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10:45 AM PT -- The attorney for the Duffer Brothers tells TMZ, "Mr. Kessler's claim is completely meritless. He had no connection to the creation or development of 'Stranger Things.' The Duffer Brothers have neither seen Mr. Kessler's short nor discussed any project with him. This is just an attempt to profit from other people's creativity and hard work."

A "Stranger Things" casting call looks like a smoking gun in the lawsuit accusing show creators, the Duffer brothers, of ripping off a short film -- because it's black and white proof they jacked the film's title.

We've obtained the casting call, from Aug. 2015, for the role of "Barbara." It includes the following, "You have a self tape request for the Netflix series 'Montauk' starring Winona Ryder." The references to Barb (the description's hilarious and dead-on) and Winona make it clear this was "Stranger Things."

The document also lists Matt and Ross Duffer as writers and directors of the series. TMZ broke the story, the bros were sued by Charlie Kessler, who says he not only made a short film about top secret government experiments entitled "Montauk" ... but he pitched the Duffers a project based on his film.

The timing of the casting call is also super suspect. Kessler says his pitch meeting with the Duffers went down in April 2014. They did NOT strike a deal, but lo and behold, in August 2015 the Duffers were casting for their series, "Montauk."

Netflix had even proudly announced in April 2015 they were buying the series WITH that title.

So, neither the Duffers nor Netflix was bashful about copying Kessler's title ... at the very least. Whether they copied his script could fall to a jury, with the casting call being exhibit A.

Shannen Doherty is staying positive after a tumor marker test revealed high elevations.

The former "90210" star revealed the news Tuesday night saying she underwent a battery of tests ... revealing one of the tests yielded good results while the other came back "elevated."

Shannen -- who almost a year to the day went into remission after battling breast cancer -- said the results mean she'll get monitored even closer. And to prove she's staying positive ... she said, "the elevation can be from all sorts of things. Oh and vitamin D...need more of that too."

Anthony Oliver claims he's not the one who filed the old lawsuits. He tells us it's actually his brother, Tony.

Just to be clear, he is saying ... Mom named him Anthony and named his brother, Tony.

The man suing Jamie Luner for sexual assault is on a list in California exposing people who abuse the litigation system ... TMZ has learned.

Anthony Oliver -- who claims the "Melrose Place" star drugged and raped him in 1998 when he was 16 years old -- is considered a vexatious litigant in the state ... according to court records. That means special approval is required by a judge before the courts have to accept any lawsuit he files.

The reason -- Oliver has filed at least 22 wide-ranging suits over the past several years ... some of which have been deemed to be either unnecessary, frivolous or without merit. Here's a rundown of some of the parties Oliver has sued:

-- County of Chatham, Georgia; claims he was beaten by a sheriff's deputy who used excessive force

-- Target, Cox Communications and Premier Bankcard; claims former roommate stole his identity and racked up debt with these companies

-- City of Oceanside; claims he was unlawfully arrested by cops who were harassing patrons, and they deleted his video footage of the incident and used excessive force

-- Men's Wearhouse; claims text message ads are unlawful marketing and violates his privacy

-- L.A. County, California Highway Patrol, T-Mobile, South Coast Medical Group and more for a variety of allegations

We broke the story ... Oliver's suing Luner, claiming his experience with her in '98 messed up his life, and he filed a police report as well.

Jamie's side says the allegations are "completely unfounded" and believes they are part of an extortion scheme ... and points to Oliver's long history of filing suits as proof.

The creators of "Stranger Things" did not have an original idea for the paranormal show ... instead they allegedly ripped off a writer who handed the idea to them on a silver platter.

Charlie Kessler claims in a new lawsuit, he produced a short film called "Montauk," which premiered in 2012 and even won an award at the Hamptons International Film Festival. The centerpiece of the flick involves top secret government experiments ... a key plot point in "Stranger Things."

Kessler says in April 2014, he and his agents pitched the concept to the Duffer Brothers as a full-blown series, but the idea seemed to die right there.

Kessler says he was shocked when "Stranger Things" came out in July 2016 and claims the brothers used his script, idea, story and film to make the hit show. He even claims the show was initially sold with the name of his short film -- "The Montauk Project."

Roseanne Barr thinks it's laughable that President Trump kinda tried taking credit for her massive ratings for the premiere of her revived TV show last week ... literally, she LOL'd.

We got the sitcom star Monday night at LAX, where our photog asked what she thought of Trump plugging himself and his supporters for giving "Roseanne" a big bump last Tuesday.

She doesn't hide her feelings about that -- hilariously ridiculous, at least that's how it sounds to us. Then she drops this on us ... there's only one person responsible for the success of the revived "Roseanne" -- and it ain't DT.

While Viola Davis was teaching us how to get away with murder on TV, would-be burglars were attempting a break-in at her real-life home ... TMZ has learned.

We're told that Viola and her husband, Julius Tennon, were fast asleep in their bedroom on the second floor, when they were awakened by the sound of glass breaking ... glass from a door in their bedroom!

Turns out the burglars climbed a ladder to the second floor and jumped on the balcony that was off the master.

The couple flipped on the lights and that sent the prowlers running. When police arrived, the bad guys were long gone. But cops have a lead ... surveillance video shows three men wearing hoodies and gloves.

Same old story ... cops still say celebs aren't being specifically targeted, even though Viola joins a long list of stars who have been hit in 2018 alone.

7:04 PM PT -- Jamie's rep tells TMZ ... "All of these allegations are completely unfounded and we believe part of a targeted extortion scheme." The rep claims "Anthony Oliver has a history of filing lawsuits, and has filed 27 federal lawsuits in the past 8 years."

"Melrose Place" star Jamie Luner has been sued for allegedly seducing a 16-year-old boy into a sexual act, and according to the lawsuit he was not her only victim. And ... he's suing for $250 million.

Anthony Oliver claims back in 1998, he attended a house party thrown by Luner to celebrate the success of the show. He ended up at the party because Luner's makeup artist knew Anthony's brother and the makeup artist developed a crush on Anthony.

Anthony says Luner saw him and called him "adorable." He says Luner asked if he wanted a drink, and he said he was only 16 but she had the makeup artist pour Anthony a Jack and coke. They drank and talked for 3 hours, went to her room, and he says she removed a small plastic bag of crystal meth from her purse.

He says she told him, "It's going to make you real horny." He protested using the drug but instead asked for 2 Tylenols, which he says was laced with the crystal meth. His head began spinning and he says he became sexually aroused.

The makeup guy told Luner, who was 26, to go to her room and put on her kitty cat outfit and went to a couch, and he says she began licking his neck, chest and arms and removed his belt, underwear and socks.

He says she performed oral sex on him and took his penis out of her mouth and put it in the mouth of the makeup artist. He claims he ended up having sex with Luner multiple times, and claims she said, "come bend me over the couch and ram me."

And there's this ... the plaintiff's brother had left the party, and when he returned he recorded Anthony and Luner having sex.

Anthony says the experience messed up his life. The lawsuit says, "Plaintiff is left not knowing if he is attracted to men, women or both." He blames the experience for turning him into an alcoholic.

According to the lawsuit, various young men came forward to the LAPD, claiming they were also sexually assaulted by Luner. He says 2 other men accused her of drug-induced sex.

He's suing for sexual battery and emotional distress.

Anthony has already filed a police report.

We've reached out to Luner's rep ... so far, no word back.

Another one of Eliza Coupe's husbands wants out -- 'cause he just filed for divorce ... TMZ has learned.

Eliza's hubby of almost 4 years, Darin Olien, filed legal docs Monday seeking to end their marriage. He lists the date of separation as March 27, 2018.

It's unclear for now if he's seeking spousal support -- the couple had no children together.

Darin and Eliza got married in December 2014 right on the heels of her first divorce from Randall Whittinghill -- whom she had to pay $7,000/month in spousal support for 2 years.

NFL linebacker turned actor Anthony "Spice" Adams pulled out one of the coldest April Fools' pranks we've ever seen -- sending his own kids on a FAKE Easter egg hunt!

It's heartless, but also hilarious ... and we still can't decide whether it's OK to laugh.

In the video, Spice describes his devious plot before bustin' up in laughter ... and sending his kids on the pointless search through their backyard.

You'd think he'd let them in on the joke after a couple minutes ... but it seems like he let his youngins loose for A LOT longer.

But don't feel too bad for 'em ... TMZ Sports spoke to the "Ballers" star and he told us they got PLENTY of candy before the fake-out.

Steven Bochco, one of the most prolific creators of TV ever, has died ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to the family tell us, the "Hill Street Blues" creator died this weekend. He had been battling leukemia for several years and put up a hard fight, but one family source says he finally just gave up.

Bochco carved out a specific area for many of his shows -- the law. His police shows were gritty and compelling.

Bochco has been responsible for groundbreaking TV, including, "L.A. Law," "Doogie Howser, M.D." and "NYPD Blue." His credits go on ... "Murder One," "Murder in the First," "Raising the Bar," and "Civil Wars." Bochco was a gift to NBC, providing the network with juggernauts like "Hill Street Blues."

Bochco has won 4 Peabody Awards and 10 Emmys.

He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

Millie Bobby Brown must've channeled Eleven's superpowers when it came time to renegotiate her "Stranger Things" contract ... because she's getting an ENORMOUS raise.

Brown -- who plays the teen girl with psychokinetic abilities -- was scheduled to get paid just shy of $25k per episode for season 3 of the popular Netflix series ... according to her original contract, obtained by TMZ.

That would've been an increase of about $1,000 per episode from season 2, but as we reported ... the main cast of kids renegotiated and got fat pay bumps for season 3 to around $250,000 per episode.

Millie's raise is reportedly even more, though ... possibly as much as $350,000, which would match the salaries of the adult stars of the show, David Harbour and Winona Ryder.

That means for a 9-episode season 3, Brown could haul in as much as $3.15 million ... as opposed to the roughly $225k she'd have gotten in her original contract.

It's good to be Eleven.

The Weeknd's lawyers want the real "Starboy" to please stand up -- as Eminem might put it -- 'cause they say it's definitely not the dude who's trying to jack the handle.

The singer's company has filed docs opposing Eymun Talasazan's attempt to trademark "Starboy," and they're accusing him of some serious shadiness.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Eymun is just trying to hitch his star to Abel's success -- which is why he filed his "Starboy" trademark, for use on TV projects, AFTER Weeknd's 2016 hit single and album by the same name.

And get this ... 11 days after Weeknd and Marvel Comics announced a "Starboy" comic book -- Eymun filed another trademark for comic books.

Roseanne Barr and John Goodman ruffled some feathers when they told Jimmy Kimmel the original "Roseanne" couch is with the Smithsonian and that's why they couldn't get it for the reboot. Turns out, it's not true.

TMZ did some digging, and we found out the Conners' couch went to a production warehouse after the show went off the air in 1997 ... and it remained there for years until a show honcho bought it.

We're told that person reached out to James Comisar -- curator at Museum of TV -- 10-15 years ago ... and it's been under his care ever since. The Museum has no affiliation with the Smithsonian.

Comisar tells us the TV sofa is in an L.A. warehouse under climate, humidity and light control ... and he says he WAS contacted by "Roseanne" cast member Sara Gilbert about using it for the reboot.

James says he was open to letting the show use the couch, but worried it would get damaged, so he had strict stipulations on its use. Ultimately ... he and ABC couldn't come to terms, so the network decided to make a replica instead.

Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino got burned for not paying taxes, but now it might be tax season that buys him more time as a free man.

Mike's facing up to 5 years in prison for tax evasion charges after pleading guilty in January. Sentencing's set for April 25, but his lawyer, Henry Klingeman, is asking the judge to push that back because Mike's accountant is buried in tax returns through the middle of the month. 'Tis the season.

As part of Mike's plea deal, he had to resubmit his 2010 to 2012 returns, and his accountant has to review 1,500 pages of financial info to finish them up.

Stacey Dash is waiving the white flag in her bid to become a member of Congress, saying she doesn't want to be a part of "Plantation Politics."

Dash, who was running for a seat in the Compton/Watts area, hung her decision on God, saying, "After much prayer, introspection and discussions with my family, I am withdrawing my candidacy for California's 44th Congressional District."

Dash went on to say, "I believe we live under a system of 'Plantation Politics,' which offers people on the lower end of the economic spectrum little more than symbolic gestures instead of true political empowerment and improvement."

She says the "overall bitterness surrounding our political process" would be detrimental to the health and well-being of her family.

The decision has got to be good news for the Compton Mayor Aja Brown, who is running against incumbant congresswoman Nanette Barragan.

John Goodman's happy Roseanne Barr's happy about getting a congratulatory call from Donald Trump ... but the idea of the Prez calling him? That's a laugh riot.

Dan Conner was out in L.A. Thursday, looking way more chipper than the day before about "Roseanne" grabbing the attention of 18.2 million viewers in the sitcom's return to TV. He says the Trump call meant a lot to his TV wife -- but only needed 2 words to make it clear, he and Roseanne are NOT on the same page when it comes to POTUS.

As we reported ... 45 kinda took credit for 'Roseanne's' success, since its star is a Trump supporter, both on the show and in real life.