TV shows’ titles
Today, Janette was watching her DVDs of Wonderfalls. This is one of several shows that she loves that were canceled early, despite having a rabid following. Firefly comes to mind as another.
Now, what’s the difference between these shows and the ones that make it big? One thing that struck me is the title. Take the current biggest hit, Desperate Housewives. The title sells the entire show. Or, the previous biggest hit: CSI. Again, good solid name that tells what the show is about and attracts viewers. Survivor. Bad show, great title. Who Want’s to be a Millionaire? Who doesn’t? Sex in the City? Please! Trading Spaces, Modern Marvels, Crossfire, The Man Show, Cops, Lois and Clark, the list goes on. Successful shows, great names.
Some of the longest running shows have great titles. Game shows come and go, but Jeopardy lives forever. Remember The Arsenio Hall show? Gone, but The Tonight Show lives on. Everyone knows that the best show on Saturday is Saturday Night Live.
This extends even into comedy. Friends is a great title. The King of Queens, too. DAG, not so much. Which of these three didn’t last a season?
Of course, this isn’t a hard and fast rule. Some shows with horrible titles do very well. Everybody Loves Raymond comes to mind. But a good name predisposes a show to do well. Does anyone think that Desperate Housewives would have taken over the top spot in half a season if it had been called The Gina Show? No, definitely not.
Which brings us back to Wonderfalls. Frankly, that’s not a great title. Plus, the concept is to similar to Joan of Arcadia (a somewhat better title, as Joan of Arc also heard the voice of God). Of these two, the one with the better title is still on, while the one with the worse title is gone. Even if it was a better show.
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