Warner Bros. TV is responding 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 tone vs. what “ER” did.
Not only is it understood that the story structure will be different in how each episode unfurls, but it’s believed that the look, feel and sound of the show is taki.