In the seemingly perennial battle between producers of TV shows and the people who star in them, Don Johnson has notched a victory, quietly pocketing $19 million in a settlement with the company that produced his long-ago CBS crime series, “Nash Bridges.â€
The agreement between Mr. Johnson and Rysher Entertainment was signed on Jan. 30 in Los Angeles, after years of legal wrangling over Mr. Johnson’s share in profits from syndication of the show, which ran on CBS from 1996 to 2001.
A jury awarded Mr. Johnson $50 million in profits and interest three years ago, but Rysher appealed to try to get the total reduced. In the end, Mr. Johnson agreed to a settlement of $15 million and interest. The court documents detailing the agreement were first reported on in The Hollywood Reporter.
Disputes have been common - and often ferocious â€" in the television business between the performers in series and the producers who own the syndication rights to the shows and continue to sell them for oten sizable profits.
James Garner, for example, sued Universal studio’s television arm for more than a decade to win profits from his hit series “The Rockford Files.†More recently, the late Jack Klugman won a settlement in 2012 after suing Universal for profits on his hit NBC show “Quincy.â€
