What’s in a name?
When it comes to TV show titles, apparently, it’s a very short story.
One-word show titles are all the rage now. First there was “Revenge” and “Suits” and “Glee.” This fall brought “Betrayal,” “Dads,” “Hostages” and “Reign.”
Later this season we’ll see “Intelligence,” “Believe,” “Crisis” and “Enlisted,” among many others.
While one-word titles aren’t new (“Dallas,” “Seinfeld”) they’re growing in popularity as TV becomes more of a digital experience — and viewers’ attention spans wane from all the available options.
“You need things that are going to translate across a multitude of assets,” says Phil McIntyre, CEO of branding agency The Brand Gallery. “Shows are going to live online, on-air, on the Web, virally, on multiple distribution channels. Shorter is better, certainly.”
Sometimes single-word titles take the form of a name, as in the case of “Arrow” and “Dracula” or a place, like “Nashville.” But increasingly, producers and networks are opting for vague monikers that offer only a hint about what a show is actually about week to week — leaving it open to a hidden meaning or double entendre.
“The title should convey what the show is about but also the dual meaning of what themes it will explore over time,” says Christina Davis, executive VP of drama development at CBS Entertainment.
“With ‘Hostages’ they are literally being taken hostage, and for the characters it’s a metaphor, for they are being held hostage by something in their life.”
A simple title also helps in crafting eye-catching ads to break through the clutter of the 1,600 or so TV shows vying for viewers’ attention.
“I think there’s the very basic human response of it being very easy to understand and absorb one name and remember it,” says Stephanie Gibbons, president of marketing an on-air promotions at FX Networks, whose single-word titles include “Louie,” “Justified” and “Legi t.”
“One word enables us to have a lot more space on the page, [and] enables that title to stand out as a mark truly should,” she says.
Short titles also play well on Twitter, where messages and hashtags are limited to 140 characters. Even longer titles tend to get abbreviated over the years — “Sons of Anarchy” becomes simply “Sons” or “SOA,” “Grey’s Anatomy” gets shortened to “Grey’s.”
Though distilling a show’s qualities into a single word can be tough, “When done right, they serve as an elegant, succinct, powerful, and memorable message that resonates in the mind of consumers,” says Dan Pappalardo, founder and CEO of creative agency Troika.
Keeping titles simple can also make a series more accessible (“Friends” was originally titled “Six of One”) and vagueness prevents a show from having to stick too closely to its original premise through multiple seasons. The producers of the former ABC comedy “Cougar Town” (now on TBS) have famously blamed the title from stunting viewership when the show abandoned its plotline of middle-aged women on the prowl for younger men.
“The best titles for us are simple and descriptive and memorable but also broad enough that it will draw in the biggest audience possible,” Davis says.
But a good title, no matter how short and sweet, won’t make a bad show good.
“The show has to stand on itself,” McIntyre says. “You’ve got to have quality content below the name that would then support how clever a name is.”