The eyes of "Walker, Texas Ranger" are upon Sony and CBS.
Chuck Norris is looking to land a $30 million roundhouse kick to the companies' purses in a lawsuit concerning subscription video on demand profits from the 90s drama filmed partially in North Texas.
In the lawsuit, which was filed in the Superior Court of California on Wednesday, Norris' Top Kick Production Company claims it hasn't seen a dime of the subscription video on-demand revenue from the show.
Subscription video on-demand services weren't around, obviously, when the "Walker, Texas Ranger" contracts were drawn up, so the suit, obtained by the Hollywood Reporter, claims Sony and CBS breached their contract and an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing with Norris.
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According to the lawsuit, Norris is entitled to 23 percent of all profits from "Walker, Texas Ranger," but received nothing from subscription video on-demand revenue from CBS and Sony, which manage streams of the show's episodes on various platforms.
In assessing the value of the "Walker, Texas Ranger" brand, the lawsuit claims the show has earned $692 million in syndication revenue.
That time Chuck Norris played for the other Texas Rangers, in 2005.
Bill Janscha Special to the Star-Telegram
But, "the Defendants focused less on marketing "Walker" to television stations and DVD viewers and more on promoting the show on S-VOD services, some of which they owned or co-owned," the lawsuit claims.
Norris goes on to claim that the money has not been included on profit participation statements sent to Top Kick since 2004.
On the show, Chuck Norris' Walker and his partner Trivette fought crime in cowboy boots across the state of Texas for nine seasons on CBS.
The Tarrant County Courthouse played the Texas Rangers' headquarters in the show, while the Stockyards' White Elephant Saloon was renamed CD's Bar & Grill. That's where Walker, Trivette and the whole gang hung out after throwing no-goodniks in jail, of course.
The series has been broadcast in more than 100 countries and spawned the 2005 made-for-television movie "Trial By Fire," according to Deadline.
Matthew Martinez: 817-390-7667; @MCTinez817
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