US drama The Pitt is similar enough to medical series ER for a lawsuit against its producers to progress, a court in the US has ruled.
The widow of Michael Crichton, who created ER, argues The Pitt is effectively a reboot of the series, which has been made without proper permission or credit.
Sherri Crichton says her husband’s contract included a “frozen rights” provision that prohibited any spin-offs, sequels or reboots of ER being made without his express consent.
A three-judge panel said there are “clear and numerous similarities between The Pitt and ER,” which means the case can go ahead. Warner Bros previously described the lawsuit as “baseless” and sought to have it dismissed.
Listing the similarities between the two shows, the court cited the emergency room setting, the fast pace, use of medical jargon, graphic depictions of injuries, and younger doctors fresh from medical school being trained.
“We find the details here suffice for a prima facie case,” the judges said.
It means the case will now go to a jury trial in Los Angeles Superior Court.
They could have chosen not to cast Noah Wyle. I legit thought it was a sequel to ER.
So an actor is only allowed to be in one show and then they have to retire?
That’s kinda like saying Michael Imperioli couldn’t take a role as a mob boss because he played Christopher Moltisanti and that would make it a Sopranos spin-off.
Or Lorne Michaels suing every show Pete Davidson is in for being Pete Davidson in the show.
Well the secret there is that all of those shows and movies are actually produced by Michaels’ production company and he’s not gonna sue himself.
Sure. Just providing an outside perspective. I haven’t watched either show, and that’s the connection I made.
Right, but Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford were both in The West Wing. Now they’re both in The Diplomat playing characters in the White House. But that doesn’t make the Diplomat a sequel to the West Wing.
It would make me think so at first. Like, I wondered if Rob Lowe was going to get involved when I read that Janney and whitford were doing a political drama together.
It’s not enough to win the case, but I absolutely agree that there’s enough there to bring the case.
If you watch enough television shows you will see actors that used to work together working together again.
Yes, but same actors and same topic is less common. Hence the “at first.”