# What TV shows do you know by another name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 17, 2011, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923 "2011-01-17T08:13:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Amazingrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8edcca/32.png) [@Amazingrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazingrace)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/21 "2011-01-17T21:10:06Z")
My father-in-law calls **The Daily Show** _The Jon Daily Show_. He doesn’t follow golf at all, which makes it IMHO, even more humorous. ---
**Author:** ![Amazingrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8edcca/32.png) [@Amazingrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazingrace)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/22 "2011-01-17T21:12:33Z")
Double post ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/23 "2011-01-17T21:23:57Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > “Football Night in America” is still “Sunday Night Football” to most of us even though that’s not correct. I may be mistaken, but I think that “Football Night in America” is the name of the pre-game show (which features highlights from the Sunday afternoon games), and that the game itself is, indeed, “Sunday Night Football.” My grandmother always would refer to “All in the Family” as “Archie Bunker.” ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/24 "2011-01-17T21:37:09Z")
My ex was a fan of a show called “Junkyard Wars,” I think, in which people built remote-controlled robots out of all kinds of junk and made them fight in an arena. We never could remember what it was called, so I called it “Robot Wars” while he called it “Robotty,” because it sounded like the arena announcer said “Robotty” right before the robots were released into the arena. My parents watch “Sabado Gigante,” a Spanish-language variety show, every Saturday. My grandmother calls it “Don Francisco,” after the host. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/25 "2011-01-17T21:44:59Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I may be mistaken, but I think that “Football Night in America” is the name of the pre-game show (which features highlights from the Sunday afternoon games), and that the game itself is, indeed, "Sunday Night Football. Looks like you are right. Maybe I can backpedal into claiming the reverse, that some people call “Sunday Night Football” “Football Night In America” by mistake! ---
**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 17, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/26 "2011-01-17T21:48:35Z")
> [@Lucky\_13](#): > > My ex was a fan of a show called “Junkyard Wars,” I think, in which people built remote-controlled robots out of all kinds of junk and made them fight in an arena. We never could remember what it was called, so I called it “Robot Wars” while he called it “Robotty,” because it sounded like the arena announcer said “Robotty” right before the robots were released into the arena. I think you might be combining two shows here: [“Robot Wars”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_Wars_%28TV_series%29), which featured Robots fighting in an arena and [Junkyard Wars](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrapheap_Challenge), which featured people building things out of junk, but not robots. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/27 "2011-01-17T21:49:31Z")
My family (and many others I’d bet) called “Home Improvement” “Tool Time”. ---
**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 17, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/28 "2011-01-17T21:52:50Z")
I do remember as a kid I used to watch a furniture restoration show called “Furniture To Go” with my dad, except I always called it “The Funny Furniture Guys.” ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/29 "2011-01-17T21:58:50Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I understand that was a working title that wasn’t used on the finished show. I’ve certainly never seen an episode with that as it’s title, YMMV. I never have either. But for some reason, every pop culture history site like this one from [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phil_Silvers_Show) feels compelled to note that the original title of the series was _You’ll Never Get Rich_. Why this should be, I’m not sure. It’s kind of like insisting that _Scooby-Doo_ was originally entitled _Scooby-Doo, Where are you?_ everytime Scooby-Doo is mentioned. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/30 "2011-01-17T22:02:53Z")
We’d often refer to whatever incarnation of “Star Trek” was currently in first run as simply “Star Trek”. So we’d say “There’s a new ‘Star Trek’ tonight”, referring to STTNG, for example. Currently, they’re referred to by just the last part - “Next Generation”, “Deep Space Nine”, etc. Same with the “Stargate” shows. “Count Down With Keith Olberman” is “Keith Olberman” or simply “Olberman” or sometimes just “Keith”. The same for “The Rachel Maddow Show”. “The Big Bang Theory” is “Big Bang”. ---
**Author:** ![Lethal\_Babydoll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@Lethal\_Babydoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lethal_Babydoll)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/31 "2011-01-17T22:18:10Z")
I like watching **"Sam Crow"** ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/32 "2011-01-17T22:31:10Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I do remember as a kid I used to watch a furniture restoration show called “Furniture To Go” with my dad, except I always called it “The Funny Furniture Guys.” Wow, I hadn’t thought about that show in _years_. I had to look it up just to make sure it was what I was thinking of and it is. Here’s the [website](http://www.furnitureguys.com/index.php) for those two guys. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/33 "2011-01-17T22:34:00Z")
I have all 3 series of **Clatterford** on DVD. It’s original British title is **Jam & Jerusalem**. Likewase I got once got **Are You Being Served Again?** instead of **Grace & Favour** as a birthday present one year. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/34 "2011-01-17T23:04:20Z")
A Christmas Carol is known as “Scrooge,” in my family. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/35 "2011-01-17T23:35:29Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I think you might be combining two shows here: [“Robot Wars”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_Wars_%28TV_series%29), which featured Robots fighting in an arena and [Junkyard Wars](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrapheap_Challenge), which featured people building things out of junk, but not robots. So I was calling it by the right name all along! Cool! ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/36 "2011-01-18T01:05:18Z")
When my daughter was little she would call the show _Cops_ “Bad Boys”. She even referred to all police officers as Bad Boys. As in when she dialled 911 just to “see the Bad Boys”. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/37 "2011-01-18T01:18:38Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > My family (and many others I’d bet) called “Home Improvement” “Tool Time”. ABSOLUTELY. the other day i was talking with some friends, wondering what happened to JTT. One person piped up and said “I haven’t seen him since Tool Time” and someone else said “Wow, was that like Home Improvement?” much chaos ensued. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/38 "2011-01-18T01:21:49Z")
The first couple of years that NBC’s Saturday Night was on it used to drive me bonkers that so many people incorrectly referred to it as Saturday Night Live, especially since that was the name of a terrible variety show on ABC hosted by Howard Cosell. It didn’t help that Lorne renamed the show after Howard got cancelled. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/39 "2011-01-18T01:42:20Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > Here in Canada, “Beast Wars,” was referred to as “Beasties,” because I guess the CRTC had a bug up their ass about having an animated kids show use the word “war” in their title. The same policy actually improved the title of BW’s contemporary, War Planets, called Shadow Raiders here. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923/40 "2011-01-18T01:49:54Z")
ISTR that Desilu executives, and William Shatner, were somewhat peeved when people began jokingly referring to the original _Star Trek_ as _The Mr. Spock Show_. There’s long been an urban legend that, in Japan, it’s known as _Mr. Sulu, Master of Navigation_. Most people I know use shorthand phrases for the later incarnations of the show: _Next Gen, DS9_, and _Voyager_. _Enterprise_ just started out with that one-word title, but the studio added _Star Trek_ to precede it later in its run, IIRC., [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-do-you-know-by-another-name/567923.md?page=3)