TV

The hugely successful creator of "Black-ish" forgot someone on his way to the top ... namely the guy who says the show is based on his life.

Kenya Barris is the credited creator of the huge ABC hit, starring Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross, and Bryan Barber says he and Kenya go way back to their college days in 1996.

In a lawsuit Barber just filed -- obtained by TMZ -- he says he and Kenya both became writers and both had agents at William Morris. He says they formed a partnership in 2006, and came up with a script focusing on the "black experience" ... through the eyes of a "successful, creative and affluent black man" working in the mostly white entertainment industry.

That's Anderson's character to a T, except he works at an ad agency.

In the the suit, Barber says the script was based on HIS life experiences, and he and Kenya agreed to exploit it for their benefit. Problem is ... he says they parted ways before 2014, when "Black-ish" debuted.

Barber says "Black-ish" has tons of similarities to the OG show idea -- such as the lead character driving a luxury car, wearing high-end clothes, and marrying a bi-racial doctor named "Rainbow."

He's suing Barris and the show's production company for at least $1 million. Plus, he wants writer and creator credits which would net him even more dough. We've reached out to Kenya's rep ... no word back.

Ryan Lochte says he reached out to Michael Phelps for life advice after his drama in Rio -- explaining, "I knew he hit a low point in his life and he bounced back from it."

Lochte revealed the details to Ellen DeGeneres -- saying he was impressed by the way Phelps was able to rebound after his two DUI arrests ... and thought he'd be able to share wisdom.

"I knew his answer was gonna be really honest because of our relationship over the years," Lochte said.

"He said, 'It’s not what you did it’s what you do now that will shape who you are.'"

"I took that to heart and ya know that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna better myself. Make sure I don’t make those mistakes and become a better person."

The entire interview airs Monday on 'Ellen.'

Laya DeLeon Hayes -- the little girl who plays Doc McStuffins on Disney Junior -- could put Colin Kaepernick in an awkward spot.

Our photog got the 12-year-old at the Grove Wednesday, and she told us her dream is to sing the National Anthem at a Lakers game.

She sang part of it for us, and gotta say ... nailed it.

Montel Williams is about to launch a line of potent medical marijuana products to fight chronic pain -- but of course ... it's also gonna get some people SUPER high.

Montel's taking his marijuana advocacy to the next level -- launching a bud line called LenitivLabs. He's been a medical marijuana advocate for 17 years, since he smokes the potent stuff to combat his constant pain related to Multiple Sclerosis.

Montel says his pot strain will be the highest quality and consistency without any harmful additives. If all goes well -- meaning big sales -- he wants to fund more research for medical cannabis uses.

LenitivLabs will make its debut in L.A. at the Cannabis World Congress and Business Exposition -- yep, that's a thing -- where we're guessing there will be more than a few high attendees.

Ann Coulter should be kissing Comedy Central's collective ass for the way she was "edited" on the 'Rob Lowe Roast' ... according to Jeff Ross, who says it could've been much worse for her.

We got The Roastmaster General himself in NYC, and you can tell he has some serious mixed feelings about having had Ann on the dais -- after she came on "TMZ Live" and accused producers of editing her to make seem like she bombed.

But Jeff does say he'd have her back for another roast, but only for one specific person.

Ann Coulter got the shaft on the "Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe" -- not because every celeb on the dais ripped her to shreds -- but because Comedy Central made it seem like her jokes bombed.

That's Ann's version of what went down during the taping, anyway. She came on "TMZ Live" to talk about the beating she took -- even a few liberals have sympathy for the conservative lightning rod in the aftermath of the show.

Coulter told us she wrote her own jokes and claims she got plenty of laughs in the room -- but she has a theory on why that laughter was missing from the final cut.

"Stranger Things" star Millie Bobby Brown is quickly becoming Hollywood's most wanted.

We caught up with the kid Sunday at LAX and we just had to know -- what's it like hanging with Aaron Paul? You'll recall he joked about wanting to adopt "Eleven."

Check out the vid ... Millie's just way too popular.

Fabolous is living in SpongeBob SquarePants' real-life crib ... except the pineapple's worth a helluva lot more above water.

The New York rapper is on vacation with his fam in the Dominican Republic, where they're staying at Nickelodeon Hotels and Resorts Punta Cana -- in their Pineapple suite of all places.

The 2 bed, 3 bath pad looks like it's straight out of Bikini Bottom ... with grounds worth $3.8k per night. It's got a master bedroom downstairs with another room above it, plus tons of extra space throughout. There's also an infinity pool, tanning beds and private butlers attending to Fab's every need.

Talk about a Fabolous life ... SpongeBob never had it this good.

"American Crime" star Richard Cabral -- who earned an Emmy nod for playing gangbanger Hector Tontz in Season 1 -- is divorcing his wife, and he's doing it with a personal touch.

Richard and Janiece Sarduy got married less than 2 years ago, and according to the divorce docs ... they've been separated since June. Richard is asking for joint custody of their 2-year-old daughter.

The actor's truly going solo -- he filed the divorce himself. #NoMoreLawyers

"Without a Trace" star Anthony LaPaglia will have LOTS of toys to occupy his time now that he's officially single.

Anthony will get to keep a bunch of cars and all his sports memorabilia now that the ink is dry on his divorce from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" star, Gia Carides ... according to legal docs obtained by TMZ.

There was no prenup, so Anthony and Gia will pretty much split everything down the middle ... including royalties for their big hits while they were married ... standard stuff in CA.

Anthony keeps 2 Mercedes-Benz cars, a 2012 Ford truck and 7 motorcycles, including 3 Ducatis. Plus ... a Steinway baby grand piano.

Gia gets a one-time $12k check, plus $2,234 a month in spousal support. As for child support, she gets $870 a month, which is dirt cheap for Hollywood folks. But there's a kicker ... Anthony's gotta tack on another 10% of any money he brings in over $182k.

Jon Polito -- best known for his roles in Coen Brothers films like "The Big Lebowski" and "Miller's Crossing" -- died Thursday night after being taken off life support ... according to family sources.

We're told Jon was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2008 -- he was also suffering from arthritis and had an infection related to a recent surgery. He slipped into a coma last Sunday.

Director John McNaughton broke the news Friday morning -- "Jon was a born actor and will be deeply missed by his legion of friends, fans, family and of course his long time partner, Darryl Armbruster to whom I send my condolences. R.I.P. old pal."

The Philly native was a seasoned Hollywood vet, landing roles in nearly 100 movies. He also has several TV credits, including a recurring role on ABC's "Modern Family."

He was 65.

Here's an inside look at Teddy Bridgewater's devastating knee injury ... and by "inside look" ... we mean Dr. Oz is taking you INSIDE a knee to show you exactly what Teddy's up against.

You gotta check out the clip ... Dr. Oz shows exactly what happened to the Vikings QB's knee when he dislocated it and tore his ACL earlier this week.

You knew it was gonna happen ... comics ripping Peyton Manning so badly, producers had to cut some of the racier jokes out of the "Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe."

Well, good news ... David Spade is revealing some of HIS Manning zingers that were deemed too hot for the actual show (which airs on Labor Day) ... and they're pretty hilarious.

Gaten Matarazzo isn't shy about his missing teeth on "Stranger Things" ... and he isn't ashamed to admit he rocks dentures in real life.

We got the 13-year-old actor in NYC where he talked about playing Dustin, the show's incredible success and his front teeth. Gaten has cleidocranial dysplasia, which affects tooth and bone development.

He copped to the fact he's got fake chompers, but Gaten also told us about his lesser known talent ... singing our National Anthem.

He kinda does it all, but check out the clip -- there's a reason he won't be singing too much. For now.

The kid who played Will Byers in "Stranger Things" got a sweet paycheck ... especially for an 11-year-old ... who was barely in the show.

Noah Schnapp's contract says his pay rate was $10k per episode for season 1, with 5 episodes guaranteed. That means he got at least $50k ... even though he only showed his mug in 4 of the 8 total episodes.

Noah's in line for a big raise if they bring him back for Season 2, which just got greenlit. According to the docs, he'll be bumped up to $20k per episode.

Time for Noah to start sweet talking those writers. #SqueakyWheelGetsPaid

Look out, LeBron ... Tom Brady and Michael Strahan are proving they can jump into the TV game too ... teaming up to co-executive produce a brand new docuseries

Called "Religion of Sports" ... the series will consist of six hour-long episodes focusing on the gigantic role sports plays in societies around the world ... and how they affect all aspects of people's lives.

Strahan and Brady aren't the only star power on the series ... Gotham Chopra -- Deepak's son -- is credited as the creator.