Wedding Bell Blues: Church Suing 'dream'

"Richard Simmons' Dream Maker" has been canceled, but that hasn't stopped a Nevada church from filing a trademark-infringement lawsuit against Tribune Entertainment, Vin Di Bona Prods. and other producers of the short-lived syndicated strip.

The Lakeside Christian Essene Church in Incline Village, Nev., claims that it has operated a successful wedding-planning service under "The Dream-Maker" moniker since 1981, but business has declined since Simmons' wish-fulfillment show hit the airwaves in September, according to the suit filed last week in federal court in Los Angeles.

Prospective Lakeside customers were dissuaded from trying the church's "Dream-Maker" service once weddings became a regular component of Simmons' show, according to the complaint.

"Richard Simmons' Dream Maker" was canceled last month, though reruns air through mid-January (HR 11/23).

"People are calling us to cancel their weddings, saying that they don't want to be married by Richard Simmons," said the Rev. David Masters, who runs the Lakeside church. "It's been very confusing to people and frustrating for us."

A Tribune Entertainment spokesman declined comment on the lawsuit, while representatives for Vin Di Bona Prods. could not be reached Wednesday. Simmons is not named as a defendant.

The lawsuit claims that after Masters learned of plans for the Simmons TV show, church attorneys warned Tribune in October 1998 that Lakeside had a trademark application pending with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the "Dream-Maker" name in conjunction with wedding services.

According to the suit, Lakeside's application was filed in February 1998 and issued Sept. 21, 1999 -- the day after the premiere of "Richard Simmons' Dream Maker."

Now that the show is history, Masters said the church's only recourse is to seek compensation for its losses from show producers, though the suit does not include a dollar figure for damages.