Tribbles May Mean Troubles for 2 Companies

Flash back to 1967: David Gerrold is three credits away from graduating from Cal State Northridge, and “Star Trek” is in its second season on television. As his senior project, Gerrold decides to write a whimsical episode about furry space creatures that reproduce like rabbits. And so was born “The Trouble With Tribbles.”

“It was my first effort, my first sale,” Gerrold told us over the phone. He recounted how, as he watched the show at home, he turned to pal Bob Englund, who later became famous as the razor-fingered movie slasher Freddy Krueger, and quipped: “Who’s going to remember this 20 years from now?”

Trekkies, that’s who. As “Star Trek” became a cultural phenom, “The Trouble With Tribbles” won its place among the most popular episodes. Even now, 32 years later, people can’t seem to get enough of the toys--Talking Tribbles, Tribbles in a Jar, even a Tribble handbook.

Where’s all that merchandising money going? Gerrold has filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court to find out. His suit against Paramount and Norway Corp., which hold the rights to “Star Trek,” claims that they’ve breached a contract that gave him 5% of the take.

Gerrold is alleging fraud and asks for an accounting. He claims that the defendants “have repeatedly withheld information and other times lied” about what little moneymakers Tribbles have become.

“A lot of people are interested in how this case turns out,” said attorney Glen L. Kulik. If he wins the fraud claim, Gerrold, the award-winning author of more than 30 science fiction novels and anthologies, could recover--pardon the pun--Tribble damages.

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THE PLAY’S THE THING: Writers Don E. Miller and Peter W. Hassinger say they came up with an idea for a movie about William Shakespeare back in 1983. They called it “The Dark Lady” and thought it was a sure-fire winner.

The plot: Young playwright suffers creative block. Comely wench pines for the footlights and poses as a man so she can act on the stage. Bard meets girl. They fall in love. Creative juices and credits flow.

Sound familiar? Forsooth! That was the story line of “Shakespeare in Love,” which won a slew of Oscars this year, including best actress, best original screenplay and best picture.

The story may not have been all that original. In a $7-million suit filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Miller and Hassinger claim that they pitched their idea around Hollywood for a decade. Universal, like everyone else, passed. Shakespeare won’t sell, the writers say they were told. Mainstream audiences won’t embrace a movie about a dead Englishman who wore tights, wrote with a feather and talked funny.

Universal hated the idea so much that it stole it, court papers charge. The writers say they learned Universal was developing “Shakespeare in Love” in 1992 and that they threatened to sue. They say Universal told them the project was dead. Then, the writers allege, the studio turned around and struck a deal with Miramax. There was no immediate comment from either film company.

Alas, this is not the first time a writer has cried foul. Best-selling mystery writer Faye Kellerman also has filed suit in federal court, claiming that “Shakespeare in Love” was stolen from her 1989 novel, “The Quality of Mercy.”

To sue or not to sue. That was the question.

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WAR, WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? The battle began as the sun went down and lasted nearly until dawn. Boom! Boom! KA-BOOM!!! Some 200 explosions rocked the Lake Sherwood area of Thousand Oaks, where veterinarian Robert Miller and his wife, Deborah, have lived for 20 years.

War is heck, especially when the battle being waged next door is for the movies. The Millers have sued, seeking damages in excess of $500,000 from defendants Paramount Pictures and Mace Neufeld Productions Inc., makers of this summer’s John Travolta war flick “The General’s Daughter.”

Explosives used in the battle scene Oct. 1, 1998, “created powerful, concussive shock waves which literally shook [the] house to pieces,” the Millers charge in their Los Angeles Superior Court suit. They say they were promised that the commotion would be no louder than their garbage disposer.

Walls and ceilings cracked and the roof sprang leaks, they say. Tiles shattered. The animals spooked; one horse may never recover “and may now be unsuitable for breeding,” the suit states.

Since the filming, the Millers--he is 72, she is 67--have experienced stress-related health problems, they say. She suffers from anxiety attacks. He grinds his teeth at night, the suit states. The couple are living in a rented trailer while their home is repaired. According to the suit, he’s “a world-renowned expert on horse and animal training” and has written a number of books, including “Most of My Patients Are Animals.”

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PORN QUEEN BARBIE? Could that be our plastic princess presiding over “Barbie’s Playpen” in a bow tie, stockings and a black top hat? Is Barbie putting out the red light, promising “Hot sexual party games, free live sex feeds and 1,000-plus video feeds”?

No way, says Barbie’s parent, El Segundo-based Mattel Inc. It insists that Barbie’s still as pure as the driven snow.

Just so there’s no confusion on that point, Mattel is suing a Las Vegas company called Internet Dimensions in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Mattel seeks a court order to wipe barbiesplaypen.com out of cyberspace, claiming that the sex site infringes on the trademark for its billion-dollar doll.

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QUOTABLE: “Lap dancing won a major victory today.”

--Attorney Roger Jon Diamond, after a state appeals court threw out Anaheim’s prostitution case against seven dancers and two managers of a joint called the Sahara Club.