Why “Cougar Town” should be retitled
April 23rd, 2010 @ 3:04:41 pm
There’s a lot of speculation (even a comment from Busy Phillips on last night’s Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson) that “Cougar Town” may be receiving a title change for it’s second season. Some people say “Nay!” but I say “Yea!”
First, the entire premise of the show has changed. No longer is Courtney Cox’s character a sex-crazed “over-fourty” divorcée who’s looking to bed several young studs. It has developed into quite an ensemble show that features B-stories which exclude her entirely! Her two best friends, her ex-husband and son, her neighbor/best friend’s husband, as well as another neighbor (who was her male doppleganger initially, and now may be a potential love interest) round out the ensemble.
There are those who say the show would lose it’s established audience if there were a name change. Well, not if the title change is promoted heavily throughout the summer, and as long as the show retains it’s current time slot. I don’t see people missing out on it. Plus, it’s about to become a sophomore series. If there is to be a change, it has to happen now! This is the last chance!! Plenty of shows have survived name changes. A few examples are:
- “8 Simple Rules” – formerly “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter,” changed it’s title after the death of John Ritter. While it only survived another season, it’s cancellation was not due to the title change, but instead due to the “Jump-the-Shark” casting.
- “Two Guys and a Girl” – formerly “Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place,” had it’s name changed after the Pizza Place disappeared (plus, we can all admit that title was ridiculous!). It survived two more seasons, falling victim — again, not to the title change — but to schedule hopping.
- “The Hogan Family” – originally titled “Valerie” then “Valerie’s Family,” is quite the sitcom enigma. Not only did it survive two title changes, but it survived a network change and the intentional death of the title character and replacement of the family matriarch! After the initial name change, the show went on to live for another 5 seasons!!! That’s a success story if ever I heard one!
- “Archie Bunker’s Place” – while some argue this is a ‘new series,’ others argue this is merely a reformatting of “All in the Family” — including the same cast and premise (at least, of the final ‘AitF’ season). 4 seasons, this show lasted under this title.
- “Make Room for Daddy” – originally known as “The Danny Thomas Show,” survived a record 8 seasons after it’s title change as well as having the honor of creating Mayberry and spinning off “The Andy Griffith Show.”
- “Saved By The Bell” – known as “Good Morning, Miss Bliss” for it’s first season (which was on The Disney Channel), the show survived a title change, network change, very minor casting change, location change, school change (despite using the same sets), and still went on to last 4 seasons with two spinoffs!
This is only a brief selection of the shows I can think of off the top of my head (and with minimal internet research, of course). This does NOT include the myriad of shows that have title changes during pre-production, as I don’t think that applies.
Anyway, the point being — this doesn’t happen often, but when the show evolves in such a way that the title no longer serves the premise (such as with “Two Guys and a Girl” for example), it makes the best sense — especially while the show is still young — for the title to also change. Perhaps if the phrase “Cougar Town” also referred to the location (have they established a location name? I don’t recall) then the title could remain. I think the name change would actually increase viewers! Trying to explain to my mother what the phrase meant was not only awkward, but pointless since the phrase no longer describes the show (and hasn’t since the first 13 episodes… if not sooner!)
Anyway, I would love to hear your view and even more so, what your suggestion for a possible title change is!
Categories: TV
