So many new movies and TV shows are trotted out for viewers’ consideration and delectation every month that producers have to try really hard to come up with “catchy” titles that will give their productions an edge in tickling their prospective audience’s fancy, sight unseen.
Some films or shows with “generic” titles like “Jerry Maguire” and “Riverdale” do click with viewers, but more “enticing” and unique come-ons have been proven to make a decided difference—so, clever wordsmiths are paid a lot of money to conjure up and coin titles that effectively induce and seduce viewers into making it a point to sample a particular show, instead of the avid and rabid competitive one.
This TV season, shows with “interest-tickling” titles are paced by “Stupid Man, Smart Phone,” which debuted locally on the Discovery Channel on Dec. 8. (The British reality series chronicles what happens when its host is “forced” to survive in the most remote or hostile locations in the world, using only his mobile phone.)
Past TV seasons saw the popularity of other tantalizingly titled programs like “Ugly Betty,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “The Naked Chef,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Sex and the City,” “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” “Monsters Inside Me,” “The Peep Show,” “Suburgatory,” “Two and a Half Men” and “Secrets and Lies.”
It’s instructive to note that some of those shows are telecasting to this day, a tribute to their long-running popularity and appeal.
In the movies, catchy and edgy titles are similarly favored, with some productions changing titles several times before they’re finally released. Effective examples include “Sleeping With the Enemy,” “Legally Blonde,” “Monster-in-Law,” “Snakes on a Plane,” “Sharknado,” “Shakespeare in Love,” “Six Degrees of Separation” and “Eat. Pray. Love.”
Other movies with titles that stand out and practically beg to be seen in full include “Friends With Benefits,” “Without Breasts There is No Paradise,” “Woman on Top,” “Thank You for Smoking,” “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,” “Mona Lisa Smile,” “The Last Man on Earth,” “Revenge of the Nerds,” “Double Indemnity,” “Double Jeopardy,” “Sex Tape,” “The Man Without a Face,” “The Theory of Everything,” “Arachnophobia,” “Cheaper by the Dozen,” “The Man With Two Brains,” “A Perfect Murder,” “No Strings Attached,” “Cliffhanger” and “The Emoji Movie.”
What makes these titles “stand out and be shouted”? “Ear-catching” factors include intentional twists on standard statements (“Thank You for Smoking”), pushbutton shockers (“Snakes on a Plane”), wish-fulfillment gambits (“Friends With Benefits” and “Woman on Top”), unusual protagonists (“The Last Man on Earth,” “The Man Without a Face” and “The Man With Two Brains”) and a “challenging” plot premise (“A Perfect Murder”).
Apparent contradictions are similarly catchy (“The Boss Baby”), as are trendy references (“The Emoji Movie”)—and “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” is just plain inspired!