# Movies and TV shows named for a non-lead character **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, movies\ **Created:** [January 30, 2023, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049 "2023-01-30T11:57:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/1 "2023-01-30T11:57:22Z")
When the American sitcom _Cheers_ was dubbed for the German market, they renamed the character of Norm “Helmut” and retitled the show “_Prost Helmut_” (meaning “Cheers, Helmut”): [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lBJOtFswbmA/maxresdefault.jpg "Prost Helmut (Cheers) Theme - ZDF Germany - The Spy That Came in for a Cold One Cold Opening") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBJOtFswbmA) This was a strange decision, since Norm isn’t by any stretch the main character of the show (even though [he may indeed be the most popular](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-characters-from-cheers/976297)). The new title might have made sense if they had re-edited the show, or rewritten the dialogue, to _make_ Norm the main character, but they didn’t even do that… What other movies and TV shows are named for a character who _isn’t_ one of the leads? ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/2 "2023-01-30T12:12:38Z")
Would “How I Met Your Mother” qualify? (Possibly a spoiler, I suppose.) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/3 "2023-01-30T12:39:57Z")
Wasn’t _The Green Hornet_ renamed _The Kato Show_ when it aired in Hong Kong? ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/4 "2023-01-30T13:26:51Z")
_Waiting For Godot?_ ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/5 "2023-01-30T13:41:53Z")
Monty Python and the Holy Grail. He’s not even in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/6 "2023-01-30T13:46:03Z")
_Rebecca_ ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/7 "2023-01-30T13:46:22Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Waiting For Godot? Not a film or TV show, but I’ll allow it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/8 "2023-01-30T13:49:29Z")
_Saving Private Ryan_ ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/9 "2023-01-30T14:02:03Z")
I’ll try to do better (although there are movie and tv movie adaptations.) 🙂 _The Wizard of Oz?_ ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/10 "2023-01-30T14:12:09Z")
Gilligan’s Island? Sure, you can say, “Huh? _ **Of course** _ Gilligan was the main character!” But in the context of the show, the egos of the Skipper, Thurston Howell and the Professor all clashed with each other for dominance, and the women performed their own plot manipulations, while Gilligan simply bumbled along, doing his own thing and minding his own business. He was a passive presence- he caused plot elements to take place, but only unintentionally through his bumbling. Other than that, he simply allowed himself to be acted upon by events. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/11 "2023-01-30T14:52:16Z")
Sherwood Schwartz to Tina Louise when she complained she thought the show was going to be about a movie star stranded on a desert island: “Tina? The name of the show is _ **Gilligan’s Island** _?” ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/12 "2023-01-30T14:57:55Z")
_Oscar_ ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/13 "2023-01-30T15:19:13Z")
_Laura_ ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/14 "2023-01-30T16:20:01Z")
_Chasing Amy_ ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/15 "2023-01-30T16:21:39Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Would “How I Met Your Mother” qualify? (Possibly a spoiler, I suppose.) Well, the **I** in the title is the main character. I feel like this phenomena is a lot more common in movies than in TV shows. It’s easy enough for a movie to be about some goal, and that goal is a character. You can’t really stretch that too much for an entire show. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/16 "2023-01-30T16:35:49Z")
“ **Raising Hope** ”? I don’t remember the daughter, Hope, being too prominently featured in the show. There weren’t very many adventures of Hope or any episodes from Hope’s perspective. She existed, like the furniture. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/17 "2023-01-30T16:40:53Z")
**HIMYM** notwithstanding, titles with I and another character’s name are almost always about the other character. _I Love Lucy_ (and it’s 1950s knockoffs _I Married Joan_ and _My Little Margie_) were not about the “I” character. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/18 "2023-01-30T16:53:38Z")
I can’t decide whether _Weekend At Bernie’s_ counts or not. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/19 "2023-01-30T17:13:06Z")
_Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael_ ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049/20 "2023-01-30T17:22:00Z")
I would suspect that the world of killing people, or attempting to, would be fertile ground here. _JFK_ _Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia_ _The Assassination of Richard Nixon_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-tv-shows-named-for-a-non-lead-character/979049.md?page=2)