Timeless is in some trouble. Deadline reports a Spanish media company is suing NBC over the upcoming time travel drama.
From Eric Kripke and Shawn Ryan, the show centers on a history professor, a bodyguard, and an engineer who must chase down a time-traveling criminal. The cast includes Abigail Spencer, Matt Lanter, Malcolm Barrett, Goran Visnjic, Paterson Joseph, Sakina Jaffrey, and Claudia Doumit.
Recently, Spanish company Onza Entertainment filed a suit against NBC, claiming the upcoming series is copied from their own program El Ministerio del Tiempo (The Department of Time). The Spanish series also “relates to the adventures of a three-person government team (consisting of one woman and two men) traveling through time to thwart undesired changes to past events.”
NBC has not yet commented on the lawsuit, which is still pending.
Timeless premieres on October 3rd.
What do you think? Have you heard of or seen El Ministerio del Tiempo? Does it sound like Timeless?
In fact, they are suing for a breach of implied contract and for plagiarism, which is not due to the fact that both teams consists of two woman and a man, but to the fact that the main character has the same background story than Julián, El Ministerio del Tiempo’s main character.
And, oh, Timeless also uses doors to travel through time! And as some episodes of El Ministerio del Tiempo were send to NBC/Sony… it looks like infringement of copyright.
Somebody has possibly copied some specific details on a show that is so formulaic that I’m suprised the producers of Time Cop aren’t suing everybody.
But, as I’ve said on another post; “The concept is poor to say the least. Didn’t Bill & Ted teach us anything?
Guy steals time machine, use second time machine to chase said guy through history? Hell no.
Go back ten minutes before first machine is stolen and break it/arrest guy. All fixed, end of series.”
To avoid a paradox, you *allow* them to steal it and it’s now a TV movie called “Bait-Car Time Machine”. Go back a day early and make sure It only works ONCE (No batteries in 10,000 BC) and is preset to head for a sunny Pacific island two hours before a volcano is set to level the place. Or if the plot allows have it work twice but pre-program it to gas the occupants then auto-return to a present day sunny Pacific island with the hatch fused shut.