'New Girl' Accused of Stealing Series Idea

Two writers have filed a suit claiming that the Fox series "New Girl" is directly plagiarized from a pilot script that they wrote in 2006. The suit is aimed at Fox, agency William Morris Endeavor and media investor Peter Chernin.

The suit claims that Stephanie Counts and Shari Gold, who were students at the University of Georgia at the time, wrote a script about a socially awkward young woman with a best friend named C.C. who moves into an apartment in Los Angeles with three single men. In 2011, Fox began to develop a series about a socially awkward young woman with a best friend named CeCe who moves into an apartment in Los Angeles with three single men; that series would become "New Girl."

Counts and Gold allege that the Fox show appeared after the two writers had shared their script with people at WME, and those people had passed along the idea to Chernin Entertainment, which developed "New Girl." The two writers claim that they had even suggested Zooey Deschanel for the lead role in their series; Deschanel would later be cast as the lead in "New Girl."

The suit also alleges that Fox offered a $10,000 settlement to the two writers in 2012, after the writers had hired a lawyer to pursue their accusations about the allegedly stolen idea. Counts and Gold declined to take the settlement offer.

The suit seeks compensation for the writers, as well as credit for the creation of the series' premise and a public apology from the defendants.