TV producer sues Disney over “Chief”

Rod Lurie has sued Touchstone TV, claiming the Disney-owned studio owes him at least $1 million for his failed series “Commander-in-Chief.”

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, the producer-director-writer claims Touchstone used the Hollywood writers strike as a pretext to stop paying him under his contract for the 2005 series about the first female U.S. president.

Lurie was ousted early in the series’ run, replaced as showrunner by Steven Bochco, who in turn was replaced by the show’s executive producer Dee Johnson for its final episodes.

According to the lawsuit, after his firing, Lurie’s contract was amended to include a two-year extension agreement, where he retained executive producer credit on “Commander” and was paid $3 million (in weekly installments) and an overhead allowance of $100,000 per year until June 2008.

The agreement provided for Lurie to remain exclusive to Touchstone and develop, write and supervise other projects.

Touchstone has not been served with the court papers and declined comment on the suit.