Court allows ER creator's widow to sue over The Pitt

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 6 Nov, 03:46 · Archive

A US appeals court has ruled that The Pitt is similar enough to ER for Michael Crichton's widow to pursue her lawsuit over the medical drama.

A three-judge panel has ruled that The Pitt, a medical drama set in a Pittsburgh emergency room, shares enough similarities with ER to allow Michael Crichton's widow to pursue her lawsuit against the show's producers. The unanimous appeal court decision filed on Wednesday allows the case to proceed to jury trial in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Sherri Crichton, widow of ER creator Michael Crichton who died in 2008, claims The Pitt was made without permission from her husband's estate and without credit. She argues that her husband's contract contained a 'frozen rights' provision that prohibited any spin-offs, sequels or reboots of ER being made without his express consent.

The court identified 'clear and numerous similarities' between the two shows. These include both being set in an emergency room, featuring fast-paced action, frequently incomprehensible medical jargon, graphic depictions of injuries, and the presence of young doctors fresh from medical school being trained. The ruling notes that 'the doctors and nurses are exhausted; there are emotional outbursts' in both series. Warner Bros Television, which produces The Pitt, had argued for two years that these elements were generic similarities common to any emergency room drama and that it 'cannot be that all shows set in an emergency room are derivative of ER'. The court rejected this argument, stating: 'We find the details here suffice for a prima facie case.'

The judges dismissed separate claims against actor Noah Wyle, who starred in both ER and The Pitt, executive producer John Wells, and showrunner R Scott Gemmill. They ruled there was insufficient evidence to show these three producers were aware they could be violating Crichton's contractual rights. Warner Bros had previously described the lawsuit as 'baseless' and sought to have it dismissed entirely.

How it is being reported

• Noah Wyle's series The Pitt is hit by legal action from ER creator Michael Crichton's widow as she claims the medical drama is an 'unauthorised' reboot of his iconic showA court in the US has now ruled that Sherri Crichton can proceed with her lawsuit against the HBO drama, with a judge ruling that there are 'clear similarities.'Daily Mail · 5 Nov, 23:45
• The Pitt and ER are similar enough for lawsuit to proceed, judge rulesThe widow of ER creator Michael Crichton argues The Pitt is effectively a reboot of the 1990s series.BBC News · 5 Nov, 11:21
• The Pitt and ER are similar enough for Michael Crichton’s widow’s lawsuit to proceed, court rulesCourt finds ‘clear and numerous similarities’ between two medical dramas, allowing lawsuit by ER creator’s widow Sherri to go to jury trial in 2027 The Pitt is similar enough to ER to allow Michael Crichton’s widow to pursue a long-running lawsuit over the award-winning medical drama, a US appeals court has ruled. 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 shows are unrelated. Continue reading...Guardian World · 5 Nov, 04:57

In this story: Michael Crichton · Sherri Crichton · Noah Wyle · John Wells · R Scott Gemmill · Warner Bros Television · Los Angeles

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