Two years ago, Ben Silverman was asked about the problem with two “Saturday Night Live” types of shows that weren’t fulfilling their expected promise. He explained that there were too many numbers in the titles: “30 Rock and “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.” Was the sheer fact that there were numbers in the television shows’ titles the reason for their lack of giant success? Was the problem that simple? According to Ben Silverman, it was. And today, it seems like a lot more thought goes into the naming of a television show.
Take CBS, for example. Does the network think shows with “two” will succeed more than others? It seems so. Following the success (disregarding Charlie Sheen’s downfall, of course) of “Two and a Half Men,” CBS has added two new shows to its lineup: the drama series “2-2,” and “2 Broke Girls,” a comedy. “How” might be another popular word for the network to sneak into show titles. Already owning the popular sitcom “How I Met Your Mother,” CBS announced a new show, “How To Be a Gentleman.” Another trend that networks seem to have adopted is one-word names, like NBC’s “Smash,” ABC’s “Revenge and CW’s “Ringer.” After all, in a world of tweets that are capped at 140 characters, shorter is certainly sweeter.
