A former producer for the “Gilmore Girls” is suing Warner Bros. Television Production Inc., alleging he is owed compensation for new episodes on Netflix.
Gavin Polone’s breach of contract lawsuit, filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeks more than $195,000 in damages.
A Warner Bros spokesman did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The suit states that Polone helped develop “Gilmore Girls” in 1999 and that the next year, he and Warner Bros. agreed he would receive compensation for each original episode of the show that starred Lauren Graham, Alexis Biedel and Melissa McCarthy.
The show, which dealt with a single-mother and her daughter living in Connecticut, debuted in 2000 and became one of the WB Network’s top-rated series, the suit states. Time magazine named it one of the top 100 TV series of all time, according to the complaint.
The show moved to the CW network in September 2006 and its run ended in May 2007 after 153 episodes.
In January, Netflix announced it reached a deal with Warner Bros to produce four new, 90-minute episodes, the suit states. Key original cast members were signed, as was show creator Amy Sherman-Palladino as the writer and director, the suit states.
Polone sought his share of money under the original agreement, but Warner Bros. denied his request and told him the new episodes are “derivative works” based on the original television series, the suit states.
Warner Bros. appears to take the position that the new episodes are not a television series because Netflix is a streaming television and movie network rather than a traditional broadcast network, the suit alleges.
