Appeals court allows Crichton widow's lawsuit against The Pitt to proceed

A three-judge panel of the US appeals court issued a unanimous opinion on Wednesday, denying an appeal filed by Warner Bros Television. The ruling determines that the acclaimed medical series The Pitt is sufficiently similar to the classic show ER to allow the estate of creator Michael Crichton to pursue a long-running legal battle. The decision paves the way for the case to proceed to a jury trial in Los Angeles, unless the parties reach a settlement in the interim.

The court’s opinion highlighted specific parallels between the two productions. Both series are set in emergency rooms and feature medical jargon that the judges described as frequently incomprehensible. The ruling noted that both shows depict overlapping crises and graphic injuries, with exhausted doctors and nurses experiencing emotional outbursts. Additionally, the court pointed out that each series includes a young, incompetent doctor who has recently graduated from medical school.

The defendants, including Warner Bros Television, executive producer John Wells, actor Noah Wyle, and writer R Scott Gemmill, had argued that these elements were generic to any dramatic story involving emergency room staff. They contended that it was not possible for all shows set in emergency rooms to be derivative of ER. However, the court found that the specific details provided were enough to establish a prima facie case.

While the case against Warner Bros Television will move forward, the appeals court dismissed Wyle, Wells, and Gemmill as individual defendants. The judges found no evidence that these individuals were aware they could be violating Crichton’s contractual rights by creating The Pitt. This contract, signed in 1994, included a frozen rights provision that prevented spin-offs or reboots of his work without his approval. Crichton, who passed away in 2008, originally created ER based on a film script about his time as a medical student.

Sherri Crichton, the widow of the author, filed the lawsuit in August 2024, just five months before the first episode of The Pitt aired. She alleged that the new show was an unauthorised reboot of ER and accused Wells of personal betrayal. In a statement to Variety on Wednesday, she expressed deep gratification with the appellate decision. She stated that she looks forward to the discovery process and to presenting the case to a jury, noting its importance for writers, creators, and their estates.

The defendants have acknowledged in interviews that The Pitt emerged after an ER reboot failed to materialise. They explained that they had already assembled to develop a medical drama focused on the experiences of health workers during the pandemic. Wyle stated on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast that the near-miss with an ER reboot allowed them to fast-track the development of The Pitt. He described the situation as liberating, allowing the team to modernise the storytelling without feeling bound by previous characters or plotlines.

Warner Bros Television had previously sought to dismiss the lawsuit under California’s anti-SLAPP statute, a law designed to protect freedom of speech from meritless claims. However, Judge Wendy Chang denied that motion in 2025, determining that there was sufficient evidence to allow the case to continue. The Guardian has reached out to Warner Bros Television for further comment on the new ruling.

The Pitt has achieved significant critical success, winning 12 Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Peabody Award over its first two seasons. Wyle has received multiple best actor awards for his role as Dr. Michael Robinavitch, a chief attending doctor in a Pittsburgh emergency department. This contrasts with his role in ER, where he played Dr. John Carter, a wealthy young doctor in an under-resourced Chicago hospital.

As the legal proceedings move to the next phase, production on the show continues. Season three of The Pitt is scheduled to begin broadcasting in January.