Noah Wyle: ER vs. The Pitt Lawsuit ‘Taints the Legacy' of Iconic NBC Drama, Makes Me ‘Profoundly Sad'
Noah Wyle says he has 'never felt less celebratory' of ER's achievements than he has in the eight months since Michael Crichton's widow filed a lawsuit suggesting that Max's The Pitt is an unsanctioned, low-key revival of the iconic NBC medical drama.
In August, Sherri Crichton filed suit against Wyle, fellow The Pitt EPs John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill, and Warner Bros. TV for walking away from long-drawn-out negotiations to make a new version of ER — a concept that allegedly morphed into The Pitt and does not credit Crichton as a creator.
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'The Pitt is ER,' the suit alleges. '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.'
Those named in the suit are charged with Breach of Contract, Breach of Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing, and Intentional Interference With Contractual Relations. In an August statement to TVLine, Warner Bros. TV responded, '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.'
In late February of this year, L.A. Superior Court Judge Wendy Chang ruled that 'the evidence submitted by Plaintiffs meet the minimal merit standard to demonstrate at least a prima facie case that The Pitt is derived from ER,' and the case can move forward with discovery. A trial date has not yet been set.
As part of a new Variety cover story, Wyle was asked for his current thoughts on the legal action.
'The only thing that I can legally speak to is how I feel emotionally, which is just profoundly sad and disappointed,' he shared. 'This taints the [ER] legacy, and it shouldn't have.
'At one point, this could have been a partnership. And when it wasn't a partnership, it didn't need to turn acrimonious,' he contended. 'But on the 30th anniversary of ER (which debuted in September 1994), I've never felt less celebratory of that achievement than I do this year.'
Max's The Pitt is not a continuation of ER, nor does it feature any characters from the NBC drama. Wyle, a five-time Emmy nominee for his role as Dr. John Carter, plays a different ER attending, Dr. Michael Robinavitch (aka Dr. Robby). And unlike ER, which was set in Chicago, The Pitt is based in Pittsburgh, offering a 'realistic examination of the challenges facing healthcare workers in today's America, as seen through the lens of the frontline heroes working in a modern-day hospital' (per the official logline).
In a June 2024 episode of the Still Here Hollywood podcast, Wyle said that he and some former ER writers, including Gemmill and David Zabel, at one point 'came up with a concept' for an actual ER follow-up but 'it really never got out of the starting gate.' Upon running into 'some issues' with the Crichton estate, 'the negotiations became a non-starter,' he explained.
Afterwards, Wyle, Wells and Gemmill pivoted to creating a wholly new series set in the world of medicine — Max's The Pitt, which has garnered much Emmy buzz and is already renewed for Season 2.Best of TVLine
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