and clubs he’s been playing for years, building a fanbase in places like Norman, Shreveport, San Antonio, Tyler, and Longview — he half-jokingly said his audience is “sad millennials and other old people like myself” — and the day of this interview, he quit his customer service job in the furtherance of his musical ambitions.
“That [job] made me nothing but miserable,” he said. “It took away time from being able to play gigs and travel, and I’m trying to do more of that and make music the focus.”
Still, he’s present to the realities of his chosen road. “It’s obviously pretty damn hard to survive as a full-time musician, especially in today’s economy, and you don’t wanna oversaturate. Playing in [Fort Worth] all the time kind of gets exhausting, and people don’t wanna see you all the time, so branching out has been huge for me.”
He really wants to get a foothold in Texas’ adjacent, out-of-state scenes, but he’d be just as happy to play regularly with southbound trips on I-35. “I mean, our state is huge. There are so many markets to be a part of.”
Given his recent clarity of purpose, Ryker Hall is poised to hit them all and show audiences that Fake Folk Singer is heavy with real emotions and big, singalong hooks. l
SCREEN
Pitt Masters
HBO Max is the first streaming service to make a great hospital show.
BY KRISTIAN LIN
Back in the 1990s, the TV show that people could not stop talking about was NBC’s ER. Starring a bunch of unknown actors (including Noah Wyle as a wide-eyed young neophyte doctor), the hospital show landed with seismic force. Its fast pace, gruesome injuries, overworked medical professionals, and heated atmosphere with new sources of drama always rolling in the door made the likes of Marcus Welby, St. Elsewhere, and Chicago Hope seem sluggish and passé by comparison.
In the 16 years since ER breathed its last, medical dramas have avoided comparisons with it by turning themselves into sitcoms (Scrubs), detective shows (House), and soap operas (Grey’s Anatomy). Now in 2025, after we’ve lived through a pandemic, HBO Max has decided that it’s time once again for a hospital show that’s just a hospital show, so we have The Pitt, which stars Wyle as a battle-scarred mentor. Creator R. Scott Gemmill, who worked as a writer on ER for some years, has proven the value of returning to the genre’s roots, and that would be true even without all the Emmy nominations that this show has garnered.
The first season’s
Wyle portrays Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, and the first season’s 15 episodes follow him through 15 hours of what’s supposed to be a 12-hour shift as the senior attending physician at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital, which its employees refer to as “The Pitt.” Four new medical students join the staff that morning, and they’ve barely had time to be introduced before they’re forced to tend to a woman (Arun Storrs) who was pushed onto the subway tracks. The sight of her leg hanging on by a few strands of tissue makes one of the students faint in the OR.
The Pitt is all about the grit, as Robby constantly lobbies the place’s chief medical officer (Michael Hyatt) for more staffing so that patients aren’t kept for hours in the waiting room.
One man threatens, “I’m gonna fucking destroy you on Yelp,” which is something that medical
professionals in the old days didn’t have to worry about. When two middle-aged women start trading punches in the waiting room, the charge nurse (Katherine LaNasa) breaks them up: “This ain’t Philly! What’s the matter with you jagoffs?”
Later, a very large man (Drew Powell) who has spent six hours waiting for treatment punches that charge nurse in the face and breaks her nose. (The show does not note this, but assaulting a health-care worker is a felony in Pennsylvania.)
I detect some of the melodramatic excesses that plagued ER in its later years. The show begins on the roof of the hospital with Robby trying to talk the night shift’s attending (Shawn Hatosy) out of jumping off: “If you kill yourself on my shift, that’s just rude.” We didn’t need that to convey the stress of The Pitt, and the repeated flashbacks to Robby losing his beloved mentor in the early days of COVID may be true to real
life, but they interrupt the dramatic flow without giving us enough in return. Also true to life are Robby’s disputes with that chief medical officer, but they typically take place via email. It’s clumsy having them play out in conversations when the doctor is on duty.
The show’s emotional weight could have been borne by the new arrivals, who include a neurodivergent second-year (Taylor Dearden) who knows how to set a troublesome autistic patient at ease. A first-year named Santos (Isa Briones) is fresh out of medical school and confident to the point of recklessness, which irritates senior resident Langdon (Patrick Ball), who’s nicknamed “ER Ken” because of his good looks. He wears his daughter’s charm bracelet to work and is a decent mentor to the other students, and it’s gratifying to see him snark at a COVID-truther patient by offering her the option to undergo surgery with unmasked doctors. However, Langdon’s unprofessional streak causes him to harass Santos and eventually call her an arrogant idiot in front of five other doctors and nurses who have just seen her save a patient’s life, which causes Robby to take him aside and sternly tell him that humiliating a student in front of their peers is a poor teaching tool. Later, Santos finds disturbing evidence that Langdon is taking benzodiazepine intended for his patients. (The show does note that stealing medications from a hospital is also a felony.)
The unquestioned highlight of the show takes up all of Episodes 12 and 13 and much of 14, as a mass shooting at an outdoor music festival sends more than 100 victims into the trauma center. While the millennial doctors acquit themselves well and that chief medical officer steps up in a big way, it’s Robby who buckles under the strain and has a near-total breakdown in the pediatric ward, sobbing next to cartoon animals painted on the walls. That’s why Wyle received one of the show’s major Emmy nominations.
The Pitt will not follow Netflix’s pattern of taking two years or more to follow up debut seasons of hit shows. The first season will air this month on TNT while the second season begins streaming next January. While the platform allows the characters to curse and patients to appear unclothed for treatment, this is a throwback medical show that comes in time to take on a new set of issues. What a tonic that turns out to be. l
15 episodes follow Noah Wyle as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch through 15 hours of what’s supposed to be a 12-hour shift as the senior attending physician at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital, which its employees refer to as “The Pitt.”
MOVIE NIGHTS
Upcoming Movie Nights:
October 24 at 7:30 PM: Hotel Transylvania
November 14 at 7:00 PM: Lilo and Stitch (2025)
December 12 at 6:30 PM: How the Grinch Stole Christmas
CLASSIFIEDS
EMPLOYMENT
Business Intelligence Analyst
CLASSIFIEDS
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
AMENDED NOTICE OF APPLICATION AND PRELIMINARY DECISION FOR AN AIR QUALITY PERMIT
PROPOSED PERMIT NUMBER: 178447
APPLICATION AND PRELIMINARY DECISION. Jar-Tex Industries, Incorporated, 2232 Solona St, Haltom City, TX 76117-5314, has applied to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for issuance of Proposed Air Quality Permit Number 178447, which would authorize construction an electroplating and metal finishing facility located at 2232 Solona St, Haltom City, Tarrant County, Texas 76117. AVISO DE IDIOMA ALTERNATIVO. El aviso de idioma alternativo en espanol está disponible en https://www.tceq.texas.gov/permitting/air/newsourcereview/airpermitspendingpermit-apps. This application was submitted to the TCEQ on December 2, 2024. The proposed facility will emit the following contaminants: hazardous air pollutants and particulate matter including particulate matter with diameters of 10 microns or less and 2.5 microns or less.
The executive director has completed the technical review of the application and prepared a draft permit which, if approved, would establish the conditions under which the facility must operate. The executive director has made a preliminary decision to issue the permit because it meets all rules and regulations. The permit application, executive director’s preliminary decision, and draft permit will be available for viewing and copying at the TCEQ central office, the TCEQ Dallas/ Fort Worth regional office, and at Hurst Public Library, 901 Precinct Line Road, Hurst, Tarrant County, Texas, beginning the first day of publication of this notice. The facility’s compliance file, if any exists, is available for public review at the TCEQ Dallas/Fort Worth Regional Office, 2309 Gravel Drive, Fort Worth, Texas. The application, including any updates, is available electronically at the following webpage: https://www.tceq.texas.gov/permitting/air/airpermit-applications-notices
PUBLIC COMMENT/PUBLIC MEETING. You may submit public comments or request a public meeting about this application. The purpose of a public meeting is to provide the opportunity to submit comment or to ask questions about the application. The TCEQ will hold a public meeting if the executive director determines that there is a significant degree of public interest in the application or if requested by a local legislator. A public meeting is not a contested case hearing. You may submit additional written public comments within 30 days of the date of newspaper publication of this notice in the manner set forth in the AGENCY CONTACTS AND INFORMATION paragraph below.
Intuilize, Inc. based in Grapevine, TX seeks a Business Intelligence Analyst to maintain or update business intelligence tools, databases, dashboards, systems, or methods; manage timely flow of business intelligence information to users; Provide technical support for existing reports, dashboards, or other tools; document specifications for business intelligence or information technology reports, dashboards, or other outputs; conduct or coordinate tests to ensure that intelligence is consistent with defined needs; analyze competitive market strategies through analysis of related product, market, or share trends; create or review technical design documentation to ensure the accurate development of reporting solutions; analyze technology trends to identify markets for future product development or to improve sales of existing products; manage Business Intelligence project execution to ensure adherence to budget, schedule, and scope; assess current or future customer needs and priorities by communicating directly with customers, conducting surveys, or other methods; develop implementation plans that include analyses such as cost-benefit or return on investment (ROI); develop or update BI project plans including information such as project objectives, technologies, systems, information specifications, schedules, funding, and staffing; identify, review, or select vendors or consultants to meet BI project needs. Requirements: Must have a master's degree or foreign equivalent in Business Analytics or Operations Management and 1 year of work experience in the field. The 1-year work experience must include experience in the following: Advanced Excel, VBA, Power Query, VLOOKUP, Macro in accounting, finance, or statistical analysis; in designing and developing BI reports and dashboards, using data sourced from ERP systems; in API integration; in Python programming, utilizing scripting for automation and data analysis tasks. Telecommuting is required, with on-site meetings twice per month and must be available to attend in person as needed; must reside within Dallas - Fort Worth - Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area. Email resume to Gabriela Pena at gabriela@intuilize.com
RESPONSE TO COMMENTS AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ACTION. After the deadline for public comments, the executive director will consider the comments and prepare a response to all relevant and material or significant public comments. Because no timely hearing requests have been received, after preparing the response to comments, the executive director may then issue final approval of the application. The response to comments, along with the executive director’s decision on the application will be mailed to everyone who submitted public comments or is on a mailing list for this application, and will be posted electronically to the Commissioners’ Integrated Database (CID).
INFORMATION AVAILABLE ONLINE. When they become available, the executive director’s response to comments and the final decision on this application will be accessible through the Commission’s Web site at www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/ cid. Once you have access to the CID using the above link, enter the permit number for this application which is provided at the top of this notice. This link to an electronic map of the site or facility’s general location is provided as a public courtesy and not part of the application or notice. For exact location, refer to application. https://gisweb.tceq.texas.gov/ LocationMapper/?marker=-97.251111,32.791666&level=13.
MAILING LIST. You may ask to be placed on a mailing list to obtain additional information on this application by sending a request to the Office of the Chief Clerk at the address below.
AGENCY CONTACTS AND INFORMATION. Public comments and requests must be submitted either electronically at www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/comment, or in writing to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Office of the Chief Clerk, MC 105, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, Texas 78711-3087. Please be aware that any contact information you provide, including your name, phone number, email address and physical address will become part of the agency’s public record. For more information about the permitting process, please call the TCEQ Public Education Program, Toll Free, at 1-800-687-4040 or visit their website at www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/pep. Si desea información en Español, puede llamar al 1-800-687-4040. You can also view our website for public participation opportunities at www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/ participation.
Further information may also be obtained from Jar-Tex Industries, Incorporated at the address stated above or by calling Mr. Doug Durant, Project Manager at (972) 889-7200.
Amended Notice Issuance Date: September 8, 2025
BULLETIN BOARD
ADVERTISE HERE!
Email Stacey@fwweekly.com today.
Are You Road-Trip Ready?
CALL COWTOWN ROVER!
With our convenient pick-up and drop-off services, having your car checked out has never been easier. www.CowtownRover.com 3958 Vickery | 817.731.3223
CELEBRATION
Located at 908 Pennsylvania Ave (817-335-3222), Celebration Community Church has services on Sundays at 10am. Want to check out a nonjudgmental, inclusive church at home before attending in person? All services can also be viewed on YouTube! (@ CelebrationCommunityChurch130)
CONSUMER CELLULAR
We offer the same reliable, nationwide coverage as the largest carriers. No long-term contract, no hidden fees, and activation is free. All plans feature unlimited talk and text, starting at just $20/month. For more information, call 1-833-926-4234. (MB)
DENTAL INSURANCE
www.dental50plus.com/fortworth #6258
EMPLOYMENT
Corporate Controller (Fort Worth, TX): Oversee all aspects of corporate and consolidated financial reporting functions. Direct preparation of monthly, quarterly and annual financial statements and supporting schedules. Oversee full-cycle general ledger accounting, cash management and month-end close processes. Benefits summary: https://yesway.com/careers. Resumes to BW Gas & Convenience Holdings, LLC d/b/a Yesway, Inc. At recruiting@yesway.com using Reference #: 346080.
EMPLOYMENT
Engineer III, Software Applications (Omnicell, Inc.; Fort Worth, TX*): Collaborate with product management to understand business requirements and plan products and features. *Telecommuting permitted from anywhere in the U.S. Applicants should submit resume to: humanresources@ omnicell.com and reference job # 00074558
EMPLOYMENT
Wabtec US Rail, Inc. seeks Lead Project Engineer in Fort Worth, TX to manage the project timeline and ensure the internal resources and external dependencies are aligned. Telecommuting permitted. Apply at www. jobpostingtoday.com Ref#98949.
GET PUBLISHED!
Call 1-866-256-0940 or go to DorranceInfo.com/ftworth for your free author`s guide and become a published author. (MB)
HISTORIC RIDGLEA THEATER
THE RIDGLEA is three great venues within one historic Fort Worth landmark. RIDGLEA THEATER has been restored to its authentic allure, recovering unique Spanish-Mediterranean elements. It is ideal for large audiences and special events. RIDGLEA ROOM and RIDGLEA LOUNGE have been making some of their own history, as connected adjuncts to RIDGLEA THEATER, or hosting their own smaller shows and gatherings. More at theRidglea.com
LET’S get LIT(erary)!
Crawl Fort Worth, a project of The Dock Bookshop, the American Reading Council, and the Litquake Foundation, is hosting its inaugural Lit Crawl Fort Worth at Thompson’s Bookstore (900 Houston St, 817-6686122 call/text) this Thu, Sep 11, from 7pm to 10pm. All Lit Crawl events will take place across various stages at Thompson’s, including Bold Women & Their Stories, Bookish Battles, Fort Worth Poetry Crush, Noir at the Bar, and Pop-Up Author Readings. Library-themed cocktails and mocktails will be available for purchase. All happenings are free and open to the public. Guests must be 21+ to attend.
More at TrinityRiverBookFest.com
LIFE INSURANCE
Up to $15,000.00 of GUARANTEED Life Insurance! No medical exam or health questions. Cash to help pay for the funeral and other final expenses. Call Physicians Life Insurance Company- 844-782-2870 or visit www. Life55plus.info/ftworth
LIZ BUYS HOUSES
We Buy Houses for Cash AS IS! No repairs. No fuss. Any condition. Easy three-step process: Call, get a cash offer, and get paid. Get your fair cash offer today by calling Liz Buys Houses: 1-877-509-9772. (MB)
NEED A FRIEND?
Ronnie D. Long Bail Bonds
Immediate Jail Release 24 Hour Service. City, County, State, and Federal Bonds. Located Minutes from Courts. 6004 Airport Freeway.
817-834-9894
RonnieDLongBailBonds.com
POTTER’S HOUSE
Join the Potter’s House of Fort Worth (1270 Woodhaven Blvd, 817-446-1999) for Sunday Service at 8am and Wednesday Bible Study at 7pm. For more info, visit us online at www.TPHFW.org.
PUBLIC NOTICE
The following vehicles have been impounded with fees due to date by Texas Towing Wrecker, 205 S Commercial St, Fort Worth TX 76107, 817-877-0206 (VSF0000964): Great Dane, 2000, Trailer, VIN 1GRAA9629YB043255; $1775.83; Great Dane, 2007, Trailer, VIN 1GRAA06257J623134, $1732.54; Hyundai 2007, Translead Trailer, VIN 3H3V532C87T388353, $1732.54; Hyundai, 2020, Translead Trailer, VN 3H3V532C4LT376078, $1689.25; and Specialized Trailer I nc, 2005, X-L, VIN 4U3B048365L005147, $8623.31.
