Warner Bros. TV Fires Back at Michael Crichton’s Widow Over ‘Baseless’ Claim ‘The Pitt’ Is an ‘ER’ Ripoff: It’s a ‘New and Original Show’ (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comMichael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Warner Bros. TV has responded to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by Michael Crichton‘s widow, calling the legal move “baseless” and arguing that the studio’s upcoming medical procedural “The Pitt” is very different from “ER.” “The lawsuit filed by the Crichton Estate is baseless, as ‘The Pitt’ is a new and original show,” the studio said in a statement. “Any suggestion otherwise is false, and Warner Bros.
Television intends to vigorously defend against these meritless claims.” The swift Warner Bros. response comes after the Crichton estate accused exec producer John Wells of a “personal betrayal,” claiming that 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 states. “It’s not like ‘ER.’ It’s not kind of ‘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.” But that’s where both sides disagree.
Insiders note that the real similarity between “ER” and “The Pitt” comes down to a show set in an emergency room from Wells and starring Noah Wyle — but beyond that, Wells is focusing on different themes and a different tone versus what “ER” did.
Not only is it understood that the story structure will differ in how each episode unfolds, but the show’s look, feel, and sound are believed to be taking a direction that differs entirely from “ER.” The setting is Pittsburgh instead of the Chicago hospital on “ER.” There are also no repeat characters and none of the iconography of “ER.” The show will run on streamer Max with 15 episodes rather than the original 22-episode (or more) seasons of “ER” on NBC.
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