By ANNA RUSHWORTH
An Auckland television production company is suing American giant Fox TV because it says it has stolen the idea for a new game show.
Touchdown Productions claims Fox TV - owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation and with an annual turnover of $US9 billion ($21.1 billion) - stole its idea for the show The Chair.
Touchdown's founder, Julie Christie, claims Fox, maker of The Simpsons, X-Files and Ally McBeal, is rushing to produce a rival show, The Chamber, based on her pitch.
Papers were filed in the US District Court in Los Angeles yesterday seeking a halt to Fox's production and unstated punitive damages.
Both shows require contestants to wear heart monitors.
They must maintain a calm heartrate while answering general knowledge questions.
Contestants lose points if their heartrate goes above a certain number of beats a minute.
The suit claims that Fox intends to screen the first episode of The Chamber as early as Wednesday.
The 23-page suit says, "If Fox's 'The Chamber' is aired before 'The Chair', Touchdown will forever be deprived of the opportunity to produce its first-of-a-kind programme. Instead, Fox will receive credit for a new genre of television game show ... using Touchdown's concepts."
Touchdown, which has made The Weakest Link, Treasure Island and Weddings, developed The Chair last year in New Zealand. Four pilots were made and pitched to Fox and other American TV networks in November. Ms Christie says Fox liked the idea from the start.
"They pursued me vigorously for two weeks after the pitch, saying they would do anything to get it. But they didn't, so they have obviously decided to rip it off."
Speaking from Los Angeles, Ms Christie said Touchdown had decided to sell 13 episodes of The Chair to the American ABC network, which might use it to replace its Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
"We felt that ABC would remain truest to our vision for the show."
The show is in pre-production in Los Angeles and has already been sold to Australia, France and Germany. The Chair could screen here on TV2 in May.
Touchdown is suing Fox for breach of confidence and contract, and unfair business practices.
Fox TV 'stole NZ game show'
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