The complaint was filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court. This really sounds like one of the worst cases of phony-baloney studio accounting, not to mention sheer arrogance, in Hollywood history. Geez, when is Big Media going to stop this larceny? For instance, according to the lawsuit, NBC Uni is claiming that, as of the end of fiscal year 2006, Quincy M.E. has accumulated over $66 million in net losses — this after we all know that the 1976-1983 series is a classic shown all over the world even to this day. Through his Beverly Hills attorneys Johnson & Johnson [UPDATE: This firm and another are representing me in a class action lawsuit related to a personal matter. I forgot to disclose that when I wrote this post on a busy news day. I apologize for the omission.]

Klugman just gave this statement to me: “I don’t want their money. I want my money. I can’t believe they’ve collected over $250 million dollars and they say they are still in the hole. I have 28% of the net and they won’t even give me a copy of my contract. I worked for them for almost 8 years. I got up at 4 o’clock in the morning. I would rewrite. I did a ton of work. It’s on every day. I haven’t gotten a penny for years.”

Worse, the lawsuit claims that when Klugman asked to see his paperwork with NBC Uni, the network and studio “have refused to give Plaintiffs a copy of the contract”. So on June 21, 2007, Klugman’s attorney wrote a letter to NBC Uni requesting “a copy of any and all contracts pertaining to Klugman and Quincy M.E.” On September 26, 2007, NBC Uni responded that it’s “unable to comply with your request … because it is NBC Universal’s policy not to provide copies of talent contracts or other confidential documents.” The lawsuit notes that, under the terms of the NBC Uni contract, Klugman and his company Sweater Productions are entitled to a “Participant Share” of 25% of all “net profits” attributable to Quincy M.E. But NBC is required to “properly account” for the net profits to Sweater/Klugman which has a right to audit the records of NBC Uni if a dispute arises. On March 5, 2008, Klugman’s attorney gave notice to NBC Uni of Klugman’s intent to audit the TV series.