CBS digs back at ABC for creating a show that copies "Big Brother"

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CBS ANNOUNCES DEVELOPMENT OF “DANCING ON THE STARS,” AN EXCITING AND COMPLETELY ORIGINAL REALITY PROGRAM THAT OWES ITS CONCEPT AND EXECUTION TO NOBODY AT ALL

Los Angeles, June 20, 2012 – Subsequent to recent developments in the creative and legal community, CBS Television today felt it was appropriate to reveal the upcoming launch of an exciting, ground-breaking and completely original new reality program for the CBS Television Network.

The dazzling new show, DANCING ON THE STARS, will be broadcast live from the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and will feature moderately famous and sort of well-known people you almost recognize competing for big prizes by dancing on the graves of some of Hollywood’s most iconic and well-beloved stars of stage and screen.

The cemetery, the first in Hollywood, was founded in 1899 and now houses the remains of Andrew “Fatty” Arbuckle, producer Cecil B. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Paul Muni, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, George Harrison of the Beatles and Dee Dee Ramone of the Ramones, among many other great stars of stage, screen and the music business. The company noted that permission to broadcast from the location is pending, and that if efforts in that regard are unsuccessful, approaches will be made to Westwood Village Memorial Park, where equally scintillating luminaries are interred.

“This very creative enterprise will bring a new sense of energy and fun that’s totally unlike anything anywhere else, honest,” said a CBS spokesperson, who also revealed that the Company has been working with a secret team for several months on the creation of the series, which was completely developed by the people at CBS independent of any other programming on the air. “Given the current creative and legal environment in the reality programming business, we’re sure nobody will have any problem with this title or our upcoming half-hour comedy for primetime, POSTMODERN FAMILY.”

“After all,” the spokesperson added, “people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

At first I was confused when I saw this press release from CBS but apparently it is a dig back at ABC for copying Big Brother with a similar show that they have started, called The Glass House. CBS filed a lawsuit against ABC but it was unsuccessful. Keeping it professional CBS, keeping it professional. :lol:
 
That sounds like a very bad April Fools' joke. :wtf: I believe the ABC show was on yesterday or the day before. I don't think the CBS folks have anything to worry about. Networks copy each other all the time. :p
 
The legal action by CBS had absolutely nothing to do ABC's simply copying Big Brother. It has to do with one net's stealing another's intellectual property, and CBS is tying to set a precedent for reality programming. The executive producer of Glass House, who was a CBS employee that signed a confidentiality agreement, admitted in his deposition that he took the Big Brother "bible" and basically plagarized it to create ABC's show. In terms of regular scripted programming, think of it as CBS' taking the pilot scripts for Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, or Modern Family and making new shows with those exact same scripts and only altering them by changing the characters' names and setting them in a different city. There are currently copyright laws on the books that prevent nets from doing this with scripted programming, but there is nothing that prevents this in reality programming. That is what CBS is trying to do on this lawsuit. Personally, I hope it works if for no other reason that it will make the nets think twice before airing more crappy reality programming.

As for the press release, I think it is funny as hell, and I love it!!!!!:thumbsup:
 
Sounds like they should have good legal grounds to sue for copyright infringement, but what do I know? I'm not a lawyer. :eek:
 
The legal action by CBS had absolutely nothing to do ABC's simply copying Big Brother. It has to do with one net's stealing another's intellectual property, and CBS is tying to set a precedent for reality programming.
You may be the first person outside of the executive offices of a TV studio who have used "reality programming" and "intellectual" property in the same sentence, ever. :guffaw:

And yes, it was hilarious. I don't think ABC ever had a response, but they would have looked stupid either way.
 
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