An Unfunny Thing Happened on the Way to New Orleans

Not even a month after announcing its planned Jan ’05 launch (Cfax, 3/25), the Chicago-based Stand-Up Comedy Television (SCTV) (booth #1031) has run into a legal hiccup. Andrew Alexander, CEO of Chicago’s famed Second City comedy empire, last month took action against the network’s cofounders, brothers Joseph and Avi Fox, asking that they stop using the SCTV name. "They have been ordered to Cease and Desist in using the name and have yet to relinquish their position—it looks like we will be heading to court," Alexander said Fri. A spokesman for the fledgling net said a comment would be forthcoming, but did not reply by press-time. SCTV is a legally-registered trademark owned by Second City Ent, which co- produced the "SCTV" comedy series that launched the careers of Martin Short, Eugene Levy, and John Candy among other comedy legends. — In other startup news, horror net Scream Channel (Cfax, 4/14) will not be bringing cofounder Joel Silver from Hollywood to N’Awlins. But exec suite #11 will feature Kim Bangash (late of the still-looming Horror Channel) and Steve Richards of Warner Bros talking up the net’s ghoulish programming and marketing plans for its Jan launch. And be sure to swing by booth #3623 to find out about The Outdoor Channel 2, TOC’s standalone high-def spin-off launching next year. It’s also nice to see MBC Networks’ Samara Cummins and her colleagues reserve a last-minute booth (#4337) on the floor. Check out Mon’s CableWorld for other new programmers schmoozing the show. – Shirley Brady