# TV shows/soaps with really stupid names **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 29, 2010, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256 "2010-11-29T05:19:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/21 "2010-12-01T00:14:12Z")
It’s Like … You Know? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/22 "2010-12-01T00:28:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Too Something? > [@](#): > > It’s Like … You Know? My contribution: _All That_. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/23 "2010-12-01T01:36:10Z")
I always thought _Whose Line is it Anyway_ was a stupid show title. _Valerie’s Family_ was pretty stupid title after Valerie Harper left. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/24 "2010-12-01T02:15:18Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > I always thought _Whose Line is it Anyway_ was a stupid show title. > > _Valerie’s Family_ was pretty stupid title after Valerie Harper left. How soon was it changed to The Hogan Family? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/25 "2010-12-01T02:43:38Z")
_The Middle_ - fairly funny show, but stupid title. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/26 "2010-12-01T04:44:49Z")
_Buffy The Vampire Slayer_ was pretty dumb in that Sarah Michelle Gellar never played an airhead Valley Girl like Kristy Swanson had in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/27 "2010-12-01T05:16:46Z")
I was only 9 when It’s Like, You Know aired and I have remembered it all these years thanks to that absolutely atrocious title. Just… awful. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/28 "2010-12-01T07:35:12Z")
> [@jrbor76](#): > > The all time winner(?) to me has to be a show from the 90s called Too Something. _Too Something?_ > Did they just pick two words from the dictionary at random for that one, try to think of something better, then shake their heads and shrug their shoulders in shame? Arguably, they made things even worse when they renamed it _New York Daze_. Now, I’m not going to argue that _Too Something_ is the best title around, but it has a certain enigmatic quality to it. Might draw me in, if only to see what kind of show would have such a title. Dredging up the well-worn daze/days pun, on the other hand, is lazy and unimaginative. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/29 "2010-12-01T10:17:23Z")
“20/20” (description of perfect vision, is strange for an ABC news magazine. I guess some consultant figured CBS was making lots of money with “60 Minutes” so they HAD to have a two digit number in it. Before the TV series “30 Rock” wasn’t it also the title of some NBC football highlights/pre game show? There were a number of non New Yorkers complaining about the obscure title. Hell, as a New Yorker I found it pretty obscure myself until it was explained to me. I had a co worker who kept raving about how great “Married…with Children” was but I avoided it because I figured it as a dopey family show like “Eight is Enough” or “Family Ties”. Then I finally decided to listen to him. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/30 "2010-12-01T10:26:41Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > “20/20” (description of perfect vision, is strange for an ABC news magazine. I guess some consultant figured CBS was making lots of money with “60 Minutes” so they HAD to have a two digit number in it. As a kid, I made it make some sort of sense: watch our news and you’ll be crystal clear about what is going on in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/31 "2010-12-01T13:13:44Z")
Glee ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/32 "2010-12-01T15:25:02Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > “20/20” … description of perfect vision Nitpick: I think 20/20 is a description of “normal vision.” If it were “perfect vision,” then there would be no 20/15 (as I had for a long time in my right eye) or 20/10. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/33 "2010-12-01T15:47:50Z")
Once upon a time, there was a show called “Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane” which is a terrible cumbersome name. But then they decided to rename it to “Zoe…”. This wouldn’t have been so bad except for the ellipsis. In the promos, they insisted on calling it “Zoe-Dot-Dot-Dot” rather than just giving it the single word name of “Zoe” like other successful shows named after a main character. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/34 "2010-12-01T17:18:23Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > When I first heard there was actually going to be a network television series called “Desperate Housewives” I (seriously) thought to myself that no one in America would be caught dead watching a show with that title. > > Shows what I know… Same here. And what about “Gossip Girl”? Oh _hell_ no. I always got “30 Rock” and “Third Rock from the Sun” confused. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/35 "2010-12-01T17:35:30Z")
"_%@_"My Dad Says, pronounced “Bleep My Dad Says”. Why not just call it “Stuff My Dad Says” or “Crap My Dad Says”. So bleeping stupid! ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/36 "2010-12-01T17:54:36Z")
> [@Caricci](#): > > "_%@_"My Dad Says, pronounced “Bleep My Dad Says”. Why not just call it “Stuff My Dad Says” or “Crap My Dad Says”. So bleeping stupid! They should shorten it to “[Bleep]-Dot-Dot-Dot!” Instant winner! ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/37 "2010-12-01T18:01:23Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > [Love Is a Many Splendored Thing.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Is_a_Many_Splendored_Thing_(TV_series)) > > I had an actor friend who had a small role on “One Life to Live” many years ago. He said the cast & crew themselves joked about the name of the series. They referred to it as “One Leg to Lift.” My former husband used to call it “One Spleef to Smoke,” which, while it made no sense, was kind of funny. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/38 "2010-12-01T18:24:17Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > They should shorten it to “[Bleep]-Dot-Dot-Dot!” Instant winner! So, “_Shit . . . And Shit_”? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256/39 "2010-12-01T20:42:38Z")
_The Closer_ is a pretty bad name, as it implies that it’s about something other than what it’s actually about and may even serve to attract the wrong demographic to trying out the show. For those who don’t know, it’s a police procedural with comic elements. It stars Kyra Sedgwick as the head of a special crime unit. She’s a brilliant interrogator, and who therefore is really good at closing cases. Hence the name. The show has particularly strong appeal to women. But when I hear “Closer,” I think of closing business deals, as in Alec Baldwin’s famous “Coffee is for closers” monologue from\* Glengarry Glen Ross\*. [(About 40 seconds in.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-AXTx4PcKI)) A show about a guy that closes interesting and difficult business deals is hardly farfetched, but doesn’t really appeal to me. It took me a while to check out the show. And I loved it. Tons of women like L&O, CSI, NCIS, and the like, and would probably like The Closer. Most of the procedural-loving women I’ve recommended it to hadn’t even tried it because they didn’t realize what it’s about, but liked it when they did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-soaps-with-really-stupid-names/562256.md?page=1)