SPIKE TV News and documentaries put men, sports as focus

Among offerings is a series on modern fatherhood.
ZAP2IT.COM
Every day in every way, Spike TV is revealing just how testosterone-lite television used to be. Reality TV, apparently, was too girly, so Spike created "The Joe Schmo Show." Award shows aren't manly enough, so Spike TV has presented trophies for video games and stunts. Now, the only cable network to actively alienate women has assembled its first slate of news and documentary programs aimed specifically at men.
Keith Brown, recently an on-air correspondent for the PBS news and public-affairs magazine "Now with Bill Moyers," has developed the network's nonfiction offerings in his capacity as vice president of news and documentaries.
Upcoming programs
Naturally, sports are at the forefront of the Spike lineup.
"Hardwood Dreams 2" is a follow-up to the 1993 documentary from Michael Tollin ("Radio"). The original followed basketball stars at Los Angeles' Morningside High School; the sequel will look at those same players 10 years later. Wesley Snipes will return as narrator, and Tollin and Robbins will produce.
"Glory Days" comes from veteran HBO Sports producer Dan Klein ("Rebels of Oakland: The A's, the Raiders, the '70s") and examines how ultracompetitively athletes live off the playing field. The BBC documentary "Testosterone Boys" focuses on amateur weightlifters and "Viva Baseball" looks at how Latin American players have changed the sport of baseball.
Spike TV is also developing "The Precinct," a six-episode take on police officers in a notoriously dangerous precinct, and "True Dads," an examination of the difficulties of modern fatherhood.
"These programs hit on a number of themes that men are concerned about -- family duty, body image, job stress -- as well as dealing with life challenges," Brown says.