Warner Bros. Revises ‘Polish Hill’ Pilot

Warner Bros. Television has agreed to make a minor revision in the pilot episode of the CBS fall police drama “Polish Hill” to resolve a plagiarism claim by the author of an award-winning book about Baltimore murder investigators, a spokeswoman for the studio said Friday.

“What began as an 11-page, single-spaced diatribe of allegations has been reduced to claims about the use of one device found in police stations across the country--a caseload board,” said Barbara Brogliatti, senior vice president for Warner Bros. publicity, promotion and public relations.

Author David Simon, whose “Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets” won the 1991 Edgar Award for nonfiction crime and mystery writing, claimed last week that “Polish Hill” screenwriter John Wells lifted scenes and dialogue from his book. He was joined by director Barry Levinson, who is casting his own TV project based on Simon’s work.

“Warner Bros. is willing to make minor changes in its use of the board in a goodwill effort to stop these endless, scurrilous and unfounded accusations,” Brogliatti said.

Warner Bros. will do some re-editing and looping to make the crime board “less visible” in the pilot episode of “Polish Hill,” which stars Robin Givens and Pam Gidley as murder investigators.

“We have come to an agreement,” confirmed Gail Mutrux, an executive at Levinson’s Baltimore Pictures. “The matter has been resolved.”