The Pitt Is Similar Enough to ER for Michael Crichton's Widow's Lawsuit to Go to a Jury, US Court Rules

A US appeals court has ruled that the medical drama The Pitt is similar enough to ER to allow a lawsuit by ER creator Michael Crichton's widow, Sherri Crichton, to proceed to a jury trial. In a unanimous opinion filed on Wednesday, a three-judge panel denied an appeal from Warner Bros Television (WBTV), which has argued for two years that the two shows are unrelated.

The court wrote that there are 'clear and numerous similarities' between The Pitt and ER. Both shows are set in an emergency room and feature 'frequently incomprehensible' medical jargon, overlapping crises and graphic depictions of injuries. The ruling added that in each show the doctors and nurses are exhausted, there are emotional outbursts, and each includes a young doctor fresh from medical school who is incompetent.

The defendants were WBTV; John Wells, an executive producer of The Pitt and formerly an ER showrunner, and his company John Wells Productions; actor Noah Wyle, who starred in both ER and The Pitt; and R Scott Gemmill, who was an executive producer and writer on a number of ER episodes and is now the showrunner and an executive producer of The Pitt. They had argued that these elements were 'generic similarities' common to any dramatic story involving emergency room doctors, and that not every show set in an emergency room can be derivative of ER.

The appeals court did not accept that argument, ruling: 'We find the details here suffice for a prima facie case.' The suit will now go to a jury trial in Los Angeles, unless the parties reach a settlement.

Author and screenwriter Michael Crichton was the creator of ER, which was based on a film script he wrote about his experiences as a medical student. His 1994 contract for ER with WBTV included a 'frozen rights' provision, which blocked any spin-offs or reboots of his work being made without his approval. Crichton died in 2008.

His widow, Sherri Crichton, filed her suit in August 2024, five months before the first episode of The Pitt debuted. She alleged that The Pitt was an unauthorised ER reboot, and accused Wells of 'personal betrayal'.

The appeals court did, however, dismiss Wyle, Wells and Gemmill as defendants, finding no evidence that any of them were aware they could violate Crichton's contractual rights by creating The Pitt. WBTV itself must still go to trial.

Wyle, Wells and Gemmill have all acknowledged in interviews that The Pitt was created because the ER reboot failed to get off the ground. 'We were going to start down an ER reboot road that didn't come to pass,' Wyle said on Amy Poehler's Good Hang podcast, adding that because they had assembled to plan that show with HBO Max, they were able to fast-track the development of The Pitt. He described not having to do the ER reboot as freeing.

WBTV had earlier filed a motion to throw out the lawsuit under California's anti-Slapp statute, which is intended to stop meritless lawsuits that curtail freedom of speech. But the judge, Wendy Chang, denied that motion in 2025, finding that Sherri Crichton had enough evidence to proceed.

After the ruling, Sherri Crichton told Variety on Wednesday that she was 'deeply gratified' by the Court of Appeal decision and looked forward to discovery and to the case, which she said affects writers, creators and their families and estates, being presented to a jury.

The Pitt has won 12 Emmys, two Golden Globes and a Peabody over two seasons, with Wyle winning multiple best actor awards for his performance as Dr Michael 'Robby' Robinavitch, a chief attending doctor working in a Pittsburgh emergency department. On 11 seasons of ER, Wyle played Dr John Carter, a rich young doctor working in an under-resourced emergency department in Chicago.