Generation gap
There was an ad tonight for one of the entertainment news programs, noting that they were going to talk with David Hasselhoff. Now, being a child of the 1980s, I associate him with one thing: Knight Rider. I know that if I'd been a few years younger, the connection might be Baywatch instead. And if I'd been German, well, I might have a totally different connotation.
Apparently James does, too. There's some sort of generation gap at work. Because he heard Hasselhoff and said, "Isn't he the guy from SpongeBob SquarePants?"