# Shows with episode-naming conventions. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 4, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164 "2011-02-04T16:18:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/21 "2011-02-04T19:10:52Z")
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s titles usually tell you exactly what’s going to happen in that episode. “Dennis and Dee Go on Welfare” “The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby” “Dennis Looks Like a Registered Sex Offender” And they have title cards at the beginning of each one, after the cold opening. Man, I love that show. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/22 "2011-02-04T19:26:13Z")
[Police Squad: Each episode has two titles: the voiceover narration inevitably fails to match the on-screen title.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083466/trivia) ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/23 "2011-02-04T19:38:16Z")
One of the IMO best was the specific episodes of **Breaking Bad** Season 2 that showed the flash-fowards of what was to come in the finale. You’d see the eye in the pool, the burning Teddy bear, etc. If you take the episode titles of just those episodes, they explained what was going to happen: “Seven Thirty-Seven” “Down” “Over” “ABQ” ---
**Author:** ![JessMagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@JessMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JessMagic)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/24 "2011-02-04T19:52:00Z")
Ooh, great topic! All of the episodes of The Young Ones had one-word episode titles (“Demolition”, “Interesting”), except the final episode, “Summer Holiday”. Every episode of I’m Alan Partridge was titled for a well-known film, but with “Alan” in the title (“Watership Alan”, “I Know What Alan Did Last Summer”). ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/25 "2011-02-04T19:55:09Z")
> [@filling\_pages](#): > > It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s titles usually tell you exactly what’s going to happen in that episode. “Dennis and Dee Go on Welfare” “The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby” “Dennis Looks Like a Registered Sex Offender” And they have title cards at the beginning of each one, after the cold opening. > > Man, I love that show. I liked the one when the cold opening was Dee talking about her new boyfreind and the gang arguing about whether or not he was retarded. It ended with her saying “My boyfriend is not retarded” and then the title came up “Dee Dates A Retarded Person” ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/26 "2011-02-04T20:00:30Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > I was really disappointed that this episode turned out to have no references to _Donnie Darko_. You might be joking, but if you’re not, it’s probably a reference to _Donnie Brasco_. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/27 "2011-02-04T20:13:02Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I liked the one when the cold opening was Dee talking about her new boyfreind and the gang arguing about whether or not he was retarded. It ended with her saying “My boyfriend is not retarded” and then the title came up “Dee Dates A Retarded Person” Good one! I just rewatched that episode again the other day, actually. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/28 "2011-02-04T20:13:40Z")
**King of the Hill** didn’t do this for its whole run, but for several seasons all the titles were puns based on movie/book/song titles, ie _The Substitute Spanish Prisoner_, _Of Mice and Little Green Men_, _Beer and Loathing_, _My Own Private Rodeo_, _Full Metal Dust Jacket_, _An Officer and a Gentle Boy_, _The Miseduction of Bobby Hill_, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/29 "2011-02-04T20:22:15Z")
_True Blood_ often (if not always) names its episodes after the songs (usually blues or country rock, sometimes jazz, almost always something fairly obscure) that it plays during the closing credits. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/30 "2011-02-04T20:31:27Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Big Bang Theory always titles episodes “The Adjective Noun,” where the noun is usually a scientic term or reference. Last night’s episode was “The Thespian Catalyst,” for example. > [@hogarth](#): > > The Man from U.N.C.L.E. had “The \ Affair” for their episode titles. This is a long-standing formula for thrillers, especially by novel-mill authors like Ludlum. The adjective often comes from some proper noun, and the head noun usually is of Greek or Latin origin, or at least a word that’s otherwise associated with official things like law, government, etc.: _The Odessa File_, _The Pelican Brief_, _The Bourne Conspiracy_, _The Hades Factor_, _The Janson Directive_and so on, ad nauseum. ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/31 "2011-02-04T20:31:37Z")
The TNT show \*\*Memphis Beat \*\*(with Jason Lee) named all of its episodes after Elvis Presley songs. ---
**Author:** ![Palmer\_Eldritch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecae2f/32.png) [@Palmer\_Eldritch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palmer_Eldritch)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/32 "2011-02-04T21:05:06Z")
On the Adam West **Batman** TV show, each story was a two-parter, and the dual episode titles would rhyme. Examples: 1. “The Joker is Wild” 2. “Batman is Riled” 3. “The Penguin Goes Straight” 4. “Not Yet He Ain’t” 5. “The Puzzles Are Coming” 6. “The Duo is Slumming” They fell in and out of this as the series went on, and dropped the conceit completely in the third season when the format changed. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/33 "2011-02-04T21:40:47Z")
Two and a Half Men uses a quote from the episode for the name. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/34 "2011-02-04T22:01:25Z")
I’m pretty sure that Desperate Housewives uses titles of songs from musicals, though I don’t know if that’s a rule for them. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/35 "2011-02-04T22:08:29Z")
**No Ordinary Family** uses “No Ordinary [something]” for all its episode titles. The first episode was “No Ordinary Pilot”. Other episodes include “No Ordinary Ring”, “No Ordinary Friends”, “No Ordinary Anniversary”, and “No Ordinary Sidekick”. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/36 "2011-02-04T22:15:24Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > I’m pretty sure that Desperate Housewives uses titles of songs from musicals, though I don’t know if that’s a rule for them. It started out as Sondheim titles, then it became musicals in general (but usually Sondheim), and then it became lines in songs in musicals (again usually Sondheim). ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/37 "2011-02-05T00:07:55Z")
My favorite of all time - Robot Chicken Season 4 Titles: “Help Me” “I’m Trapped” “In a DVD Factory” “They Took My Thumbs” “Two Weeks Without Food” “Tell My Mom” “I Love Her” “But Not In That Way” “Love, Maurice” “P.S. Yes, In That Way” “Dear Consumer” “We Are a Humble Factory” “Maurice Was Caught” “Unionizing Our Labor” “President Hu Forbids It” “Due to Constraints of Time and Budget” “The Ramblings of Maurice” “Cannot Be Erased, So Sorry” “Please Do Not Notify Our Contractors” “Especially the Animal Keith Crofford!” ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/38 "2011-02-05T00:31:51Z")
> [@JessMagic](#): > > All of the episodes of The Young Ones had one-word episode titles (“Demolition”, “Interesting”), except the final episode, “Summer Holiday”. The episodes of _Bottom_ are named to line up together with its own title, i.e. 'S Up, Burglary, Accident = Bottom’s Up, Bottom Burglary, Bottom Accident. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/39 "2011-02-05T00:44:39Z")
A little bit off of the topic, but most quests in _Fallout: New Vegas_ are named after 1950’s era songs. ---
**Author:** ![Pearson\_Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pearson_flyer/32/7241_2.png) [@Pearson\_Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pearson_Flyer)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164/40 "2011-02-05T00:51:41Z")
I’m ashamed to have to say this one, but no one else has (because no one else is watching), but **The Mentalist** episodes all contain some form of the color red (or a reference to something red) in their title. Examples: Rose Colored Glasses Bleeding Heart Redline [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-with-episode-naming-conventions/570164.md?page=3)