Fox's 'So You Think You Can Dance' producers sued for idea theft

A man who bills himself as "The Dance Doctor" is suing Fox TV in Los Angeles, claiming the network ripped off his idea for "So You Think You Can Dance."

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John Cassese and his partners also named producers 19 Entertainment and Dick Clark Productions, along with a management firm to which the group pitched their show in 2003, as defendants, Zap2it.com reported.

The suit claims Cassese and his partners -- former Universal exec Maria Lamagra and writers Brian Nelson and Mark Wolfe -- registered the concept with the Writers Guild of America in 2003.

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"So You Think You Can Dance" debuted last summer on Fox and averages 10 million viewers per episode.

The lawsuit alleges Cassese and his partners pitched a show in which dancers would be recruited from across the country and partnered up -- eventually performing different dancing styles in front of a panel of judges. That's "pretty much" what the Fox series does, Zap2 it.com said.

The team said it pitched the idea to Martin Erlichman Associates, hoping to sell it to a talent agency, and that Erlichman never got back to them.

Neither Fox nor the show's producers commented.