prevent line breaks in legends

Hi,

I'm looping over a list like this ['name',[data_array],'name2',[data_array2],...] like this:

for x,y in zip(toplot_list,linestyles):
         if type(x) == type(array([])):
             pylab.plot(wavelengths,x,'k%s'% y)
             pylab.legend(toplot_list[toplot_list.index(x)-1])

Now there is a problem with the legend, that I don't see all names, but only the last. I seems to me like the names get superposed, though I cannot see this. Anyway, if I have a name like 'hello' the entry in the legend looks like:
h
e
l
o
Well, this is not quite the behaviour I wanted.
Does anybody know how to increase the size of the legend automatically so that all names can be written out? Or is it possible to prevent line break somehow?

TIA
Christian