The men who gave life to "Will & Grace" are suing NBC, claiming the network has tried to deny them their rightful share of profits from the series.

David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, creators of the Emmy-winning sitcom, claim NBC is paying a license fee that's "tens of millions of dollars below fair market value" for the show because NBC Studios, the in-house production unit that produces "Will & Grace," cut a sweetheart deal for its renewal in 2002. They filed suit Thursday (Dec. 11) in Los Angeles Superior Court.

NBC isn't commenting on the suit.

The deal in question, completed in March 2002, ensured a fifth, sixth and seventh season for "Will & Grace." The show, currently in its sixth season, remains a Top 15 hit in the Nielsen ratings and is a linchpin of NBC's Thursday lineup.

At the time, news reports pegged the renewal fee at anywhere between $3.5 million and $5 million per episode -- fairly close to what other similarly successful sitcoms had commanded in recent years.

Kohan and Mutchnick, however, claim NBC Studios and NBC lowballed them, cutting into their profit participation while adding to NBC's coffers. "Will & Grace" commands some of the highest prices for a 30-second ad on all of network TV.

"While [NBC Studios] purported to engage in arm's length good faith negotiations with NBC, NBC in fact effectively sat on and controlled both sides of the 'bargaining' table," the suit alleges. "NBCS executives in the purported negotiations ultimately reported to NBC."

The suit also claims that an NBC executive tried to intimidate Kohan and Mutchnick by insinuating the network would stop supporting other series from the duo. Kohan and Mutchnick are also executive producers of "Good Morning, Miami," which is produced by Warner Bros. TV.

"By its threat NBC conveyed that it would fail to adequately promote, disadvantageously schedule, and/or ultimately cancel 'Good Morning, Miami,'" the suit claims.