A California appeals court cleared the way Wednesday for the estate of Michael Crichton to proceed with its lawsuit against Warner Bros. Television, determining that the medical drama series “The Pitt” bears enough distinct similarities to the long-running hit “ER” to warrant a potential jury trial.
In a unanimous 33-page opinion, a three-judge panel from the California Second District Court of Appeal upheld an earlier superior court decision rejecting a motion by Warner Bros. to throw out the lawsuit under state free-speech laws. The judges determined that the Crichton estate established a viable prima facie breach-of-contract case after comparing the pilot scripts of both programs.
Judges find overlapping creative elements
The estate, overseen by the late author’s widow, Sherri Crichton, filed suit in August 2024. The complaint alleged that Warner Bros. pursued an unauthorized reboot of “ER” by shifting the setting from Chicago to Pittsburgh following the breakdown of formal reboot negotiations. Crichton, who died in 2008, held a 1994 contract containing a “frozen rights” provision barring Warner Bros. from producing derivative projects without his or his estate’s consent.
Warner Bros. contended that the two programs share only broad, generic tropes common to any hospital series. The appellate judges rejected that argument at this preliminary stage, pointing to specific structural and stylistic parallels.
“There are clear and numerous similarities between ‘The Pitt’ and ‘ER,’” the justices wrote, pointing out that both narratives remain confined almost exclusively inside emergency rooms, feature overlapping emergencies, include specialized medical jargon, show vivid trauma injuries and depict exhausted staff alongside an incompetent young doctor straight out of medical school.
While allowing claims against the studio to proceed, the court dismissed individual claims against executive producer John Wells, showrunner R. Scott Gemmill and lead actor Noah Wyle. The panel found insufficient evidence that the three producers knowingly infringed on Crichton’s contractual protections.
Reboot discussions preceded new series
Wyle, Wells and Gemmill all worked extensively on “ER,” which ran on NBC from 1994 to 2009 and earned 23 Emmy Awards. Discussions concerning a formal reboot began around 2020, but negotiations between Warner Bros. and the Crichton estate ended after the parties could not reach terms over financial guarantees and creative credit.
The creative team then launched “The Pitt,” starring Wyle as Dr. Michael Robinavitch. The critically acclaimed series has won multiple Emmy Awards across its first two seasons, with Wyle receiving lead actor honors. Wyle previously defended the distinct nature of the program, pointing out that his new character possesses a blue-collar background and trauma history fundamentally different from wealthy Dr. John Carter on “ER.”
On an October episode of the podcast “Good Hang,” Wyle acknowledged that the rapid production of “The Pitt” emerged from the collapsed reboot talks, telling host Amy Poehler that moving away from the earlier franchise “suddenly liberated the storytelling” and permitted modern topics without adhering to existing continuity.
Sherri Crichton welcomed the appellate ruling in a written statement, saying she looked forward to pretrial discovery and “to our case, which affects writers, creators, and their families and estates, being presented to a jury.”
Warner Bros. did not comment immediately following the decision. The next hearing in the dispute is scheduled for Jan. 21 before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Wendy Chang, with a trial expected unless the parties negotiate a settlement.
