It’s Like … You Know?
My contribution: All That.
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?
The Middle - fairly funny show, but stupid title.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
Glee
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.
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.
Same here. And what about “Gossip Girl”? Oh hell no.
I always got “30 Rock” and “Third Rock from the Sun” confused.
"%@"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!
My former husband used to call it “One Spleef to Smoke,” which, while it made no sense, was kind of funny.
So, “Shit . . . And Shit”?
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.) 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.