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Producer Claims That He Created LOST 32 Years Ago Now Sues

slashfilm.com — Anthony Spinner, a television producer whose credits include Baretta and Babes in Toyland, is suing ABC and Touchtone Television with the claim that he created the tv show Lost 32 years ago. Spinner says that he wrote a television pilot for the network in 1977 titled Lost, which contains many ideas and characters that Spinner claims were later used

Who dugg this? Made popular Jul 15, 2009

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  • Xaevier, on 07/15/2009, -1/+136Honestly I think the judge will throw it out after listening to someone try and explain the plot of lost for 6 straight hours.
  • zjvos, on 07/15/2009, -0/+601977? Mr. Spinner must have gotten his story ideas from his days with Dharma.
  • samard2002, on 07/15/2009, -0/+58Sounds like everybody watched Gilligan's Island.
  • inactive, on 07/14/2009, -4/+49"You might be wondering why Spinner waited five years to sue. Well, apparently he tried to file a lawsuit a few years back but it was dismissed for procedural reasons."
  • BREZZZ, on 07/15/2009, -0/+45The only explanation is time travel.
  • HappyScrappy, on 07/15/2009, -3/+48"An ethnic minority character". Wow, that's it, they're definitely the same show.
  • danbrunell, on 07/15/2009, -3/+40If this lawsuit even holds the season six premiere one week from showing, someone is going down.
  • sjbdallas, on 07/15/2009, -2/+35Thanks, saves me the trouble of reading the article since all I really wondered was what took him so long.
  • Cornstar23, on 07/15/2009, -1/+34Spinner's version had a series of numbers too, but I they were 4, 8, F, 10, 17, 2A.
  • therealkid, on 09/10/2009, -0/+32The comments on the actual article keep saying that this is just viral marketing. Does anyone believe that? I'm actually not sure. Could be. Something about it being 32 years ago, which would be 1977 (same year that some of the Lost characters are trapped in). I looked it up, though, and this guy's real and has produced quite a bit of tv shows. They also say it's viral marketing because of the upcoming comic con. But why would they use an actual guy for it and what would be the point of it anyway?
  • zjvos, on 07/15/2009, -0/+24"It should be noted that some people believe this is just viral marketing for the show, especially considering that the teleplay was written in 1977."
  • ZebraApocalypse, on 07/15/2009, -2/+202A is by far my favorite number.
  • digitalArtform, on 07/15/2009, -1/+19He would have sued sooner but the paperwork evidence from his copyright filing got... wait for it...

    lost.

    :D
  • bannor78, on 07/15/2009, -6/+23it's a ploy abc has no idea how to close out the series so they found a guy to "force" them to close down early
  • brandnewx, on 07/15/2009, -4/+21"Spinner was paid $30,000 to write a TV pilot"

    Did ABC pay him to write the pilot? Think for a moment, if you're a logo designer and I pay you $200 to design a logo for my website, I will own the logo and can use it whatever and however I want, right? How is it possible for a logo designer to sue me that I use the logo? Perhaps I don't quite understand this. I'm totally confused now.
  • dieselstation, on 07/15/2009, -1/+181977 huh? I bet that "Producer's" name was Hurley.
  • charm803, on 07/15/2009, -1/+17If I recall, LOST was requested when ABC wanted to make a series inspired by "Castaway" with Tom Hanks. Enter JJ Abrams.

    Someone, I forget who, was also fired from it for making it too expensive.

    But maybe someone moved the island and went back in time with the future script. That's probably the most likely explanation.
  • eTronicGaming, on 07/15/2009, -0/+16Just like Hurley wanted to rewrite Empire Strikes Back.
  • crazygamer67688, on 07/15/2009, -0/+16That's hexadecimal... not algebra...
  • CrimsonBlur, on 07/15/2009, -0/+15Because Logo designers don't generally ask for residuals in their contracts. Writers do. So if ABC used his treatment to make a show, even years later, they're obligated to recognize that.

    I'm not saying he has a case, I'm just saying it's not out of the question.
  • ZebraApocalypse, on 07/15/2009, -2/+16What is a "Stubborn and reluctant semi-her?" Plus, I hate being "stick" on an island. I hope I had a trailblazer who would coerce me to stay on the island.
  • purplesawdust, on 07/15/2009, -4/+17Most of the above mentioned are cliches used constantly on tv shows.
  • Lunarparcel, on 07/15/2009, -0/+11It makes a little bit of sense if you think about it.

    It makes even more sense if you don't.
  • inkswamp, on 07/15/2009, -0/+11Curiously enough, his original draft includes a guy eating fries at a burger shop who starts shouting, "Someone pass me the SALT! SAAALT! SAAAALLTT!!!"
  • sjbdallas, on 07/15/2009, -1/+12Geez, maybe you lawyers should have your own version of DIGG.
  • bnorman, on 07/15/2009, -2/+12WE HAVE TO GO BAAAAACK
  • frankdozier, on 08/10/2009, -0/+9Yup, it all fits. Like the article said, it's all part of the show. . .the survivors are gonna run into some dirty guy named Spinner sometime in the middle of the upcoming season.
  • TennisinneT, on 07/15/2009, -1/+94 + 8 + F + 10 + 17 + 2A = 108
  • ChromaVita, on 07/15/2009, -0/+8No, he was talking about the prequel.
  • bubba9999, on 07/15/2009, -2/+10You should've seen his script for the Empire Strikes Back.
  • elijahyossie, on 07/14/2009, -0/+7I wonder if it might be res judicata, if already filed and dismissed?

    Leaving that aside, it's an interesting issue - that programme is huge, so the potential damages could be immense.
  • ozowen, on 07/15/2009, -1/+8^ "everything will be answered"...!?

    http://io9.com/5245159/the-first-terminator-salvat ...

    About halfway down the page you'll find this...

    Damon Lindelof says some major questions about the show won't be answered:

    "There are certain questions about the show that I'm very befuddled by like, ‘What is the Island?' or ‘What do the numbers mean?' We're going to be explaining a little more about the numbers, maybe significantly more about the numbers, but what do you mean by ‘What do the numbers mean?' What is a potential answer to that question? I feel like you have to be very careful about entering into Midi-Chlorian territory. I grew up on Star Wars; I've seen the Star Wars movies hundreds of times; I can recite them chapter and verse, and never once did anyone ever say to me or did it occur to me to say, ‘What is the Force, exactly? Can you explain that for me, better than Alec Guinness does?' I understand, ‘When are we going to find out about Libby?' That's a very finite question. ‘Who is Jacob?' OK, yes, we've been talking to this guy named Jacob, so those questions then should have answers, but ‘What is the Island?' That starts to get into ‘What is the Force?' It is a place. I can't explain to you why it moves through space-time-it just does. You have to accept the fact that it does."
  • trolleyfan, on 07/15/2009, -0/+7Actually, if you watched "Rescue from Gilligan's Island"...um...that's pretty much what they did...

    ...*and* that twist was in Sherwood Schwartz's head from the beginning.
  • spookyttws, on 07/15/2009, -2/+8There is actually a very well documented history of how Lost was created. I believe it was on the Season One DVD (I may be wrong, they've done so many interviews) where they explained how an idea at a writers workshop about the island blossomed into a pilot (through quite a lengthy process.) Even if one of the creators did steal the idea (which I highly doubt) there is no way that original show would have come close to what Lost has become in the past 2 seasons. There was no mention of Jacob or his Nemesis in this article.
  • 8085ta, on 07/15/2009, -0/+6Nah. He was stuck on a mysterious tropical island for the last five years and just caught up via the DVDs. He thought it was a reality show.
  • ParticleMan420, on 07/15/2009, -0/+6AND he works for ABC and it was supposedly an ABC pilot

    clever!
  • frankdozier, on 08/10/2009, -0/+6Everything else they have done had no point either. Remember the Dharma project websites from the second season? Then there were the Oceanic commercials a couple of years ago. The producers like to keep their viewers guessing. Of course, none of these things have any direct relationship to the story being told.
  • 8FoldPath, on 07/14/2009, -0/+5Res judicata could certainly be a defense. But the procedural issue involved could be as simple as the summons running out and the defendant never being served in the first place. Plaintiffs can re-file after dismissals along those lines.

    This all varies by state statute, of course.
  • MrBogard, on 07/15/2009, -1/+6Because this is about LOST and not Heroes, silly. If you've watched LOST's five seasons you'd know better, but you probably haven't, and that sir is why you're a troll. Yes, LOST has a plot, and yes, it's a hell of a lot better than Heroes.
  • brandnewx, on 07/15/2009, -2/+7To whoever buries my comment above, please kindly explain why. Is it because it's not funny or is it because it's wrong to ask for clarification?
  • Angostura, on 07/15/2009, -0/+5semi-hero, I assume.
  • 8085ta, on 07/15/2009, -0/+5"An ethnic minority character (Sayid?) that has to deal with the racial slurs from another survivor (Sawyer?)"

    He means Hurley not Sayid, right?
  • Angostura, on 07/15/2009, -0/+5You don't get either because your customers don't have a continuing dependency on you. You can't threaten to down-tools half way through a series of 16 logos being broadcast on national TV.
  • Namco, on 07/15/2009, -0/+5So, how does it end?
  • Presbyterian, on 07/15/2009, -1/+6Oh yes because if it says so in the abc lost dvds it must be true...
  • themacjedi, on 07/15/2009, -0/+4LOST is actually a remake of Earth 2. http://tr.im/earth2
  • Gareth321, on 07/15/2009, -0/+4I *****' loved that show.
  • dafragsta, on 07/15/2009, -0/+4Naah, it was Hugo Skywalker.
  • fxu1989, on 07/15/2009, -0/+4It might seem on the fly at the moment, but it's one of those stories that wraps up at the end.

    And now with the final season in production, (hopefully) everything will be answered.
  • awesinine, on 07/15/2009, -0/+3<3 Earth 2. I was really disappointed when it got canned. I recently started watching the BSG remake and noticed that a lot of the qualities and themes in E2 that I liked are present in BSG... and polished a little more.
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