News
Ex-Laker Wife, Angela Wilder Suing The Talk Claiming She Pitched A Talker On Motherhood!
Courtesy/CBS
Here we go again! There is always someone in Hollywood who comes out of the woodwork and claims that a television series, a recording, or major motion picture that has made it to the big-time was not the original idea or concept of those who found fame and fortune with the final product. Sometimes, they are found to be completely false allegations and sometimes they could be true. And now CBS’ hit afternoon series, The Talk is unfortunately under some fire from none other than former Los Angeles Laker hall-of-famer James Worthy’s, ex-wife!
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Angelia Wilder (Ex-wife of Worthy) is claiming in a new lawsuit that CBS’ The Talk was stolen from her idea about a show revolving around a community of women, including celebrities, who talk about the common bond of motherhood.
Apparently she claims in 2006, she created a treatment called “The Mothers’ Hood,” which she registered with the WGA. The idea was to create a TV show for mothers to watch and feel like someone was listening to their day-to-day problems and issues. Wilder says that she used her industry contacts in 2008 to set up a pitch meeting with Holly Jacobs, executive VP reality and syndication programming at Sony Television. Jacobs rejected her pitch, purportedly telling her that “stay-at-home mothers are a depressed group of people who would have absolutely no interest in watching a show about their own depressing lives,” according to the suit.
Then The Talk came out. The show is produced by CBS Television Studios and RelativityReal and features Sara Gilbert, Julie Chen, Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood and Aisha Tyler discussing the day’s headlines, often from a parent’s perspective. The concept has been credited to Gilbert, but Wilder says it can be traced back to her idea she pitched to Sony. So Wilder has filed a lawsuit in California federal court, and in doing so, she demonstrates why it’s not so easy to win on a stolen-idea claim. Ten years ago, a plaintiff like Wilder might have asserted copyright infringement directly against the producers of the allegedly ripped-off show. But plaintiffs are beginning to learn that copyright only protects substantially similar expression, and judges tend to impose a high bar and toss such claims at an early stage.
Nowadays, sophisticated plaintiffs are more likely to allege a “breach of implied contract” claim on the theory that when an idea is shared, there’s an expectation that payment will be rendered if the idea is used later. It’s not always a winnable claim, but at least the plaintiff has a shot. But if Wilder pitched to Sony and then CBS made the show, what hope does she have in pursuing a lawsuit over any implied contract she had? That’s the question that will be central to her new suit.
The complaint refers to Jacobs’ “very close ties” to RelativityReal head Tom Forman and CBS. The lawsuit also talks about Sony’s global distribution deal with RelativityReal and alleges that “CBS had direct and easy access to Wilder’s treatment and her confidential intellectual property while they were in the development stage of The Talk.”
Wilder now is suing Sony for breaching the implied deal she had by allegedly “assisting others in producing and distributing The Talk” without compensating her. She also alleges Sony breached a duty of confidence by violating an allegedly standard practice in Hollywood of accepting pitches and treatments for TV shows with strict confidentiality.
Wilder also is suing CBS and RelativityReal for tortious interference, unfair competition and civil conspiracy. The defendants, she says, “intended to induce Sony to breach its contract by taking Wilder’s confidential and original work and exploiting it for their own gains when they produced and distributed The Talk.”
CBS’ statement on the whole incident: “It’s one thing to get sued over a project that was pitched to us but quite a stretch to be sued over a pitch that was made to somebody else. Ms. Wilder’s alleged offering to Sony played absolutely no part in the creation of The Talk. We’ll vigorously defend this case and expect to prevail.”
So what do you think of Wilder’s claim? It would seem thatThe Talk should be safe from this one! This appears to be quite a stretch from the former Basketball wife!
All My Children
Mark Consuelos Celebrates One-Year Anniversary as Co-Host of ‘Live’ Alongside Kelly Ripa
Today, April 17th marks a full-year since Mark Consuelos (ex-Mateo, All My Children) took over the co-hosting duties of ‘Live” alongside his wife, and longtime co-host, Kelly Ripa (ex-Hayley, All My Children).
Consuelos replaced Ryan Seacrest who are six seasons decided to be back on the west coast full-time. For Consuelos, now having the opportunity to work off of Ripa as co-hosts has been something of adjustment for him, but viewers have been eating it up.
Live with Kelly and Mark has remained the No. 1 entertainment talk show on television over the past year, growing 3% in average total viewers to 2.23M per episode. It is also the most-watched daytime talk show in the last year in key demos of women 18-49 and women 25-54. All of this, since the real-life marrieds teamed-up.
Photo: ABC
Speaking with Deadline, Kelly Ripa shared why the two are gelling on-screen, “I do think that there is something very possibly relatable about our relationship. We have disagreements like a normal couple, and we’re not afraid to let them unfold on the air and in front of America, and I think people find a lot of themselves in that.”
Mark weighed in how he has progressed as a host, and what he could improve at, sharing, “I’d like to get better at my interviewing skills. I’d like to get better at reading a teleprompter…I think I’m getting better at throwing to commercial. The other day in the middle of the show as we go to commercial, my sign off was ‘See you guys around.’ I mean, the show wasn’t over. The most obvious thing to say would be, ‘We’ll be back right after this.’ But I just said, ‘See you around.’ So we went to commercial and one of the producers (goes) ‘What was that?’ I don’t know… So for the next few sign offs, as a joke, I’d say ‘See you around.’ We got a kick out of it.”
Photo: ABC
Meanwhile, Kelly has given huge props to Mark, “I find Mark utterly compelling, really interesting, super funny, and he’s bold in a way like nobody else. He says what’s on his mind. If he’s thinking it, he says it. I’ve done this a long time and oftentimes people will adjust their natural personalities to pander to what they think the audience wants to hear, and Mark will tell people what he thinks, and he doesn’t care if it’s not a popular opinion. It gives him an edginess that I think is really missing in the landscape today. Everybody’s so afraid to say anything, and Mark is unafraid to say exactly what he’s thinking.”
In a statement, Debra O’Connell, President News Group and Networks, Disney Entertainment shared, We could not be more thrilled with how Mark has seamlessly joined the show family as permanent co-host. His undeniable charisma and his and Kelly’s natural chemistry are evident as they deliver the laughs and smiles to our viewers each morning. We are incredibly proud of how Live has continued to evolve and that the audience is responding so enthusiastically.”
So, do you think Mark Consuelos is the best co-host his wife Kelly Ripa has ever had on ‘Live’? How would you say he is doing as co-host after one full year on the job? Comment below.
Days Of Our Lives
DAYS Alum Tanner Stine to Appear in ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’ Starring Nicholas Chavez
Another face familiar to daytime fans has already boarded Ryan Murphy’s limited series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story which stars General Hospital favorite, Nicholas Chavez (Spencer Cassadine) in the role of Lyle.
Tanner Stine who played Kayla (Mary Beth Evans) and Steve’s (Stephen Nichols) son, Joey Johnson on Days of our Lives will also appear in the series.
In ‘Monsters’, look for Stine to portray the role of Perry Berman, who was Lyle and Erik’s friend and former tennis coach. In the story, Perry found himself at the epicenter of the murder mystery when he had accepted a phone call from Lyle shortly before the brutal murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez.
Photo: JPI
Other previously announced castings included: Cooper Koch (who plays Erik), Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny as parents Jose and Kitty Menendez, Nathan Lane as Dominick Dunne, Ari Graynor as Leslie Abramson, and Leslie Grossman as Judalon Smyth.
Photo: IMDb
In the series, the two wealthy brothers stand trial for shooting their parents in Beverly Hills, amid claims of self-defense after years of abuse, while prosecutors alleged that greed was the motives for the killing. Lyle and Erik Menendez have been behind bars in California for more than three decades for the 1989 killing of their parents.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story will debut later in 2024 on Netflix.
What do you think about Tanner Stine being part of the all-star cast for ‘Monsters’? Miss Joey on Days of our Lives? Comment below.
News
Soap Vet Christopher Cousins to The Young and the Restless
Looks like Ashley (Eileen Davidson) may get some much needed help, or assistance in shedding light on what caused her to have a massive personality split as her DID condition continues to spiral.
Casting news from The Young and the Restless has veteran actor, Christopher Cousins set to make his debut in the role of Alan Laurent, a psychiatrist and friend of Ashley’s from her time in Paris.
Look for Cousins to appear over multiple episodes beginning with the Tuesday, April 30th episode of the top-rated daytime drama series.
Photo: JPI
Christopher should look very familiar to soap fans having appeared on Another World, As the World Turns, One Life to Live in his most memorable role as Cain Rogan from 1991-2008, and most recently back in 2020 as Dr. Warren Kirk on General Hospital.
Photo: JPI
The actor has a long and extensive list of TV and motion pictures outside of the soaps as well, including: The Resident, UnREAL, Bosch, Vampire Diaries, to name but a few.
What do think about the casting of Christopher Cousins to be a part of Ashley’s DID storyline? Comment below.
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So…They canned WORLD TURNS for nothing?
No Comment………………..
No comment on this issue..I NEVER WATCH THE TALK!!!! This has no interest for me……….
We don’t know the situation-we’ll just have to see what happens
This could be specious, or this could be the catalyst to get this junk off our screens-and get Oakdale back where it belongs
I have watched the show and I never once had the impression the show was about motherhood or talking about things that are important to mothers. If anything I always thought this show was a View wanna-be/clone. The talk-show format is so generic they are all the same in some regard. I hope this case is thrown out of court, but unfortunately this woman is getting her 15 minutes of fame by filing it. So sad.
I worked copyright at Sony Pictures some years back. All I can say is that they are fierce at keeping their intellectual property rights (those rights they have paid others for).
Being a stay-at-home mom to two, I really take offense to the alleged words from Mr. Jacobs at Sony. Stay-at-home mothers are anything but depressed. What a terrible thing to say. At least when I worked at Sony they were extremely family friendly in my department.
As for Ms. Wilder and any others that pitch ideas to studios, they should have lawyers or something to back their claims and protect their interests because the studios are notorious for taking other ideas. That being said, I really do not see what basis she has for THIS claim considering it is not Sony who allegedly stole her idea.
Furthermore, I have yet to see how THE TALK is a show about “motherhood.” Now granted I do not watch it, but the promos never mention anything about motherhood – it is all celebrities, how to lose weight, latest gossip, etc.
I believe the show is Ms. Gilbert’s idea because I do not see otherwise how she would be considered for a panelist job on TV. I have no problems with her, but with her minimal television work and persona, she wouldn’t exactly be the first person I would think of, no offense.
Moreover, I really hate how our country has become so litigious.
Win she gets money or by settlement she will get money .
Seems like it will a win win situation ..
Eh! This woman’s lawsuit won’t get past the front door of the court house.
We just live in a litigious, selfish, self entitled nation infested with people on the take for what they can get for nothing. Doesn’t this individual already have enough for being married to a professional athlete? A show like The Mindless Chatter isn’t so creative or such an original idea that it warrants a lawsuit. The real lawsuit should be against whoever thought it was a good idea to cancel an iconic show like AS THE WORLD TURNS for this crap.
It is called 15 minutes of fame.