It may be true that you can’t judge a book by its cover, but it’s almost always true that you can judge a TV show by its title.
“Mad Men,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and, yes, “Bewitched” were all great TV shows whose titles told you exactly what the shows were about: Madison Avenue advertising executives, a young medical student named Meredith Grey and the effect of witchcraft on an ordinary mortal.
In the past few years, though, we’ve been seeing some titles that tell you almost nothing about the plot, inviting as few eyeballs as possible. Since when did abstruse become the new trendy? Producers spend hours — days — trying to come with up with a catchy, memorable title.
So how we did we end up with:
‘Low Winter Sun’ (AMC)
This sounds like a weather forecast, not a police procedural set in the bankrupt city of Detroit. They must have been desperate. The AMC show lasted one season.
‘Turn’ (AMC)
AMC programmers really suck when it comes to picking titles. You wouldn’t have guessed from the title that this is a show about Revolutionary War spies.
In this case, though, the lame title didn’t ruin everything: “Turn” was renewed for a second season.
‘Halt and Catch Fire’ (AMC)
Another turkey from AMC. Maybe “Mad Men” was a fluke. This drama about computer geeks and their hard drives failed to produce any buzz when it debuted this spring.
‘I Just Want My Pants Back’ (MTV)
Commentary unnecessary.
‘Men in Trees’ (ABC)
This lame-o comedy starring Anne Heche as a relationship-advice guru who moved to Alaska — where the ratio of men to women is 10-to-1 — never found an audience. Wonder why?
‘Defiance,’ ‘Dominion,’ etc.
Syfy favors these one-word shows with a strong masculine flavor — but rather than immediately creating an impression that you’re gonna see something great, they are instantly forgettable.
‘Viva Laughlin’ (CBS)
This show was about a casino owner named Ripley Holden, whose dream was to open a resort on the Laughlin Strip. The Laughlin strip? Jeez, that’s memorable.
‘Karen Sisco’ (ABC)
If you hadn’t seen the movie version of Elmore Leonard’s book “Out of Sight,” starring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez, would you even know that Karen Sisco was the cop in the cops-and-robbers drama?
So why would ABC name its adaptation of the movie after the character? Even though the luscious Carla Gugino starred, “Karen” died a swift death.
‘Life on Mars’ (ABC)
A TV series adapted from a British original and based on a David Bowie song should not be named after the Bowie song. It was a cop show. One season.
‘Extant’ (CBS)
Premiering July 9, the Halle Berry sci-fi show has a title so mysterious that no one can quite make it out.
She plays an astronaut who spends a year in outer space and comes home to her husband and child, with complications. Oy.