Warner Bros. TV Calls Michael Crichton Estate Lawsuit “Baseless”, Denies Link Between ‘ER’ & ‘The Pitt’
deadline.comWarner Bros. Television, the studio behind hit NBC medical drama ER and the upcoming Max medical drama The Pitt, has hit back at a lawsuit filed this morning by Sherri Crichton, the widow of ER creator Michael Crichton, on behalf of John Michael Crichton Trust’s Roadrunner JMTC. “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 suit alleges that, after ending a year-long negotiation with the Crichton Estate for a sequel to ER with former ER executive producer John Wells, the studio went on to launch The Pitt with the same creative auspices, moving the setting from Chicago to Pittsburgh.
Wells, as well as Amblin TV, were the other key pieces WBTV had to secure in addition to the Crichton Estate to make an ER followup possible.
Their deals were never made as the negotiations with the estate broke off in April 2023 after the two sides could not come to an agreement on financial terms.
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