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Jack Klugman is suing NBC over his share of profits from the TV series, Quincy, M.E. The show was on from 1976 to 1983 and you have to figure that if that series didn't make truckloads of bucks, nothing could. I mean, it would be like McDonald's claiming there was never any money in selling burgers and fries. Still, at last report, NBC Universal was saying with at least a semi-straight face that Quincy was $66 million in the red so there were no profits to share with the guy who played Quincy.

Does NBC mean this? Of course not. It's just a corporate game wherein they're saying, "Hey, Klugman! If you want your money, you're going to have to fight for it. And we're going to make it so difficult and expensive that maybe you'll forget about it or at least settle for ten cents on the dollar!" They do this because it works. A lot of folks in Klugman's situation don't go to war over the money. Most do settle for a fraction…which is what Mr. Klugman will probably do, too. Companies like Universal save billions (that's billions with a "b") taking the position they take.

I mention this because it is not unrelated to why we all just went through that nasty strike. The people who told us there was no money to be made off the Internet are the same people who are telling Jack Klugman there were no profits from Quincy, M.E. They didn't expect the Writers Guild to believe that either, but they hoped we wouldn't go to war over the money…and they hoped that if we did, we'd settle for a fraction. It's a silly, often destructive game but that's how it's played.