What Was The VIPER Lawsuit of 1993?
While the first season was being filmeds, Stephen J. Cannell heard of the show’s premise and liked it. While all this confusion was taking place at Paramount Studios (regarding CBS), he tried to create a TV series called ‘VIPER’ starring a loner and a VIPER sports car. Cannell’s VIPER Show had 4 episodes already filmed when Paramount found out about it. Cannell was then sued by Chrysler/Paramount for a trademark violation. Paramount won, and Cannell refurbished the syndicated show (starring Michael Dudikoff) and named the show ‘Cobra.’ ‘Cobra’ only lasted one season, it was plagued by bad acting and lousy direction (thanks to Cannell’s ‘skilled’ direction). It was one of the lowest rated syndicated shows of the 1990s. By contrast, Paramount’s VIPER, was among the Top 5 highest rated syndicated shows when it debuted in 1996. 8.
