'ER' and 'The Pitt' are similar enough for lawsuit to move forward,
appeals court finds
[November 06, 2026]
By ANDREW DALTON
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California appeals court has found that “ER” and
“The Pitt” have enough similarity that a lawsuit brought by the widow
and estate of “ER” creator Michael Crichton alleging “The Pitt” is an
unauthorized reboot can move forward.
A three-judge panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled
unanimously on Wednesday that the trial court judge was correct to
reject a motion to throw out the case from “The Pitt” production company
Warner Bros. Television, which also produced “ER.” But the judges
dismissed Noah Wyle — the star of both shows and a producer on “The
Pitt” — as a defendant along with two other producers who worked on both
series.
The lawsuit is a clash between the makers of multiple Emmy-winning TV
series that were each among the most important and acclaimed shows of
their eras.
Crichton, the author of “Jurassic Park” and many other novels that
became hit movies and TV shows, wrote the pilot script for “ER,” the NBC
show about a Chicago emergency room that redefined the medical drama
genre and drew tens of millions of weekly viewers in its run from 1994
to 2009.
The lawsuit brought by Sherri Crichton was filed two years ago, before a
single episode of “The Pitt” had aired. The HBO Max series that shows a
real-time day in the life of a Pittsburgh emergency department has since
become perhaps the most lauded series in television, winning two Emmys
for best drama for its first two seasons and two best actor Emmys for
Wyle.
Along with more technical legal issues, the judges had to decide whether
the shows had at least the minimal similarity that would give the
lawsuit enough merit to move forward. Their decision applies only to
this early legal challenge and they did not rule on whether the
plaintiffs had proved the “The Pitt” is derivative of “ER.”
The court agreed with the plaintiff that “both shows provide
commentaries on the healthcare system; they focus specifically on the
emergency room and the difficult conditions under which the medical
staff operates. Both shows take place, with little exception, in the
emergency room, as opposed to other medical shows which track patients
as they move out of the emergency room, or indeed never enter it.”
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This image released by HBO shows Noah Wyle in a scene from "The
Pitt." (HBO via AP)
 The opinion also said that both
feature “very fast pacing, and reactions to multiple overlapping
crises. The fast-paced dialogue is (to a layperson) frequently
incomprehensible shorthand and jargon, lending an air of immediacy
and accuracy.”
Warner Bros. Television said in a statement that “WBTV continues to
maintain that ‘The Pitt’ is an entirely original series and that the
claims against it are without merit. Nothing in the Court of
Appeal’s decision establishes otherwise, and WBTV looks forward to
defending its position as the case proceeds.”
The defendants argued in legal filings that the shows have “generic
similarities” that would exist in “any dramatic story” that features
“overworked doctors and staff.”
The panel also unanimously dismissed as defendants Wyle, John Wells,
who created “The Pitt” and worked on “ER,” and R. Scott Gemmill, a
“Pitt” executive producer who also worked on both shows. The judges
found there was no evidence the three men knew the provisions of the
Crichton contract that the lawsuit alleges they interfered with.
Sherri Crichton's lawsuit alleges “The Pitt” is a rebranded version
of an unauthorized “ER” reboot that she had rejected.
Her husband had secured a coveted “frozen rights” provision in his
contract for the series, prohibiting Warner Bros. from proceeding
with any sequels, remakes, spinoffs or other productions derived
from “ER” without Crichton’s consent, or his estate’s consent after
his death from cancer in 2008.
After the production company could not reach an agreement with
Sherri Crichton over a proposed “ER” reboot, the TV studio proceeded
to develop and produce a series based on the same premise without
permission, the lawsuit alleges.
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