Michael Crichton Estate Sues Noah Wyle, John Wells and Warner Bros. TV Over Nixed ER Revival Concept That Morphed Into The Pitt
Sherri Crichton, widow of ER creator Michael Crichton, has filed a lawsuit against Noah Wyle, John Wells, R. Scott Gemmill and Warner Bros. Television for walking away from long-drawn-out negotiations to make a new version of ER — a concept that later morphed into Max medical drama The Pitt and does not credit Crichton as a creator.
“The Pitt is ER,” the suit alleges (per Deadline). “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.”
Those named in the suit are being charged with Breach of Contract, Breach of Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing, and Intentional Interference With Contractual Relations. In a statement to TVLine, Warner Bros. Television responded to the suit, saying: “The lawsuit filed by the Crichton Estate is baseless, as The Pitt is a new and original show. Any suggestion otherwise is false, and Warner Bros. Television intends to vigorously defend against these meritless claims.” (John Wells Productions has not yet commented on the matter.)
Max’s The Pitt, which received a 15-episode order in March, is not a direct continuation of ER, nor does it feature any characters from the NBC juggernaut. Wyle, a five-time Emmy nominee for his breakout role as Dr. John Carter, will now inhabit the part of a different emergency room attending physician — this one named Dr. Michael Robinavitch (aka Dr. Robby). And unlike ER, which was set in Chicago, The Pitt is based in Pittsburgh, and will offer a “realistic examination of the challenges facing healthcare workers in today’s America, as seen through the lens of the frontline heroes working in a modern-day hospital,” according to the official logline.
That said, Wyle — who serves as an EP and wrote two Season 1 episodes — previously shared that a failed attempt to revive ER is what led to the creation of The Pitt.
“[Wells] thought about it, and we talked about it, and then we ended up bringing in a couple of the old ER writers,” including Gemmill and David Zabel. “We came up with a concept, and it really never got out of the starting gate,” Wyle conceded on a June episode of the Still Here Hollywood podcast, explaining that they “had some issues” with the Crichton estate, “and the negotiations became a non-starter.”
Afterwards, Wyle, Wells and Gemmill pivoted to creating a wholly new series set in the world of medicine. Max recently released a sizzle reel of its 2025 programming slate, which includes a first look at The Pitt. Production on Season 1 began in July.
I can’t imagine Michael Crichton’s widow is hard up, this just comes across as greed.
It’s not about how much money the estate has.
As opposed to greed on the part of Warner Brothers Discovery, corporation worth billions? Well, maybe not billions, the way Zaslov has been destroying it, but still. Independent of the facts of the case–I don’t know if the estate has a case, I am much more sympathetic to the estate than the media conglomerate.
Sounds legit. WBD cutting more corners for more profit sounds like greed… or perhaps desperation.
IMHO it is a ripoff of ER. I hope that Michael Crichton’s estate wins. They just changed the city and a few names. Otherwise, it is ER.
How would you know that if you haven’t watched it? There’s only a bazillion medical shows. Is every one of them that is simply set in an ER a ripoff of the show ER and the Crichton estate deserves credit???
To the audience, without the same characters, it’s not ER. Period. Sounds more like she is mad they didn’t finish the negotiations and trying to punish them for creating a new show instead. That doesn’t make her right. But it comes down to the legal documents and exactly what is said they could and couldn’t do, and how close it is or isn’t.
I mean it sounds like they developed the show together couldn’t negotiate a price to use dr Noah’s name or whatever references were to ER. The everyone involved except estate stated in board changed some names dropped the hospital references claimed new show…and probably wouldn’t matter if not part of developing spin off with the franchise you own
It appears to me they don’t want to pay the estate anything. Given that so many of the players are the same and they were in contract negotiations, they chose poorly and decided to pay nothing. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, etc.
Totally disagree. The same “players” are allowed to work together again. There is no law that says after a series ends, that group of people are never allowed to work together again. That doesn’t mean it’s the same series. There are also a bazillion medical shows. Is every medical show set in an ER the same as the original show ER? No. God forbid they created a different one.
Yeah, and admitting they “had some problems with the estate” before filing off the serial numbers/taking their toys and going to another sandbox isn’t helping their case, lol.
But at the same time, with those proverbial serial numbers filed they won’t be promoting it as ER: The Next Generation or whatever, and you can’t really copywrite the idea of a medical drama taking place in an emergency room.
So it’ll be interesting how it shakes out.
(And yes the Trek ref is totally b/c this reminds me of how DS9 was born out of tweaking a story so as not to have to pay for an original idea. That, at least, had more originality than the concept of ER.)
While it has long been debated that DS9 ripped off B5, there is no actual evidence to support this baseless claim. JMS used the plagiarism idea to gain attention for his own series, but never filed any actual claims, and usually stopped short of accusing DS9’s well known and well respected writers.
Many of the supposedly ripped off ideas come from later in the B5 series, as a result of cast shakeups and reformulated arcs, and would not have been in the pitch to Paramount.
The drama was manufactured for publicity, and it is a d*mn shame that people continue to believe it. JMS should be ashamed of himself.
Most of the B5 story was mapped out early. The only season to be really affected was the fifth.
Having said that, DS9 only took broad elements. I doubt that the claim would have risen to the level of copyright infirngement if he had brought a suit,
This is like Fables and Once Upon a Time and Grimm, which both occurred after meetings with Willingham and an interest in adapting his story. They both did their own thing.
It’s a different show though. This sound like a frivolous lawsuit
They can’t copywright “hospital drama”.If former Grey’s writers and producers wrote a new hospital series starring Sandra Oh, Patrick Dempsey, Catherine Heigl and Justin Chambers, it woud still not be Grey’s Anatomy. Beacuse all TV procedurals are basically variations of each other.
It’s a different story, though, if they were in extensive negotiations and made agreements, etc. prior to making such a show. That’s the thing about this story and everyone’s reactions…we don’t know what all went on in those negotiations. It can’t really be litigated sitting at home with just the basic outlines.
But I think it’ll be interesting to see how the lack of originality plays into things.
It’s a new script. Crichton wouldbe payed for the “Characters Created By” credit and the brand. The moment they change the characters and the brand, what are they paying the state for? It’s Fifty Shades of Grey / Twilight or Harry Potter / The Mortal Instruments.
Yeah… think of all the shows made by Mike Schur and the overlapping sets of the same writers, producers and actors that he always works with. The Office, Parks and Rec, Brooklyn 99, The Good Place… these are not all the same show, despite there being some simliarities in content.
It’s ER: Pittsburgh
I’m actually in the middle of an ER re-watch so this is disappointing news.
The word “realistic” is proof enough for me that it’s not an ER ripoff.
Season One of ER was lauded for being the most realistic representation of an ER ever at the time.
From what I recall of reviews and comments, fans that were also medical professionals said that season one was remarkably accurate but only the first. With season 2, they moved into the standard storytelling and dropped the attention to realism.
So trying to portray The Pitt as not being ER redux because this time it’s”realistic” doesn’t fly.
They muddied the waters by trying to reboot ER first. If Noah and co had started from scratch, that’s different.
All medical shows have a general start. Grey’s Anatomy started with following a group of interns. The Good Doctor was about the autistic surgical dr. Transplant is self explanatory. Chicago Med belongs to the Chicago series. New Amsterdam was about the hospital administrator. The Resident was about a mentorship and a diagnostic dr genius. They all have a hook and none of the ones cited were “a realistic look inside of ERs” since ER itself.
I think his estate is right to sue for credit. It’s not about the money but the credit.
Because they started with rebooting ER. He deserves credit.
BTW Crichton actually was a doctor. He may have written Jurassic Park but he was a doctor first!
I’m sorry, with the approximately 25 million medical shows that have been on TV in the last 30 years, with many actors appearing in more than one, this particular one belongs to the mind of the late Michael Crichton alone?? And this set of TV veterans might not have a different approach? I feel for the widow, but she is milking every last idea the man had, including handing unfinished manuscripts to James Patterson to complete (if you believe that book had a complete understandable narrative…)
I can’t see them having much of a case. Different hospital, different characters, different city. And there have been tons of hospital dramas. It will be hard to identify unique elements.
But they aren’t being sued for ripping off ER, they are being sued for breach of contract, that’s a difference and they might have a case there.
The estate is saying the producers and production companies changed the name and pretend it’s not the same project they had been working on together to get out of contractual obligations.
Pivoting a script from one thing you another is perfectly legit though. So many things actually started as being based around one franchise and pivoted to their own thing usually due to licencing.His estate only have ownership of certain characters and the name.
If they couldn’t come to an agreement to bring ER back as long as they aren’t using the show name or character names or implying it’s in the same universe then it seems like there is no grounds for this.
True, I have not read the contract, but I can take a guess that it does not include a clause saying you cannot create other unrelated medical dramas.
If the estate had expended no effort or contribution to the project, and that seems likely, I find it hard to surmise what kind of claim they might have.
Is it hospital drama about staff trying to save lives while trying to manage their own? Because as far as I can tell in the whole history of television there has never been a show with that premise besides ER. I mean it has a small group of people who worked on ER and it is set in a ER. How much more proof do we need? I bet some of these people will be doctors just like ER. And get this both shows are set in a hospital. Is your mind blown yet?
Any judge that doesnt throw this case out isnt worth a dime
ER was its characters not its basic premise of folks working in an ER, its actors and producers.
Utter bollocks.
Producers and directors work together repeatedly because they like to. Sometimes the shows are even similar kinds of premise. Doesnt make it the same show.
Obviously ER was a ripoff of Marcus Welby M.D. and so the Crichton estate has no leg to stand on.
I was thinking that ER was a ripoff of Emergency, but Marcus Welby works too, a long with EVERY OTHER HOSPITAL DRAMA that has ever existed. Same some lives. Do some soap opera stuff. Off to the next episode
So by the estate’s logic, that means that ER was…
MASH but set in Chicago
Ben Casey but in the 1990s
St Elsewhere but in an emergency room
Didn’t Noah mention about the problem with Revival of ER in the past interview so they changed to the PItt?
Maybe realistic means shot like docu style.
… and the WBD drama continues. TNT should do a show about it! It sounds like a valid suit… at the very least, a strong nuisance suit with a payday.
So now a star in an old format cannot revive the same format with a different name without being sued. Madness.
Viewers will decide. But do we really need another medical drama? ER was unique and interesting, everything else after just feels like a bad copy..
By this logic, shouldnt the creators of St Elsewhere file suit against ER?
Or the folks who made Emergency have a case again 9-1-1?
Noah & company want to do a medical drama – they can go with a revival, or they could create an similar show. When the one fell through, they went with the other.
Does it suck – yes. (My late Mom and I use to watch ER together, that first season. She use to say that Noah reminded her of me – young, fresh but ready to be more and do good. I told her – “Can’t I be Dr Ross? He’s funny and gets the ladies”)
Will I watch it – you bet. Regardless if the Character is John Carter or James Charles or whatever name they go with.
If it were the case, then way too many series would be sued as well. Reboots don’t happen, the actors move on, and voila it’s the same profession. ERs are in pretty much every city. What Wyle not allowed to be a doctor in another series? Writers, lol most tend to work on scripts that are similar because that is the type of writing that they do. And Crichton started the show, based on his time as a medical student. It went way past that. You cannot give him credit for even the whole series of ER. They do, but they really did not have to in consideration of where it went.
Sounds like there was no subterfuge here. Wylie said they planned on an ER revival & negotiations with the Michael Crichton’s Estate went nowhere. So instead, they decided on a whole new medical drama. Why isn’t that fine? Are all medical dramas going to be accused of an ER rip-off now, or only those involving Wylie & some writers/producers from the original ER? Seems like they genuinely tried to revive ER – a known brand that would have drawn in viewers – and the Crichton Estate wasn’t playing ball. So they went in a difference direction. Don’t see the problem here.
The Orville’s existence alongside Star Trek proves that The Pitt is not ER.