The future of The Pitt is sketchier than ever as judge rules ER lawsuit can proceed

The Pitt is undoubtedly one of the standout shows of the last few years, but a lawsuit related to ER has been a consistent dark cloud over it since 2024. 

The Pitt is a medical drama with each season centring around a single day in an emergency room crudely dubbed “The Pitt”. Each episode is one hour in that day, making it an intense watch. 

Almost immediately after the show, which has earned 11 Emmys, came out, people immediately clocked the similarities between The Pitt and ER. Then the lawsuit came. 

Credit: NBC

The widow of Michael Crichton, who created ER, filed the lawsuit back in 2024, alleging that The Pitt is essentially a reboot of ER without credit or permission. The announcement of The Pitt came shortly after Warner Bros failed to get an ER reboot off the ground due to a conflict with Crichton’s estate.

Executive producer John Wells and showrunner R Scott Gemmill were named in an additional lawsuit, as was actor-producer Noah Wyle, who also starred in ER. 

At the time, Warner Bros dubbed the lawsuits “baseless”, arguing that there are “generic similarities” common to “any dramatic story involving emergency room doctors.”

But now, a judge has disagreed. 

The ER vs The Pitt lawsuit can continue ahead 

In many ways, ER set the stage for the medical dramas we know and love today. Launching in 1994, it starred major names such as George Clooney, Julianna Margulies, Linda Cardellini, and The Pitt’s Noah Wyle. John Wells and R Scott Gemmill also worked on ER, with Michael Crichton’s estate arguing that they “simply moved the show from Chicago to Pittsburgh, rebranded it The Pitt, and ploughed ahead without any attribution or compensation for Crichton and his heirs.”

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Credit: HBO

On Thursday, after Warner Bros sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, a three-judge panel ruled there are “clear and numerous similarities between The Pitt and ER.”

“We find the details here suffice for a prima facie case,” they said. 

Though the lawsuit will now continue on to a jury trial in Los Angeles Superior Court, the judges dismissed the lawsuits against Noah Wyle, executive producer John Wells and showrunner R Scott Gemmill. 

“I am deeply gratified by the Court of Appeal decision and look forward to discovery and to our case, which affects writers, creators, and their families and estates, being presented to a jury,” Sherri Crichton said after the ruling. 

Warner Bros and those involved in The Pitt are yet to comment. 

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Featured image credit: NBC and HBO