Every now and

then I discuss the world of television in this column and since there

are a few programs and television-related issues I would like to weigh

in on, here we go:

Spike TV was

set to launch Monday but it is being held up by the handlers of the Spike

Jones estate. Jones was best known to Americans in the first part of the

20th century for his "Silly Songbook" and work with his band

of musicians and comedians known as "The City Slickers." Their

most popular hit was "Yes, We have No Bananas" though other

songs tickled the country's funny bones with their blend of zany sound

effects in music.

Marvin Leeraby,

executor of the Jones estate, feels that this new television network is

trying to cash in on his deceased client's notoriety and would only confuse

viewers, many of whom are already befuddled enough.

"People

are going to see Spike TV and think that they will see performances of

Spike Jones and The City Slickers,' said Leeraby. "What are they

going to find instead, some cartoon crap called Ren and Stinky. Spike's

probably rolling in his grave and using that clicker thing that makes

it sound like your neck is twisting."

Spike TV is

to be an all-male network, almost like the Lifetime Network but without

movies about mothers becoming women of the night, mothers taking to the

streets to find their daughters who have become escorts or former call

girls who go