It is easy to draw comparisons between the hit NBC show, ER, which aired from 1994 to 2009, and Max’s new medical drama, The Pitt. Both series are set in fast-paced, intense emergency rooms in hospitals, and both shows star Noah Wyle. The two dramas even share a producer, R. Scott Gemmill. Because of these similarities, a new legal battle has been sparked, which pits the brand-new series against its predecessor.
The Michael Crichton Estate Has Filed a Lawsuit Against ‘The Pitt’
Michael Crichton became a well-known name in Hollywood in the 1990s; his books inspired many hit projects, such as Jurassic Park, Twister, and Westworld. He was inspired to create ER from his days as a med student. Crichton sadly passed away in 2008 at age 66. In 2020, producer John Wells began developing a reboot of ER, and Gemmill was hired as the showrunner. Crichton’s widow, Sherri Alexander, was involved in the process, and says that she was promised by Warner Bros. that Crichton would get a ‘created by’ credit on the new series or that the Crichton estate would receive a minimum payment of $5 million. However, shortly after that, the talks broke down, and those terms were withdrawn. In a lawsuit filed in August 2024, the Crichton estate alleges that Wells, Wyle, and Warner Bros. then went ahead and made the reboot anyway, but changed the name to The Pitt to avoid having to pay the estate anything at all. As the suit states, “Rather than afford Crichton the ‘created by’ credit he deserved, Defendants would pretend their reboot was not his creation at all, thereby enriching themselves to the tune of millions of dollars… and depriving Crichton’s heirs of their rightful share.”
Along with the lawsuit, the Crichton estate did their best to stop The Pitt from ever airing. In November 2024, HBO and Max executive, Casey Bloys, stated that the lawsuit would not prevent the series from being released as planned, adding, “I will say the idea that a show can’t be set in an ER seems kind of unrealistic on its face.” Warner Bros. then proceeded to file a motion to throw out the entire lawsuit with the assertion that The Pitt is a “completely different show from ER. Plaintiff cannot use Mr. Crichton’s ER contract as a speech-stifling weapon to prevent Defendants from ever making a show about emergency medicine.” The two camps continue to point fingers at each other, with Crichton’s estate insisting that the production team carried on with the reboot idea to avoid cutting in the Crichton’s, while The Pitt avows that their series is a “new and original show. Any suggestion otherwise is false, and Warner Bros. Television intends to vigorously defend against these meritless claims.” Although the battle continues, The Pitt did premiere on January 9 as scheduled, and debuted among the top five Max original series premieres ever.
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Noah Wyle Explains How ‘The Pitt’ Is “Different by Design” from ‘ER’
Noah Wyle stars as Dr. Michael Robinavitch in ‘The Pitt’ and played John Carter in ‘ER.’
Are ‘The Pitt’ and ‘ER’ Really the Same Show?
The court case continues to rage on, but The Pitt has already been receiving plenty of rave reviews. An argument can be made after watching the new series, that there are enough unique qualities that set it apart from ER (and other medical shows that have come before it). The set-up for the show itself is a creative one; each episode is a single hour in a 15-hour shift. The 24-esque structure makes for an exciting and in-depth look at a frenetically paced and high-stakes environment. The show dives into what it’s like working in a post-COVID healthcare setting, especially with the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms that Wyle’s character, Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, experiences from that traumatic event.
There is also an exploration into the complexities of the healthcare system and the bureaucracy of working in a hospital (an entity that often cares more about shareholders and profits than their patients). Because The Pitt is set in a modern hospital, many of the issues (fentanyl overdoses, potential school shooters, etc.) feel current. Although ER dealt with its own intense storylines, The Pitt does seem to stand alone as a series that simply shares a setting and a lead actor with its predecessor.
The Crichton estate remains steadfast in their belief that the two shows are identical, and that they deserve remuneration from the team behind The Pitt. Time will tell what the courts decide, and viewers can choose whether they’d like to side with the Crichton estate and boycott the HBO drama. However, they would be missing out on a high-quality show that deserves to exist on its own merits.
The Pitt is available to stream on Max in the U.S. New episodes drop every Thursday.

The Pitt
- Release Date
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January 9, 2025
- Network
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Max
- Showrunner
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R. Scott Gemmill
- Directors
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Amanda Marsalis
- Writers
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Joe Sachs, Cynthia Adarkwa
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Noah Wyle
Dr. Michael ‘Robby’ Robinavitch
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Tracy Ifeachor
Uncredited
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Taylor Dearden
Dr. Langdon
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