Sherri Crichton, the widow of Michael Crichton, has taken legal action against Noah Wyle, John Wells, R. Scott Gemmill, and Warner Bros. Television over a failed ER reboot that turned into the new show The Pitt.
“The Pitt is ER,” claims the lawsuit (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.”
The accusations in the lawsuit include Breach of Contract and Intentional Interference With Contractual Relations. Warner Bros. Television responded to these claims by 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 yet to comment.
The Pitt received a 15-episode order in March but isn’t a direct sequel to ER and doesn’t feature any original characters. Noah Wyle, famous for playing Dr. John Carter in ER, will now play Dr. Michael Robinavitch (Dr. Robby) in Pittsburgh. The show aims to give a realistic look at modern healthcare challenges through the eyes of hospital workers.
Fans sometimes wonder why old shows don’t get revived exactly as they were.
Wyle mentioned that an unsuccessful attempt to bring back ER led to creating The Pitt. He shared on the Still Here Hollywood podcast that they brought in some original writers like Gemmill and David Zabel but faced issues with Crichton’s estate during negotiations.
After those talks fell through, Wyle, Wells, and Gemmill decided to create an entirely new medical series instead. Max recently showed a sneak peek of its 2025 lineup, including The Pitt. Filming for Season 1 started in July.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see if The Pitt captures our hearts like ER did!
