Car54 | Wednesday, November 06, 2002 - 04:06 pm     CBS Sues ABC Over 'Celebrity' Reality Show Wed, Nov 6, 2002 05:13 PM PDT LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - CBS is suing to stop an American version of the British reality series "I'm a Celebrity -- Get Me Out of Here" from being produced for ABC. The suit, filed Wednesday (Nov. 6) in federal court in New York, claims the series rips off the format of CBS' "Survivor." The network is seeking an injunction to stop "Get Me Out" from airing and unspecified damages from ABC and producer Granada Entertainment, Reuters reports. " 'Celebrity' was consciously designed to mimic 'Survivor' and unfairly trade on its success," the suit charges. The suit is similar to one that Castaway Productions, which produces "Survivor" worldwide, filed in September against Granada and London Weekend Television, which produced the British version of "Get Me Out." The British show was something of a surprise hit in the United Kingdom over the summer. Eight B-list celebrities were stranded in a remote part of Australia, where they had to forage for food and complete a series of challenges. Viewers voted by phone to kick someone out of the group each week. CBS contends that the format of "Get Me Out" is too close to that of "Survivor." The primary difference is the audience participation and the fact that the winner of the British show received nothing more than TV exposure as a prize. Proceeds from the phone voting went to charity. When ABC picked up the series, it said it was considering airing its "Get Me Out" over 15 consecutive nights, probably sometime in early 2003. An ABC spokesperson says the network hasn't seen a copy of the lawsuit yet and therefore has no comment. |