Is The Pitt An ER Reboot? Legal Controversy Explained

When HBO’s “The Pitt” premiered in January, it drew immediate comparisons to another medical drama, “ER.”

Both shows are set in busy urban hospitals and follow frontline healthcare workers as they grapple with a series of intense traumas in the emergency room. 

“The Pitt” even stars a familiar face: Noah Wyle, who played Dr. John Carter in “ER,” portrays protagonist Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch in the new show.

The new series also marks an “ER” reunion behind the camera, bringing back “ER” producers John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill. 

The apparent similarities between the two series are at the heart of an ongoing legal dispute between the creators of “The Pitt” and the estate of the late author Michael Crichton.

Crichton, who is also known for writing the novels that inspired “Jurassic Park” and “The Andromeda Strain,” wrote the original screenplay for “ER” in 1974 and served as an executive producer on the show until his death in 2008. The medical drama ended in 2009.

Now, Crichton’s estate is alleging in a lawsuit that “The Pitt” was created as a sequel to “ER” without the permission of the late author’s heirs.

The creators of “The Pitt,” meanwhile, insist their show is not an “ER” reboot, arguing that it is “no more similar to ‘ER’ than is ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ ‘Chicago Med,’ or any of the countless other hospital medical dramas that have aired since or before ‘ER.’”

Keep reading to learn more about why Michael Crichton’s estate is suing the creators of “The Pitt” and where the case stands now.

Why is Michael Crichton’s estate suing ‘The Pitt’ creators?

In August 2024, the estate of the late author Michael Crichton sued the creators of “The Pitt” on three counts, including breach of contract.

The plaintiffs allege that the HBO medical drama, which premiered in January, is an unauthorized reboot of “ER,” which was created and executive produced by Crichton and ran from 1994 until 2009.

Warner Bros. Television, showrunner R. Scott Gemmill, executive producer John Wells and the star of “The Pitt” Noah Wyle, who also serves as a writer and executive producer for the series, were among those named as defendants.

According to the complaint, the defendants began working on an “ER” reboot in 2020, planning for it to air on HBO Max. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants worked on the reboot “without any notice” to Crichton’s widow, Sherri Crichton, and in “brazen disregard” of the contractual rights of the late author’s estate.

When he created “ER,” Crichton was granted a “frozen rights” provision in his contract that would prohibit Warner Bros. Television from “proceeding with any sequels, remakes, spinoffs, or other productions derived from ‘ER’ without Crichton’s express consent,” according to the lawsuit.

The complaint alleges that the creators of “The Pitt” revealed to Crichton’s widow in 2022 that they had been developing an “ER” reboot, two years after they began working on the project.

After negotiations stalled with the studio, Crichton’s estate refused to give consent for the planned reboot, according to the lawsuit.

“Without (the Plaintiff’s) consent, Defendants’ work on an ER reboot should have ended,” the lawsuit alleges. “But Defendants’ efforts did not end.”

The lawsuit argues that “The Pitt” is essentially a re-creation of “ER,” but with an altered setting and character names.

The complaint alleges that Noah Wyle, who also starred as Dr. John Carter in “ER,” plays essentially the same character, this time named Dr. Michael Robinavitch, in “The Pitt.”

“Noah Wyle’s character is Dr. John Carter from ‘ER’ in all but name, only 30 years later, and imbued with the experience and lessons learned during the 15-year run of the original series,” the lawsuit alleges.

The complaint also alleges that the two shows share striking similarities when it comes to their hospital settings, structure and supporting characters, noting that “the main character’s co-worker/ friend in both series is a roguish bad boy.”

The lawsuit also notes that “The Pitt” is executive produced by John Wells, who served as an executive producer on “ER.”

“The Pitt is ‘ER.’ It’s not like ‘ER,’ it’s not kind of ‘ER,’ it’s not sort of ‘ER.’ It is ‘ER’ complete with the same executive producer, writer, star, production companies, studio, and network as the planned ‘ER’ reboot,” the lawsuit states. “No one has been fooled.”

The lawsuit called the defendants’ actions “legally and morally repugnant” and, in the case of Wells, “a personal betrayal of a 30-year friendship.”

“Defendants seek not to bury Crichton’s credit but to erase him altogether and to rob his heirs of the fruits of one of his greatest creations,” the lawsuit states. “Plaintiff will not allow that to happen. Defendants must be held accountable to Crichton and other creators whose rights are too often trampled upon in pursuit of unrelenting greed.”

What have the creators of ‘The Pitt’ said?

The creators of “The Pitt” have fought back against the lawsuit. 

On Jan. 31, Warner Bros. Television and the other defendants filed a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed under California’s anti-SLAPP law. 

The purpose of an anti-SLAPP motion is to quash frivolous legal claims that are brought to “chill the valid exercise of the constitutional rights of freedom of speech,” according to the statute.

The creators of “The Pitt” argued that making of the show was a “constitutionally protected act of free speech,” according to a ruling by the Superior Court of California in February.

Producers Gemmill and Wells have not commented publicly on the lawsuit, but they have opened up interviews about how they believe “The Pitt” differs from “ER.”

Gemmill said he and his fellow creators wanted to “find a way to do it that was fresh for both us and the audience so that we weren’t just retreading what we’d done in the past,” as he told Variety on Jan. 23.

He added that he had no desire to re-create “ER.”

“If I was going to do another medical show, it would have to be completely different and new, because I don’t want to do the same thing over again,” he said. “I don’t think the audience — I mean, there are some who would (want to revive ‘ER’) for nostalgia’s sake, but that’s no fun for me and I don’t know how much fun it is for Noah (Wyle).”

Wyle said in the same joint interview with Variety that in his view, “The Pitt” and “ER” are stories told from different angles.

“In a lot of ways, ‘ER’ was a patient-centric show, and this is more of a provider-centric show, which puts the focus of the medicine and the current way that it’s practiced in first position,” he said.

In a November statement, Warner Bros. Television called the lawsuit’s claims “baseless.”

“Ms. (Sherri) Crichton’s lawsuit against WBD lacks both factual and legal foundation. Ms. Crichton’s description of the timeline and content of our negotiations about a potential ‘ER’ reboot are incorrect, and we strongly deny her allegations,” the studio said, as reported by Deadline in November. 

“Importantly, ‘The Pitt’ does not include any ‘ER’ intellectual property and is no more similar to ‘ER’ than is ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ ‘Chicago Med’, or any of the countless other hospital medical dramas that have aired since or before ‘ER’,” the statement continued.

Casey Bloys, the head of HBO’s Max streaming service, also rejected the allegation that “The Pitt” is based on “ER” in comments at a press conference in November, according to Variety.

“I’m sure I’m not supposed to talk about active litigation, but I will say the idea that a show can’t be set in an ER seems kind of unrealistic on its face, that no other show can be set in a hospital emergency room,” he said. “I mean, it’s kind of a staple on television.”

Sherri Crichton responded to Bloys’ remarks in a Deadline interview the same month, calling them “not credible.”

“The case is not about whether someone can do a show set in a hospital,” she said. “It is about whether Warner Bros., John Wells, Noah Wyle, and Scott Gemmill can spend two years developing an ‘ER’ reboot, negotiate with the estate for nearly a year to obtain consent per Michael Crichton’s contract, and, when they can’t get the terms they want, proceed with the exact same show with a different title and location.”

Where does the case stand now?On Feb. 24, a judge denied the defendants’ motion to throw out the complaint, meaning that the lawsuit can move forward.

In her ruling, Judge Wendy Chang of the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles said the Court agreed that the making of “The Pitt” is a “constitutionally protected act of free speech.”

However, the Court also found that the plaintiff’s claims were not “totally meritless” and could not be dismissed, meaning that legal proceedings can continue.

The ruling states that the plaintiffs did “establish a timeline of various communications and events to show the negotiations with the Estate over an ‘ER’ reboot, failure of those negotiations, and the creation of “The Pitt.’”

A case management conference is now scheduled for March 26 in Los Angeles.