A California appeals court ruled Wednesday that medical drama The Pitt shares “clear and numerous” similarities with Michael Crichton’s 1990s television hit ER, marking a significant victory for Crichton’s estate in its legal fight with Warner Bros. Television.
A three-judge panel unanimously upheld a lower court’s decision that the estate had presented enough evidence to pursue its claim that The Pitt is an unauthorized reboot of ER. Warner Bros. had asked the appeals court to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the shows shared only generic features common to dramas about emergency-room doctors.
The Second District Court of Appeal compared the pilot scripts and found sufficient similarities in plot, themes, dialogue, mood, settings, pacing, characters and the sequence of events for the lawsuit to proceed at this stage.
The judges said both shows take place almost entirely in emergency rooms and feature a fast pace, overlapping crises and medical staff moving from one patient to another. They also noted the use of rapid dialogue and medical jargon.
Crichton’s widow, Sherri Crichton, filed the lawsuit in August 2024 against Warner Bros., producer John Wells and actor-producer Noah Wyle. The complaint says Crichton was promised that no later productions based on ER would go forward without his consent when he sold Warner Bros. the screenplay that became the show’s pilot.
According to the complaint, Warner Bros. negotiated with Crichton’s estate for nearly a year over the right to reboot ER, but the talks failed. The company then moved the show’s setting from Chicago to Pittsburgh, renamed it The Pitt and proceeded without credit or compensation for Crichton and his heirs.
The appeals court dismissed separate claims against Wyle, Wells and producer-showrunner R. Scott Gemmill, finding insufficient evidence that they knew they might be violating Crichton’s contractual rights. The next hearing is set for Jan. 21 in Judge Chang’s courtroom in downtown Los Angeles.
