ER alums Noah Wyle and John Wells sued by Michael Crichton’s estate
ER fans may be excited about a reunion between Noah Wyle and producer John Wells on a TV series called The Pitt, but Michael Crichton’s widow is less enthusiastic about it.
Crichton’s widow, on behalf of Crichton’s estate, is suing the pair as well as Warner Bros Television (WBTV) and others over claims The Pitt is an ER reboot by another name. The parties had previously been in year-long talks to reboot the iconic 1990s medical drama that Crichton, who died in 2008, created.
According to the lawsuit, Wyle, Wells and WBTV walked away from negotiations and then popped up with a version of what they had pitched, except now it was called The Pitt but it still had the same creative team and, allegedly, the same concept.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The Pitt is set to star Wyle as a doctor working in an emergency room in a hospital in Pittsburgh. Wyle’s best-known role remains his 12 seasons on the long-running series that ran from 1994 to 2009.
The official blurb described it as, “The daily lives of healthcare professionals in a Pittsburgh hospital as they juggle personal crises, workplace politics, and the emotional toll of treating critically ill patients, revealing the resilience required in their noble calling.”
While the above sounds a lot like ER, it also matches the broad strokes of almost every medical procedural series. The main differences are that The Pitt is set in Pittsburgh while ER is set in Chicago, and there are no crossover characters.
The Crichton estate saw too many similarities. It said in its claims, “The Pitt is ER. It’s not like ER. It’s not sort of ER. It is ER with the exact same executive producer, writer, star, production companies, studio and network as the planned ER reboot.”
It added that The Pitt was a “personal betrayal” by Wells towards Crichton, specifying the two had a 30-year friendship.
Crichton’s original contract for ER had a clause in which he and Steven Spielberg, also a producer, had “blocking rights”, essentially giving either party, or now Crichton’s estate, the right to stop any future productions from forging ahead without their approval, and must credit Crichton and pay his estate.
According to Deadline, the negotiations over the potential ER reboot fell over when Crichton’s estate insisted he receive a “created by” credit. The Pitt was announced soon after.
There had already been ill will between the estate and Warner Bros over WBTV not giving Crichton a “created by” credit on the TV reboot of Westworld, which was based on the 1973 film Crichton wrote and directed.
An insider backgrounded to Variety that The Pitt will be “focusing on different themes and a different tone” and added that episode structures would be different.
The Pitt had been picked up by Warner Bros’ American streaming service Max for a 15-episode first season.
In a statement to Variety, WBTV said, “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”.
Crichton’s other work includes Jurassic Park, Congo and The Andromeda Strain. He based ER on his experience working in an emergency department when he was a medical student. He originally wrote it as a film.
