When studios and networks are sued for allegedly stealing ideas for what turn out to be hit shows, the plaintiff usually details how he or she pitched the idea the previous year, was told no and then learned through news reports about the suspiciously similar product about to hit the airwaves.

That's not the case with Anthony Spinner, who is suing ABC and its sister studio, Touchstone TV, over the network's series "Lost." Spinner claims that he came up with the idea first -- in 1977.

Spinner, a writer and producer on such shows as "Cannon" and "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," filed the suit Friday (Aug. 19) in Los Angeles Superior Court. He seeks unspecified damages for fraud and breach of contract, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The suit claims that Sid and Marty Krofft Productions -- which produced the mid-'70s kids' show "Land of the Lost" -- hired Spinner in 1977 (before current "Lost" cast members Evangeline Lilly and Maggie Grace were born) to create a series for ABC called "Lost," about a group of plane-crash survivors in a jungle. Spinner also says a contract with Krofft and ABC entitles him to royalties.

"Lost," which begins its second season on ABC next month, was one of the breakout hits of last year and is up for 12 Emmys, including outstanding drama series. J.J. Abrams, Jeffrey Lieber and Damon Lindelof are credited as its creators.

ABC and Touchstone haven't commented on the suit. In the past, Abrams and others have said "Lost" grew from an idea by then-ABC Chairman Lloyd Braun, who commissioned Abrams and Co. to write a pilot for a drama that had the stranded-on-an-island premise of CBS' reality series "Survivor."