The 'Two and a Half Men' lawsuit

TMZ (yes, your official news source for all things Paris, LiLo and co.) has an item today about a multi-million-dollar lawsuit filed in L.A. County Superior Court yesterday over the production costs for "Two and a Half Men," which CBS airs and Warner Bros. owns.

The suit claims W.B. and CBS struck a deal -- that CBS would pay a lower-than-marketplace fee in seasons 5 and 6, but if the show was a hit CBS would reimburse W.B. for certain losses. ... W.B. claims during the first four seasons it incurred a loss of $61,097,418. W.B. alleges CBS was obligated to reimburse the company for some or all of the deficits, depending on the national ranking of the show. W.B. claims in spite of the fact that the show is a success and currently in season 6, CBS refuses to pay more than $49,000,000 it's owed.

You know, this is one of those cases where it's hard not to take the side of CBS. I'm sure there was some kind of binding-sounding agreement between the parties and CBS is just stonewalling, hoping to bring the ultimate settlement cost down a few mil. But honestly, isn't WB making enough money off this show? It's the biggest thing in syndication, comedywise at least, is the highest-rated program on the CW affiliate in town (a network jointly owned by WB and CBS, incidentally) and is likely to keep printing money for WB for a few years. Sheesh!