MGM/UA Television Files Suit Against ‘thirtysomething’ Star : Law: The show’s producers claim Timothy Busfield has breached his contract by demanding more money. The actor’s attorney says ‘MGM has not lived up to its agreement with Tim.’

MGM/UA Television Production Group, the producers of ABC’s popular yuppie drama “thirtysomething,” has filed a lawsuit against actor Timothy Busfield, who plays Elliot on the show, claiming he has breached his contract by demanding more money.

The producers have also filed a temporary restraining order to prevent Busfield from appearing in any other show or production after Aug. 3, when he was told by MGM/UA to report for filming new episodes of “thirtysomething.”

Busfield has been performing over the summer hiatus on Broadway in the stage production, “A Few Good Men,” and apparently planned to continue indefinitely after Aug. 3, the lawsuit said.

MGM/UA Television is seeking unspecified damages in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit. A hearing on the restraining order is scheduled for Aug. 14.

Responding to the suit, which was filed Wednesday, Edward G. Burg, an attorney for Busfield, said, “MGM has not lived up to its agreement with Tim, and is seeking to coerce him to come back to the show. He will not be coerced.”

The suit said that MGM/UA told Busfield on March 19 that he was to be paid $28,750 per episode for the upcoming season of “thirtysomething.” However, Busfield and the agency that provides his services, Stonecreek Productions, told MGM/UA on July 19 that the actor would not report for the start of production unless he was paid $36,375 per episode, the suit alleged.

MGM/UA maintained in the suit that Busfield was not entitled legally or contractually to that payment.

In a July 19 letter written to MGM/UA and on file with the court, Ernest Del, another attorney for Busfield, said that Busfield had been told prior to the 1989-90 season by one of the show’s executive producers, Marshall Herskovitz, that he would be released from the show if he thought he was being treated unfairly. The letter added that Busfield was unhappy that he would be receiving $10,000 less per episode than another leading actor on the show, Ken Olin, and felt he should receive the same money as Olin.

“thirtysomething” is about a group of adults, all about the same age, who deal with various emotional and professional difficulties. Busfield portrays Elliot, the court jester of the group who works at an ad agency with Olin’s character, Michael.

Meanwhile, someone who is not leaving the “thirtysomething” cast is Patricia Kalember, who appears sporadically as Susannah, the live-in love interest of Gary (series co-star Peter Horton) and mother of his child. Kalember has signed to co-star in a series of her own--an NBC drama for midseason called “Sisters.”

But Susannah won’t be coming to an untimely end: Kalember will continue in that role as well, according to Edward Zwick, co-executive producer. “We all had to agree with her doing both shows in the contractual agreement,” Zwick said.

He would not disclose the number of episodes in which she will appear.