Huh. An article that actually thinks that the Spike Lee v. Spike TV suit might have some merit.
The most devastating fact in Lee’s favor is this: Hecht apparently admitted in interviews that Spike Lee was one of his major inspirations for his choosing the name “Spike TV.” According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Hecht’s role models were “Spike the macho vamp[ire] in Buffy the Vampire Slayer; [and] directors Spike Lee and Spike Jonze.”
To be fair, Hecht is also quoted, in the same article, as saying he wanted to convey that Spike TV would be “cool,” and “aggressive,”” as in, “to spike a volleyball.” But clearly, Spike Lee’s image was among the connotations Hecht wanted “Spike TV” to conjure up.
I believe that this admission makes Lee’s case, which otherwise might seem to verge on megalomania, much more sympathetic. It shows that it is not just Lee himself who believes that “Spike TV” connotes “Spike Lee”; the President of Spike TV himself seems to think so, too
(Yes, that’s Spike Jonze, not Spike Jones.)
The article is a pretty interesting one on the legal issues behind the suit. I still think it’s goofy, but, then, I’m not a lawyer. Or a celebrity. Or, thank God, a TV executive.