They’re pitted against each other.
Noah Wyle is “profoundly sad and disappointed” by the lawsuit that “ER” creator Michael Crichton’s widow has against “The Pitt.”
Wyle, who previously starred in “ER” from 1994 to 2009, is now starring on and executive producing the hit Max medical drama, “The Pitt.”
In August 2024, before the show premiered in January 2025, Crichton’s widow, Sherri, sued Wyle, “The Pitt” creator R. Scott Gemmill, executive producer John Wells and Warner Bros Television over breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and intentional interference with contractual relations.
The lawsuit alleged that “The Pitt” is a rebranded version of an unauthorized “ER” reboot.
“The Pitt is ER,” the suit claimed.
“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. No one has been fooled.”
Wyle, 53, told Variety about the suit, “This taints the 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,” the Emmy-nominated actor added. “But on the 30th anniversary of ‘ER,’ I’ve never felt less celebratory of that achievement than I do this year.”
At the time of the lawsuit in August, the studio said in a statement, “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.”
Before “The Pitt,” Wyle was best known for playing John Carter on “ER” in over 250 episodes. The long-running medical drama also starred George Clooney and Julianna Margulies. The trio — and co-star Anthony Edwards — recently reunited for Clooney’s Broadway premiere of “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
On “The Pitt,” Wyle stars as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch.
The show follows the medical staff at a fictional Pittsburgh hospital during a 15-hour shift, with each episode covering an hour of the shift.
Crichton, who died from cancer in 2008 at age 66, is also known for “Jurassic Park” and “Westworld.”
In his contract for “ER,” he had a “frozen rights” provision, which prohibits Warner Bros. from making any “ER” sequels, remakes, or spinoffs without the consent of Crichton or his estate, helmed by his widow, Sherri.
After Warner Bros Television wasn’t able to come to terms with Sherri about an “ER” reboot, Wyle told Variety: “We pivoted as far in the opposite direction as we could in order to tell the story we wanted to tell. And not for litigious reasons, but because we didn’t want to retread our own creative work.”
“The Pitt” streams Thursdays on Max at 9 p.m. Season 2 will reportedly premiere in January 2026.