How to title a TV show

At some level, the right title for a television show is the title of a show that is very popular. (Sam Goldwyn said something similar in describing how to title movies.) The rules are that a title has to be snappy and memorable and to some extent indicative of the contents. So, on just hearing the name, what exactly are House and Castle about? Isn't the former supposed to be the latter—but I guess the answer to that is no, and for that you'd have to come up with a show called Home.

Some shows have had exhausting paths to their final entitling. The story of Everyone Loves Raymond is especially entertaining; Ray Romano hated it as something the show would fail at out of the gate. He could just imagine audiences immediately responding: "'Oh yeah? I don't." And that's just the beginning of that particular show's saga.

From 'Lost' to 'Friends,' The Strange Art of Picking a TV Title tells this story and a bunch of others, like the genesis of Friends and That '70s Show. It's all inside baseball, but it does provide insight into the minds of producers and performers and audiences. Imagine the burden of a title like Smash, for instance.

Interesting stuff.