An ABC spokesman told The TV Column that "there is simply no merit to the charges against the company" and that "at all times we behaved toward Ms. Bell with compassion and utmost respect."
Speaking of HBO series sold into syndication, and of lawsuits, baseball great Yogi Berra has sued Turner Broadcasting System in New York State Supreme Court for $10 million, claiming TBS used his name without permission and sullied his reputation in ads promoting the start of reruns on TBS of HBO's "Sex and the City."
In the fall of 2006, Tony Soprano and his pals will hold forth on A&E, at $2.5 million per episode.
(Hbo Via Reuters)
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The ad, which ran last spring and early summer, looked like this:
Yogasm:
a) a type of yo-yo trick
b) sex with Yogi Berra
c) what Samantha has with a guy from yoga class.
Of course, fans of the show know that the correct answer was c).
According to the lawsuit -- a real page-turner that also turned up on thesmokinggun.com yesterday -- TBS never contacted the former New York Yankee for written consent to use his name.
Berra earns his living in large part from licensing his name and image to various commercial enterprises, the suit notes, and using his name without permission "virtually robbed" him of "the compensation for such use of his name."
Besides, the lawsuit continues, Berra is a married man with children and grandchildren, and "a deeply religious man who has maintained and continues to maintain a moral lifestyle."
The suggestion in an ad campaign that "Yogasm" might mean having sex with Berra has "damaged his otherwise spotless reputation," is "hurtful to his sensibilities" and "has created a false image" of him that is "abhorrent to him personally," the suit says.
And, just when you were thinking that yesterday couldn't get any weirder, TV-wise, CBS announced that, on Sunday, March 20, it will broadcast the TV movie "Spring Break Shark Attack" about "the invasion of a group of killer sharks on the Florida coast as a beach full of swimsuit-clad co-eds enjoy their spring break."
We'll pause here to give you time to reread that inspired description. This truly is the Golden Age of Television and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
"Spring Break Shark Attack" is being made by the same folks who brought you, and CBS, "Category 6: Day of Destruction." Which, by the way, you watched in large numbers.
