Is 'The Pit' a spinoff, sequel, or something else entirely? Scott Hervey and Tara Sattler break down the lawsuit over 'ER' and whether 'The Pit' crosses the legal line into derivative territory on this episode of The Briefing.
Watch this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel.
Show Notes:
Scott:
A legal battle is in full swing over the hit medical drama, ER and the Pit, a new medical drama set in Pittsburgh. The agreement between the creator of ER, Michael Crichton and WB, says that any sequels, remakes, spinoffs, and/or other derivative works require the approval of Crichton, Amblin, and Warner Brothers. So, is the Pit any of those things? I'm Scott Hervey, a partner at the law firm of Weintraub Tobin, and today I'm joined by my partner, Tara Sattler. We are going We're going to discuss ER versus the Pit. What is the Pit? On this installment of The Briefing. Tara, welcome back.
Tara:
Hi, Scott. I'm happy to be here, especially talking about this topic. I really love all these medical traumas and was a big fan of ER back then, so this is going to be a fun one.
Scott:
Right. Did you do your homework this weekend?
Tara:
I did.
Scott:
Yeah, I did, too. I think Binge about five episodes of The Pit.
Tara:
And I liked it.
Scott:
Yeah, it was good.
Tara:
It was easy to do.
Scott:
I got to say, I Before we get into it, I am amazed at how the actors really sell themselves as doctors. I'm not a doctor, so probably maybe when a doctor is watching this, they probably look at it and go, They did that all wrong. We do when we watch legal traumas and we're like, This is wrong, all wrong. But from a layman, non-doctor, it looks quite, quite impressive.
Tara:
I agree.
Scott:
Well, so we previously reported in an episode where we broke down the initial skirmish between Crichton and W. B. And how Sherry Crichton survived Warner Brothers' attempt to shut down the lawsuit, her lawsuit, against Warner Brothers with an anti-slap Today, we are going to look at what will likely be next for Sherry Crichton, and that is establishing that the pit is some type of derivative of E. R. The 1994 agreement between Michael Crichton and Warner Brothers regarding the hit series E. R. Specifically freezes any subsequent productions. The exact wording used in the 1994 agreement is as follows, Any and all sequels, remakes, spin in-offs and/or derivative works shall be frozen, with mutual agreement between Creighton, Amblin, and Warner Brothers being necessary in order to move forward in any of these categories.
Tara:
That's really the crux of Creighton's case against Warner Brothers. What exactly is the Pit?
Scott:
Right. Let's go through that part of the 1994 agreement, and let's start with the question of whether the Pit is a sequel of E. R. I think the place to look at for the definition of sequel is probably the Writers Guild of America Minimum Basic Agreement. Under the WGA, a sequel, at least pursuant to the WGA MBA, it's defined as a film or a picture where the principal character of the original film or picture participate in a new and different story.
Tara:
On Noah Wiley played Dr. John Carter, and on the Pit, Noah Wiley plays Dr. Michael Robbie Rabinovitch. Are those characters essentially the same, or is Robbie really John Carter, 15 years later?
Scott:
Yeah, that's a tough one. On the surface, it seems that the answer is going to be no, because the two characters, they have different names. We don't really know too much Dr. Robbie's backstory yet. We know a little, but we don't know five episodes in. We don't really know a whole heck of a lot. But I don't think it's going to be that simple of an inquiry?
Tara:
Probably not, but I do think it's safe to say that the Pit isn't a remake of ER. Again, going back to the WGA, for definitions, a remake is substantially similar to a prior motion picture or television program regarding principal characters, setting, plot, storyline,