TV shows don't need
great titles like abc sex com to thrive -- but it helps
By The Washington Post found at http://pittsburghlive.com
Monday, September 19, 2005
"The series has a real audacity right down to the title," says
actor James Denton, who plays hunky plumber Mike Delfino. "You realize the
title is as tongue-in-cheek as the show."
Just as parents-to-be agonize over the names of their newborns, series
creators stress about what to call their made-for-TV babies. Of the 30 new shows
debuting this fall, some titles are, shall we say, questionable. The WB's
"Just Legal," may be about a Doogie Howser-type lawyer, but it also
sounds like a phone line advertised late at night.
Some titles tell the viewers exactly what they need to know. In CBS' comedy
"How I Met Your Mother," a father tells his children how he, that's
right, met their mother. And NBC's offbeat comedy about a man making amends via
his own version of a 12-step program is appropriately titled "My Name Is
Earl."
Since the new series were announced in May, two shows already have changed
their names. NBC's "Surface," about creepy underwater creatures, is
the TV show formerly known as "Fathom." UPN's "Sex, Lies, and
Secrets" now is called "Sex, Love & Secrets." The show
changed its name to avoid sounding like the famous movie, "sex, lies &
videotape."
Suzanne Martin, creator and executive producer of ABC's new comedy "Hot
Properties," faced the same problem. "My original title was 'Sex and
Chocolate' -- the two things that get women into the most trouble," Martin
says. "But it sounded too much like 'Sex and the City.' "
Each new show frantically jostles and competes for viewers' attention.
"A good title (alone) is not going to keep people," says Katie Jacobs,
executive producer of Fox's "House." "So the show has to be good.
Will a title pique curiosity? I certainly don't think that our title piqued the
right kind of curiosity. But I think that if it's a good fit, it can help
viewers stay and point them in the right direction."
The new Fox series "Head Cases," about two lawyers recently out of
mental-health institutions, was called the "Crazy Lawyers Pilot" for a
long time.
"I think a title is very important. So much of the success of the show
is tied up in the first one or two episodes," says executive producer Jeff
Rake. "So how do you get people to watch the first episode? Marketing,
publicity, and I think a title is part of it.
"Obviously we wanted something that could convey a legal element, that
could convey a mental-health element," Rake says. "When it got down to
it, 'Head Cases' was catchy. It's a familiar idiom for somebody who is a little
bit off in the head. We just thought it somewhat conveyed the combination of
those two worlds -- legal and mental health -- and also had somewhat of a
whimsical spirit about it."
Paula Pell is the executive producer and creator of NBC's new midseason
comedy "Thick and Thin," about a woman who recently lost a great deal
of weight. "I've always loved the use of the word 'thick' when it comes to
heavy because it's always a positive thing," Pell says. "I remember
working on the main character and thinking of her with her sister and how
they've gone through thick and thin. . . . So it's a double meaning of going
through life and going through weight change."
But can a show title be too clever for its own good? "Arrested
Development's" title might have hurt the show. Although a seemingly perfect
play on words (the family is in development, they are arrested in their
development, and the father is arrested), Mitch Hurwitz, executive producer of
the Emmy-winning comedy on Fox, thinks the term is too abstract.
"I think you need a noun. Like, 'Housewives' would have been a good
thing to put in there," Hurwitz says. "One woman said to me, 'I'll be
sure to watch it. Deranged Development.' And I thought, 'Oh, she's never heard
the term.' And I wonder if a lot of people haven't heard the term."
A show named after the title character brings its own set of issues. Freddie
Prinze Jr.'s semi-autobiographical sitcom on ABC is simply titled
"Freddie." This worked for Bob Newhart, but can it work for the star
of "I Know What You Did Last Summer"?
"I haven't decided how I feel about the title yet. It's fairly
new," Prinze says.
"I've already put enough pressure on myself. Whatever standards or
pressure or goals others set for me, it's nothing compared to the goals I've set
for myself."
And what about a title such as NBC's new series "E-Ring?" Sure,
that might be what the outer layer of the Pentagon is called, but do most
viewers know that?
"I think it's kind of a catchy title," says executive producer Ken
Biller. "I think it's something that you remember, and one of the things we
want to do is educate the audience a little bit about some of the nuances and
idiosyncrasies of the Pentagon, which is kind of a mysterious building.
Remember, no one knew what 'CSI' meant."
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