# Better Titles for TV Episodes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 21, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-titles-for-tv-episodes/582714 "2011-05-21T20:26:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-titles-for-tv-episodes/582714/1 "2011-05-21T20:26:02Z")
Neil Gaiman’s Doctor Who episode “The Doctor’s Wife” was outstanding IMHO. However, its title seems a bit fan-fictiony. I thought “Thieves” would be better. Has anyone ever thought of another episode of Doctor Who or any other show (Yes, I’m thinking about ST-TNG) which could have a better title? What would it be? (Note that the quality of the episode itself doesn’t matter.) ST-TOS often had excellent titles, usually derived from literature, such as “Wolf in the Fold,” “Is There in Truth No Beauty?” and “Conscience of the King.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-titles-for-tv-episodes/582714/2 "2011-05-21T20:38:24Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Neil Gaiman’s Doctor Who episode “The Doctor’s Wife” was outstanding IMHO. However, its title seems a bit fan-fictiony. I thought “Thieves” would be better. Gaiman wanted to call it “Bigger on the Inside,” but was overruled by the BBC. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-titles-for-tv-episodes/582714/3 "2011-05-21T20:54:41Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Gaiman wanted to call it “Bigger on the Inside,” but was overruled by the BBC. That would have been great. Regarding ST:TNG, the problem is generic titles like “Inheritance” - quick, is that the one about Picard’s pseudo-son, Data’s pseudo-mother, Beverly’s family ghost, Tasha’s sister, or the time-traveling Alexander? In the first seasons of Next Generation my friends and I made up fake titles for several Next Generation episodes: Instead of “The Child”, how about “Is there in Troi No baby?” (Has a nice original Trek sound doesn’t it?)? Instead of “Unnatural Selection”, how about “The Deadly Bore” And instead of “The Naked Now”, “The Naked Not Again” seems more appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-titles-for-tv-episodes/582714/4 "2011-05-21T23:41:55Z")
I forget the real title, but that episode of Buffy where a demon cyberdates Willow will always be “Malcolm in the Internet” to me. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-titles-for-tv-episodes/582714/5 "2011-05-22T00:34:14Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > That would have been great. > > Regarding ST:TNG, the problem is generic titles like “Inheritance” - quick, is that the one about Picard’s pseudo-son, Data’s pseudo-mother, Beverly’s family ghost, Tasha’s sister, or the time-traveling Alexander? > > In the first seasons of Next Generation my friends and I made up fake titles for several Next Generation episodes: > > Instead of “The Child”, how about “Is there in Troi No baby?” (Has a nice original Trek sound doesn’t it?)? > > Instead of “Unnatural Selection”, how about “The Deadly Bore” > > And instead of “The Naked Now”, “The Naked Not Again” seems more appropriate. My wife referred to “Conspiracy” as “Crunchy Bugs.”