St. Name Change

What’s in a name? The “St. Elsewhere” folks came up with 15 of ‘em, to replace Ecumena --the name of the fictional corporation that owns St. Eligius Hospital. The winner--the only one to clear an MTM research committee--was . . . Weigert . As in Bruce Weigert Paltrow, the show’s exec producer.

Writers-producers John Tinker and Channing Gibson said that Paltrow learned of the choice after the fact. Gibson added: “We can only assume that Mrs. Paltrow (Bruce’s mother) won’t sue us for trademark infringement.”

He referred to the recent settlement of a trademark-infringement lawsuit by the real-life Humana Inc., which alleged that the Ecumena name was based on the corporation. As a result, “St. Elsewhere” episodes carried a disclaimer and NBC promised a name change.

The shows with the new Weigert name begin in January.