Appeals Court Says ‘The Pitt’ Is Close Enough to ‘ER’ for Michael Crichton’s Widow To Keep Suing

The legal fight over ‘The Pitt’ has taken a major turn. The Emmy-winning medical drama, which stars Noah Wyle as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, has faced a lawsuit from Michael Crichton’s estate claiming the show is effectively an unauthorized reboot of ‘ER’.

Crichton co-created ‘ER’, which was based on a 1974 script he wrote about his experiences as a medical student. His contract with Warner Bros. Television included a “frozen rights” provision that barred the studio from producing spinoffs or reboots without his approval, rights that continued after his death.

Now an appeals court has allowed the case to move forward. As Variety reported, a unanimous 3-judge panel ruled that ‘The Pitt’ is similar enough to ‘ER’ for Crichton’s widow, Sherri Crichton, to pursue her lawsuit against Warner Bros. Television.

“There are clear and numerous similarities between ‘The Pitt’ and ‘ER,'” the court wrote. It cited the emergency room setting, the fast pace, the medical jargon, the graphic depictions of injuries and a young, inexperienced doctor fresh from medical school, concluding that “the details here suffice for a prima facie case.”

The ruling wasn’t a complete win for the estate. The court dismissed the claims against Wyle, John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill, finding no evidence that they knew they could be violating Crichton’s contractual rights.

The first trailer for ‘THE PITT’ Season 3 has been released. Releasing January on HBO Max. https://t.co/oCxfCvCYTJ

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That leaves Warner Bros. Television as the remaining defendant. According to Rolling Stone, the decision came from California’s Second District Court of Appeal in a 33-page opinion that compared the pilot scripts of both shows.

The roots of the case go back to 2020, when Wyle approached Wells about reviving his ‘ER’ character, Dr. John Carter. Warner Bros. Television was interested, and negotiations began with Sherri Crichton, who controlled the retained rights.

Those talks eventually collapsed. Sherri Crichton alleges that Wells and Wyle wanted to reboot ‘ER’, then changed course after failing to get her permission and moved the story to Pittsburgh under a new name without credit or compensation.

The first trailer for ‘THE PITT’ Season 2 has been released. Releasing January 8 on HBO Max. https://t.co/FgDwYBEN8B

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She filed the lawsuit in August 2024, months before ‘The Pitt’ premiered. Wells, who produces ‘The Pitt’, was also the original showrunner of ‘ER’. Warner Bros. has argued that ‘The Pitt’ is an entirely different show and that the two series share only generic similarities common to any emergency room drama.

The studio filed an anti-SLAPP motion, a California procedure meant to dismiss meritless suits that threaten free expression. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Wendy Chang denied that motion, finding the complaint met the minimal merit standard, and the appeals court has now upheld her decision.

In a sworn statement, Wyle said he didn’t see how ‘The Pitt’ could be considered derivative of ‘ER’, and argued that Robby differs from Dr. Carter in background, religion, training and his recovery from PTSD.

The case now returns to the trial court for discovery, with the next hearing set for January 21 before Judge Chang. In a statement shared by her lawyer, Sherri Crichton said she was deeply gratified by the decision and looks forward to discovery.

Unless the parties settle, a jury could ultimately decide whether ‘The Pitt’ is a derivative work of ‘ER’. Celebrity Net Worth notes that the ruling does not decide whether Warner Bros. actually violated the agreement, only that the estate’s claims can proceed.

Meanwhile, ‘The Pitt’ has become one of television’s most celebrated dramas. It won Outstanding Drama Series at the 2025 Emmy Awards, and Wyle took home Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. For Wyle, who became a household name on ‘ER’, the case ties his latest success directly to the series that made him famous.

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