FIRST OFF . . .

Meanwhile, a father-and-son script-writing team from Michigan is suing multimillionaire entertainer Bill Cosby and producers of his top-rated “The Cosby Show” for plagiarism. In a federal suit filed in Grand Rapids, Mich., Henry and Daniel Shea of Berkley, Mich., contend that a script they submitted to the high-rated TV show in June, 1986, was rejected, but then used in fragments over seven shows broadcast between September, 1986, and November, 1987. “We have a line-by-line comparison of the submitted script and the dialogue from the finished shows,” said Joseph Moch, the Sheas’ attorney. “The overlapping areas are too similar, and occur too frequently, to be coincidence.” The suit asks for unspecified damages of at least $25,000. Representatives for the show in New York declined to comment on the matter.