Los Angeles — A California appeals court has found that "ER" and "The Pitt" have enough similarity that a lawsuit brought by the widow and estate of "ER" creator Michael Crichton alleging "The Pitt" is an unauthorized reboot can move forward.A three-judge panel from California's 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled unanimously on Wednesday that the trial court judge was correct to reject a motion to throw out the case from "The Pitt" production company Warner Bros.Television, which also produced "ER." But the judges dismissed Noah Wyle - the star of both shows and a producer on "The Pitt" - as a defendant along with two other producers who worked on both series.
The lawsuit is a clash between the makers of multiple Emmy-winning TV series that were each among the most important and acclaimed shows of their eras.Crichton, the author of "Jurassic Park" and many other novels that became hit movies and TV shows, wrote the pilot script for "ER," the NBC show about a Chicago emergency room that redefined the medical drama genre and drew tens of millions of weekly viewers in its run from 1994 to 2009.
The lawsuit brought by Sherri Crichton was filed two years ago, before a single episode of "The Pitt" had aired.The HBO Max series that shows a real-time day in the life of a Pittsburgh emergency department has since become perhaps the most lauded series in television, winning two Emmys for best drama for its first two seasons and two best actor Emmys for Wyle.Warner Bros.
Television and CBS News have the same parent company following last month's acquisition of Warner Bros.Discovery by the parent of CBS News, which was known at the time as Paramount Skydance and is now called Skydance.Along with more technical legal issues, the judges had to decide whether the shows had at least the minimal similarity that would give the lawsuit enough merit to move forward.
Their decision applies only to this early legal challenge and they did not rule on whether the plaintiffs had p...