Is The Pitt an unauthorized ER reboot? Court approves lawsuit alleging yes
There are so many similarities between the hit TV series ER and HBO's The Pitt that a lawsuit should be allowed to proceed, a U.S. appeals court ruled Wednesday. The lawsuit was filed by the widow of Michael Crichton, who created the TV series ER in the 1990s, based on a film script he wrote about his time as a medical student.
Star Noah Wyle, executive producer and showrunner dropped as defendants
Helen Surgenor · CBC News
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There are so many similarities between the hit TV series ER and HBO's The Pitt that a lawsuit should be allowed to proceed, a U.S. appeals court ruled Wednesday.
The lawsuit was filed by Sherri Crichton, widow of Michael Crichton, who created the TV series ER in the 1990s based on a film script he wrote about his time as a medical student.
He died in 2008. But in 1994, when he signed a contract with Warner Bros. Television for ER, it explicitly said no spin-offs or reboots could be made without his — or his estate's — approval, according to documents filed in the Court of Appeal of the State of California.
In her initial lawsuit, Sherri Crichton says she engaged in negotiations to develop a reboot in 2022, but they were unable to reach an agreement.
Warner Bros. continued to develop The Pitt anyway.
Crichton filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. alleging The Pitt was an unauthorized reboot in August 2024, nearly five months before the new series debuted.
In August 2025, Warner Bros. filed a motion to dismiss Crichton's lawsuit, citing California’s anti-SLAPP legislation, designed to protect citizens from lawsuits that target free speech.
A judge denied the motion, so the defendants took it to a California appeals court.
Noah Wyle, John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill were also named as defendants. Wyle stars in both TV series, while Wells is the executive producer of both ER and The Pitt. Gemmill, who is The Pitt's showrunner, also briefly worked as executive producer of ER.
In their appeal, the defendants argue The Pitt is a "brand-new medical drama with no ties to ER."
They say their show has "different characters, settings, visuals, styles, music, timing, and more."
ER was set in Chicago, and The Pitt is set in Pittsburgh.
So what exactly do the two shows have in common, other than Wyle?
A panel of three judges at the California appeals court, in their unanimous opinion rejecting the defendants' appeal, said both TV series:
- Are medical dramas set in emergency departments.
- Feature dialogue full of medical jargon.
- Portray overlapping crises and graphic depictions of injuries.
- Portray exhausted doctors and nurses.
- Contain frequent emotional outbursts.
- Include a young doctor, fresh from medical school and incompetent.
The appeals court also ruled on Wednesday that Warner Bros. must go to trial, but Wyle, Wells and Gemmill have been dismissed as defendants — as it found no evidence they were aware they could violate Crichton's contractual rights.
Unless the parties reach a settlement, the suit will go to a jury trial in Los Angeles.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Helen Surgenor is a producer for CBC News based in Toronto, currently working for the entertainment unit. She spent years waking up before dawn to make the daily news podcast World Report. She has reported in Alberta, Iqaluit and Barbados. You can reach her at helen.surgenor@cbc.ca.
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