Lawyers haggled in harsh conditions earning large sums of money, but now the contest has been settled. (Not out in the open, mind you, but behind closed doors.)
Somebody has apparently paid up to settle the copyright-infringement suit, but how much to whom is not disclosed.
Los Angeles U.S. District Court Judge Lourdes Baird on Thursday dismissed Fox's claim that their reality show was different from CBS's mega-hit adventure contest. And on Friday, CBS and Survivor Production agreed to dismiss their claim against Fox, which had also cited "unfair business practices and civil conspiracy" in its suit.
A Fox spokesperson stated "Fox is pleased that this matter has been concluded." A lawyer for CBS could not immediately be reached for comment.
CBS, which rejected the Boot Camp idea when it was pitched to the network, initially claimed Fox had transformed the show into a series "virtually identical" to Mark Burnett's reality hit Survivor. Boot Camp featured regular folks, yelled at by drill sergeants, competing in a series of physical challenges.
The similarities CBS claimed, included a "highly ritualized elimination ceremony" and "its technique of interspersing interviews with contestants as to their voting and playing strategy and their personal views concerning the other contestants."
The network also contended that the whole "look and feel," had been stolen, along with former Survivor producer Scott Messick who, when commandeered to work on Boot Camp, was considered to have broken an agreement with Burnett to keep his mouth zipped about how Survivor is put together.
Fox responded that CBS's suit was "frivolous."
Boot Camp attracted 15.8 million viewers when it debuted, but failed to maintain such high ratings during its eight episode run. The series averaged 11 million viewers from March through May.
Television critics noted the similarities to Survivor, a fact that CBS cited in its lawsuit. But hey, if you can tell one reality show from another these days--not to mention one reality show lawsuit from another--you should probably win your own prize.