A Drama Over Medical Dramas as Estate of "ER" Creator Allowed To Continue Lawsuit
At first glance, the similarities between the two TV shows in question seem too obvious to ignore. Both take place in the emergency room of a hospital. Each offers intense, harrowing glimpses of what doctors and nurses in those places face on a daily basis. One of the actors, Noah Wyle, plays a doctor in both shows. Some of the producers and writers are the same as well.
However, Warner Brothers insists that its new medical drama The Pitt is not an unauthorized reboot of ER. The estate of Michael Crichton, the author who created ER, disagrees. California Superior Court Judge Wendy Chang ruled on February 24, 2025, that the lawsuit had enough merit to deserve a court date. She also dismissed an anti-SLAPP suit filed by the defendants.
The Right Diagnosis?
Sherri Crichton, widow of Michael Crichton and the executor of his estate, filed suit as Crichton's estate against Warner Brothers and the producers of The Pitt. Crichton alleges that after negotiations to reboot ER with Wyle reprising his role failed to provide a workable solution, Warner Brothers and others named in the suit produced The Pitt instead, which she argues "is ER."
Instead of the copyright protection violation that might be expected with a claim like this, Crichton's estate filed for breach of contract. The suit charges that under the contract Michael Crichton signed in the 1990s with Warner Brothers, the estate has rights to all remakes, sequels, and derivative works.
The estate claims that The Pitt "is ER, complete with the same executive producer, writer, star, production companies, studio, and network as the planned ER reboot." Michael Crichton received an M.D. from Harvard Medical School and interned in an emergency room, using those experiences as his basis while creating ER.
According to Crichton, Warner Brothers had promised her that her husband would receive a "created by" credit and the estate would receive a guaranteed $5 million regardless of how the new show performed. After reneging on the agreement, the suit charges that the defendants made their derivative version of ER.
Code Blue
The defendants argued that aside from being set in an emergency room and starring Noah Wyle, there are obvious differences between the two shows that make The Pitt unique and non-derivative. The Pitt takes place in Pittsburgh, while ER was set in Chicago. It focuses on the difficulties faced by medical professionals in the post-COVID world and employs much less of the soap-opera type approach used to describe ER.
Perhaps most notably, The Pitt is presented as a single 15-hour shift told in real time or close to it, much like the show 24 did. ER used a more traditional approach to storytelling, with plotlines stretching over weeks and months of a timeline dictated by the show.
Lawyers for the defense noted that other shows have used hospitals for a setting. When the attorney for the Crichton estate countered that The Pitt was specifically set in an emergency room, the judge questioned if that meant no other show could ever use that setting.
Going to a Courtroom Instead
In a response to the decision, Warner Brothers pointed out that the judge's ruling that there was enough to merit at least a prima facie case isn't indicative of how the case will play out. The defense is likely to question the definition of "derivative works" in an attempt to highlight the differences between the two shows.
Fans of The Pitt will hope nothing affects production. Given its critical praise, positive viewer ratings, and renewal for a second season, there's also a chance Warner Brothers and the Crichton estate could settle.
Related Resources
- 3 Things To Know About SLAPP Suits (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life)
- Copyright Law (FindLaw's Intellectual Property Laws)
- What Does an Executor Do? (FindLaw's Estate Planning)
