Rejected Titles: What 8 Classic TV Shows Were Almost Called

[Zoneboy]

Just like films, TV shows often go through several name changes from original concept to pilot script to pitch meeting to “We think it would be more marketable if you called it…..” Here are 8 examples.

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1. Roseanne
The original title for Roseanne was Life and Stuff, which its star felt neatly summed up the premise of the show. However, by the time the pilot was filmed, the producers thought it wise to exploit the skyrocketing success of Roseanne Barr’s standup comedy and named the show after the “Domestic Goddess” America seemed to love. “Life and Stuff” became the title of the premiere episode.

2. Fraggle Rock
Remember Fraggle Rock? When creator Jim Henson first envisioned his utopia of different Muppet creatures living together in harmony, he called them “Woozles” and the tentatively titled the series Woozle World. The other “species” detailed in his early drafts included the Giant Wozles (who evolved into the Gorgs) and the Wizzles, a precursor to the Doozers.

3. Married…with Children
While Roseanne specialized in blue collar humor, Married…with Children’s humor was usually just plain blue. In fact, it ran so contrary to the accepted norm for a family sitcom that creators Michael Moye and Ron Leavitt originally shopped their pilot script around under the title Not the Cosby Show.

4. The Outer Limits
The science fiction anthology series The Outer Limits was originally going to be called Please Stand By (as can be seen in this rare clip). But with the Cuban Missile Crisis so fresh in America’s mind, ABC decided that flashing the words “Please Stand By” on TV screens might send viewers rushing to their back yard bomb shelters.


5. That 70s Show
That 70s Show was called Teenage Wasteland when Ashton Kutcher auditioned for the role of Michael Kelso. The pilot script underwent a few more name changes (including another Who classic, The Kids Are Alright) before it finally aired.

6. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
When Glenn Howerton, Charlie Day and Rob McElhenney were cobbling together the pilot script for a proposed TV series about a group of very self-centered buddies, they pitched it to various networks with a title which they felt best summed up the main characters: Jerks. FX kinda sorta liked the idea, except for the title and the locale (the show was originally set in Los Angeles). The creators changed the setting of their show to McElhenney’s home town and the new name just presented itself: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

7. Diff’rent Strokes
When Norman Lear was asked by Fred Silverman to build a series around 10-year-old wiseguy Gary Coleman, he mapped out a basic story that had Gary being adopted by a wealthy white man who lived in the Westchester town of Hastings-on-Hudson and called the project 45 Minutes from Harlem. Conrad Bain was brought on board to portray the pater familias, and he suggested the backstory (wealthy widower honoring his dying housekeeper’s request that he adopt her two boys) that became the premise of the series. Since the millionaire’s home had moved from the suburbs to nearby Manhattan, the name of the show was changed to Diff’rent Strokes.

8. Happy Days
In the early 1970s, Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson collaborated on a TV series set in idyllic 1950s Milwaukee. Paramount passed on New Family in Town, but they did eventually retool that pilot script and used it as a piece called “Love and the Happy Days” on their anthology series Love, American Style in 1972. That segment was so well-received that Marshall and Belson were hired to produce a series based on their original idea, only with a new title (Happy Days) and some new casting (Tom Bosley instead of Harold Gould).

[Jude The Obscure]

My Sister Sam was originally supposed to be called "Two on the Town".

[browneyes106]

Cool info thanks for posting.

[Overdose]

They are so wrong about "Roseanne".

Roseanne was the one who made THEM change it back to "Roseanne". Originally they told her the show would be called "Roseanne", but once she got signed they tried changing it to "Life and Stuff". Basically, they told her it would be called "Roseanne" to lure her into the show, but once she was signed they tried to pull that "Life and Stuff" bull****.

Their reasoning was because they didn't want it to be called "Roseanne" because they thought it gave her too much power over the show, but she said she wouldn't do the show if they didn't call it "Roseanne"...so they ended up changing it back to "Roseanne".

Partly why "Home Improvement" was called "Home Improvement" and not the "Tim Allen Show" was because they didn't want another star to feel as though they had complete control over their show.

[treky]

"ALL IN THE FAMILY" was originally going to be titled "AND JUSTICE FOR ALL".

"THE BEVERLLY HILLBILLIES" was originally going to be called either "THE HILLBILLIES" (that title was retained for the pilot) or "HEAD FOR THE HILLS".

[catlover79]

Bewitched was originally titled The Witch in Westport.

[steevo]

^ According to the E! True Hollywood Story, the original premise of Bewitched was that Sam wasn't even going to be a witch. She was merely going to be rich.

Dynasty was originally going to be called Oil.

Miami Vice was originally going to be called Miami Unworthiness. (That sounds strange).

[treky]

I think "CHARLIES ANGELS" was originally going to be called "ALLEY CATS" or something like that.

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by treky

I think "CHARLIES ANGELS" was originally going to be called "ALLEY CATS" or something like that.

You're right - I read that in the Charlie's Angels Casebook. It was also going to be called Harry's Angels, but they changed Harry to Charlie to avoid confusion with fellow ABC drama Harry O.

[megamanj2004]

Webster was originally going to be titled "Another Ballgame" and then "Then Came You" before the producers finally decided w/ just simply "Webster."

Ironicially, those title names would be used with the regular show one way or another. The title "Another Ballgame" was actually the name of the pilot episode and the title "Then Came You" is the name of the show's theme song.


Tattletales (the game show) - the original title name for this show was going to be "Celebrity Match Mates" but the producers rejected the title.


Family Feud - in 1975, Mark Goodson and Bill Todman originally pitched the show as "Fast Company" but networks rejected that idea. A year later Goodson and Todman tried the format again before they settled with "family Feud."

Jeopardy! - In late 1963 or early 1964, Merv Griffin wanted a quiz show, but at 1st rejected the idea of a quiz show due to fear from the 1950s Quiz Show Scandals. The 1st idea he tried was having the game be a Comedy-Quiz Show, but his then-wife Juliann Griffin thought it should've have more jeopardies in the game. And when Merv kept hearing the word "jeopardy," he changed the format from the comedy-quiz show to the serious hard-pressed quiz show we all knew and love was born that's still around to this day.

The original name was supposed to be called "What's the Question?"

[catlover79]

I read in a soap opera book that The Secret Storm (1954-74) was originally titled The Storm Within. A new name had to be found when a major antacid company signed on as a sponsor.

[Marvo301]

Originally Posted by catlover79

I read in a soap opera book that The Secret Storm (1954-74) was originally titled The Storm Within. A new name had to be found when a major antacid company signed on as a sponsor.

I would think "The Storm Within " would be the perfect name for a show sponsored by an antacid company!

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by Marvo301

I would think "The Storm Within " would be the perfect name for a show sponsored by an antacid company!

Makes sense.

Bold & Beautiful's working title was Rags. ABC originally wanted to title Ryan's Hope A Rage to Love, but couldn't get the rights to the title. General Hospital was titled Emergency Hospital in its first stages.

[Jude The Obscure]

Originally Posted by catlover79

I read in a soap opera book that The Secret Storm (1954-74) was originally titled The Storm Within. A new name had to be found when a major antacid company signed on as a sponsor.

Sounds more like a antiperspirant company to me!

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by Jude The Obscure

Sounds more like a antiperspirant company to me!

Now that's just gross.