Michael Crichton estate sues WBTV, says Noah Wyle medical drama “The Pitt ”is an uncredited “ER” reboot

The late author’s estate says that when a planned “ER” follow-up fell apart, the creators simply “rebranded” it and “plowed ahead.” Warner Bros. Television calls the lawsuit “baseless.”

In the upcoming Max medical drama The Pitt, former ER star Noah Wyle scrubs back in to play another doctor navigating the high-stakes world of a modern-day hospital. But for the estate of the late author Michael Crichton, who created ER based on his own experiences as a med student, the resemblance between the two shows is more than coincidental.

According to a complaint filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court and reviewed by Entertainment Weekly, Crichton’s estate is suing Warner Bros. Television, Wyle, and executive producers John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill, alleging that The Pitt is in fact a repackaged and uncredited reboot of ER.

“After negotiating unsuccessfully with Crichton’s estate for nearly a year for the right to reboot ER, Warner Bros. simply moved the show from Chicago to Pittsburgh, rebranded it The Pitt, and has plowed ahead without any attribution or compensation for Crichton and his heirs,” the complaint says.

Related: Noah Wyle reveals the moment he knew ER would be a hit: ‘We all got this rush’

Claiming breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and intentional interference with contractual relations, the Crichton estate is seeking a jury trial.

Warner Bros. TV called the lawsuit “baseless” in a statement provided to EW, adding, “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.”

Representatives for Wyle and Wells didn’t respond to requests for comment, and Gemmill couldn’t be reached for immediate comment.

Premiering in 1994 and running for 15 seasons, ER was a ratings hit that helped launch the careers of cast members like Wyle, George Clooney, and Julianna Margulies.

The Crichton estate’s lawsuit asserts that the best-selling author “insisted upon a series of contractual promises” from Warner Bros. before proceeding with the show, including a “frozen rights” provision that prohibits WBTV from producing any reboots, sequels, or spinoffs of the series without Crichton or his estate’s express consent.

The complaint further alleges that WBTV “undertook a disturbing pattern of conduct” after Crichton’s death in 2008 to “diminish — and ultimately erase Crichton entirely from his creations,” including a lesser credit on Max’s Westworld series. Talks of an ER reboot began in 2020, according to the complaint, “without any notice” to Crichton’s widow, Sherri Crichton, or the estate, and WBTV eventually “reneged” on the terms established in Crichton’s prior contract in order to pursue the series without the estate’s blessing.

Warner Bros’. Max streaming platform announced a 15-episode straight-to-season order of The Pitt in March, with Wyle in the lead role.

The lawsuit interprets the similarities between the two shows in unambiguous terms. “The Pitt is ER,” the filing says. “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.”

Wyle has spoken publicly of the spiritual link between ER and The Pitt, though has never referred to the latter as a reboot of the former, be it clandestine or otherwise. On a June episode of the Still Here Hollywood podcast, he recalled emailing Wells during the pandemic and saying, “I know you don’t want to reboot the show. I don’t either. I thought it was very smart not to franchise and dilute what we did… but if you’ve ever wanted to do something much smaller, and much more contained… I would vote for that. I’d be on board for that.”

He then described “bringing in a couple of the old ER writers” and said, “We had some issues with the Crichton estate,” adding that “negotiations became a non-starter.”

The Pitt is slated to premiere some time in 2025.

[This article has been updated with a statement from WBTV.]

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.

Michael Crichton estate sues WBTV, says Noah Wyle medical drama “The Pitt ”is an uncredited “ER” reboot (yahoo.com)