Warner Bros. TV has responded to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by Michael Crichton’s widow, calling the legal move “baseless” and stating that the studio’s upcoming medical procedural, “The Pitt,” is very different from “ER.”
“The lawsuit filed by the Crichton Estate is without merit as ‘The Pitt’ is a new and original show,” the studio said in a statement. “Any suggestion that this is not the case is false, and Warner Bros. Television intends to vigorously defend itself against these meritless claims.”
Warner Bros.’s quick response comes after the Crichton estate accused executive producer John Wells of “personal betrayal,” claiming he and star Noah Wyle came up with “The Pitt” after the Crichton estate blocked their plans to reboot “ER.” “‘The Pitt’ is ‘ER,'” the lawsuit said. “It is not like ‘ER.’ It’s not some ‘ER’. It’s not some kind of ‘ER’. It’s ‘ER’ with the exact same executive producer, writer, star, production companies, studio and network as the planned ‘ER’ reboot.”
But both parties disagree. Insiders note that the real similarity between ‘ER’ and ‘The Pitt’ comes down to a show set in a Wells emergency room and starring Noah Wyle – but otherwise Wells focuses on different themes and a different tone than what ‘ER’ says. ” did.
Not only is it understood that the story structure will differ in the way each episode unfolds, but it is assumed that the look, feel and sound of the show will take a direction completely different from that of ‘ER’. The setting is Pittsburgh instead of the Chicago hospital on ‘ER’. There are also no repeated characters and none of the iconography of ‘ER’.
The show runs on streamer Max with 15 episodes instead of the original 22 episode (or more) seasons of “ER” on NBC – and if you’re on a streamer, “The Pitt” also means more explicit themes.
“Another advantage you have in creating these shows for streaming and you don’t have the same kind of broadcast standards that you have to meet,” Wells shared. Variety in May for a story about streamers using more procedural programming. “There is a willingness to have a more adult version of what could be done on television under FCC rules. One of the things that got us excited about ‘The Pitt’ is that we could tell medical stories that resemble what actually happens in the hospital – and the way people actually interact with the healthcare system…. I think that you will see that you can put this programming both visually and in your narrative version of these programs on streaming platforms.
Insiders confirm that Wells Warner Bros. TV had initially approached about rethinking the medical space in the post-COVID era, and about what happened to hospitals and emergency rooms during and after the pandemic – topics other than “ER.” The initial thought was to revisit the “ER” franchise, but when a deal could not be struck with the Crichton estate, the producers and studio opted to continue developing a medical show without the “ER ” franchise or its legacy.
Others have pointed out that medical procedures are a common TV occurrence — the year “ER” premiered on NBC, directly across from it on CBS was another hospital show set in the Windy City, “Chicago Hope.”
Wyle stars in the series about the “frontline heroes working in a modern hospital in Pittsburgh,” according to the official logline. Also starring are Tracy Ifeachor (“Treason,” “Showtrial”), Patrick Ball (“Law & Order,” “The XIXth”), Supriya Ganesh (“Grown-ish,” “Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game ”), Fiona Dourif (“Child’s Play” franchise, “The Blacklist”), Taylor Dearden (“American Vandal,” “Sweet/Vicious”), Isa Briones (“Star Trek: Picard,” “Goosebumps”), Gerran Howell (“Suspicion,” “Catch-22”), Shabana Azeez (“In Limbo,” “Birdeaters”) and Katherine LaNasa (“The Campaign,” “Truth Be Told”).
R. Scott Gemmill will write the first episode and executive produce the series with Wyle; John Wells of John Wells Productions (JWP); and Erin Jontow, Simran Baidwan and Michael Hissrich of JWP. Warner Bros. Television, where JWP has an overall agreement, is the studio.