CBS Continues Its Fight Against ABC in Glass House vs. Big Brother Smackdown
The Glass House vs. Big Brother continues.
To refresh, CBS believes ABC's new reality series The Glass House is a direct rip-off of its long-running hit Big Brother. The Glass House, which is set to premiere on Monday, June 18, follows 14 contestants as they live together and compete for $250,000. Similar to Big Brother, contestants will go head-to-head in competitions and will be eliminated weekly. Unlike Big Brother, America will have the chance to vote, manipulating different outcomes within the house.
ABC files counterclaim against CBS
After ABC filed a countersuit on Monday, CBS submitted a new court filing Tuesday claiming that ABC has been insufficient in proving that The Glass House is not a rip-off of Big Brother, according to The Hollywood Reporter. While ABC's countersuit states that plenty of reality shows employ similar techniques and production styles, CBS says that ABC has yet to offer up an example, other than The Glass House, that shares those similarities with Big Brother.
CBS' claim also states that ABC has continually changed its story about the comparisons The Glass House draws. ABC previously compared it to The Hunger Games rather than Big Brother, but has since gone back on that statement, according to CBS' filing.
CBS files restraining order against ABC to halt premiere of The Glass House
Additionally, CBS says the differences between the two shows are "insignificant," and claims that The Glass House targeted former Big Brother producers in particular to work on their new series.
On Wednesday, CBS filed a motion to compel ABC to produce information pertaining to The Glass House, including all communications between ABC and various employees in regards to development and production — that includes emails, texts, instant messages and communications on social media sites, according to a new report from THR. The network has also requested all episode outlines, production manuals, etc., as well as copies of the show.
Reality TV's copycat fight: Can CBS stop ABC's Glass House?
The network has requested ABC to deliver this information within 48 hours, but ABC doesn't seem to be budging, calling CBS' latest tactic a "red herring." "This case is about a television network with a stale franchise -- Big Brother -- that hopes aggressive litigation tactics will disrupt the premiere of a major competitor's new, state-of-the-art reality show," ABC said in a statement.
Whose side are you on? Will you tune in to The Glass House if it premieres on Monday?
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