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Man Claims He Got 'Lost' First

Posted Jul 13th 2009 5:20PM by TMZ Staff

There may be one human being on Earth who understands the TV show "Lost" -- a guy who claims he created the show 32 years ago.

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Anthony Spinner -- a producer on "Baretta" and "Babes in Toyland" -- says back in 1977 he was paid $30,000 to write a TV pilot, which eventually became a 121-page script called "Lost."

Spinner is now suing ABC and Touchstone Television, claiming the network passed on the show in '77, '91 and '94 ... then suddenly created an exact replica with Touchstone in 2004.

Spinner lists a ton of similarities in his suit -- which was filed on July 10 -- notably an "airplane headed to Los Angeles [that] crashes into a tropical jungle-like environment."

Spinner also alleges the new "Lost" characters -- including Jack, Locke, Sayid, Kate and Sawyer -- are all rip-offs ... down to their occupations and dark pasts.

The comparisons go on and on. Spinner is suing for damages and a cut of royalties, profits and a bunch of other stuff. Spinner tried to sue a few years ago, but it was dismissed for procedural reasons.

Tags: abc, anthony spinner, AnthonySpinner, lawsuit, lost

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61. I live in England. Joan Rivers nasty joke about Micheal Jackson is pathetic. She shows what a sick ugly person she is. I never watch this woman on television this joke just confirms my position, she is ugly both inside and outside her disgusting mouth. Go and get lost.

Posted at 10:20PM on Jul 13th 2009 by veronica cromwell

62. Did he write it on speck or had they optioned the script from him. Was this just a pitch he had made? Need some more info

Posted at 10:41PM on Jul 13th 2009 by singermagic1

63. it did say he case was dismissed several times for procedural reasons. a normal case take 2-4 years to get through the system.

Posted at 10:28PM on Jul 13th 2009 by james

64. U idiots NOT read the whole story..Was dismissed before because of " procedural" something or rathers

Posted at 10:30PM on Jul 13th 2009 by Sheesh

65. this is a total DOUCHEBAG show written by DOUCHEBAGS that hang out in DOUCHEBAG-infested Echo Park because they feel they have "an edge". oh also canadian writers too, but they are about 500000000000000000 steps below ever being allowed to be called DOUCHEBAG. so whatev, all you starlets keep flocking to LA, most of you will end up being hookers and/or druggies anyways, because. just a bunch of DOUCHEBAGS making money off ya, but yer too douchebaggy and stupid to know any different. bye douchebagssss hahahahahahahah!!!!! (omg all you douchebag starlet production assistant starlets, aka 50% of LA, your all gonna hate my posting, but whatev, coz your all DOUCHEBAGSSSSSS!!!!!!).

Posted at 12:42AM on Jul 14th 2009 by NOT A PRODUCTION ASSISTANT AKA DOUCHEBAG

66. who cares???? all i gots to say is tough titty said the kitty when the milk went dry....

Posted at 10:41PM on Jul 13th 2009 by Rough Daddy

67. during the long 911 call in regards to mj why do dispatcher's always ask such stupid questions? for example, "Is he breathing?' Is he conscious?' come on how can you be conscious if you area not breathing and why don't they just send the damn ambulance? Had to ask, very frustrating.

Posted at 11:18PM on Jul 13th 2009 by emt call for michael jackson faux pas

68. If you read the article completely you will see that he's not just sueing now, he attempted in the past too

Posted at 11:31PM on Jul 13th 2009 by random

69. If I wrote a show as cool as Lost, this would have come up five years ago. Why now? Procedural? Still, why so long?

Posted at 11:39PM on Jul 13th 2009 by Anon

70. The guy is an absolute idiot.Takes years to complain.Now?

Posted at 1:30AM on Jul 14th 2009 by Dean

71. Get a job

Posted at 12:24AM on Jul 14th 2009 by Mike

72. Can you people not read?

The comparisons go on and on. Spinner is suing for damages and a cut of royalties, profits and a bunch of other stuff. Spinner tried to sue a few years ago, but it was dismissed for procedural reasons.

Posted at 1:42AM on Jul 14th 2009 by jayne

73. It's amazing how many idiots are out there who pass judgment without knowing all the facts of the story.

This is directed towards every "why wait until now?" comment out there. Which was about half the damn posts in here...

Spinner first filed suit FOUR YEARS AGO. Just because your dumb asses are just finding out about it now, does not mean it just now happened. Do your homework and stop talking out of your asses.

Posted at 1:41AM on Jul 14th 2009 by KK

74. why is he suing now? as far as what is known, the show wasn't supposed to be called "lost" at first. c'mon, if they knew they were ripping a show off someone else's idea, don't you think they would've tried to avoid the same name. it amazes me how people use any excuse to sue

Posted at 2:02AM on Jul 14th 2009 by lj100401

75. I'm willing to bet that he's right; he's been ripped off. Having submitted ideas to networks (and having them rejected, then all of a sudden an exact copy pops up made by them), I can tell you that there is absolutely no honor or creativity at the network level. They're full of creeps, jerks, liars & thieves who can't create anything themselves; they have to rip off others work & then hope that these people don't find out. Not only are they liars & thieves, but they're stupid as well; everyone finds out in the end, and it ultimately costs them millions.

We're preparing lawsuits to be filed against 2 networks, regarding series currently on the air that we pitched them years ago (that they rejected then then did the series, claiming the idea was their own). The lawsuits will be for tens of millions; when we file them, we'll be sure TMZ is notified, as it will be BIG news.

Posted at 2:41AM on Jul 14th 2009 by Jerks

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