5 Ridiculous Titles That Hurt Shows By Driving Viewers Away

There are different ways to choose the next show for your binge-watching weekend. Some viewers read reviews, watch trailers, and take recommendations from friends and family. Others go with their gut and just look at series titles and posters to make a decision: tune in or never get back to it again.

That's why it's so important for showrunners to give their projects titles that reflect their plots and main ideas. Unfortunately, not everyone does the job right, and some good series end up with titles that drive away potential viewers by misdirecting them.

Here are five of the most glaring examples.

iZOMBiE (2015-2019)

The show's name makes it sound like it's about an Apple product, and it wasn't even developed for Apple TV+!

In reality, the CW supernatural procedural follows a medical resident who becomes a conscious zombie and has to eat brains from time to time to stay that way. She goes to work for the coroner's office to get access to her new diet, and discovers that all the brain-eating gives her access to the memories of the dead, which helps solve murder cases.

Sounds like something you would watch? Well, the titles can be tricky like that.

Cougar Town (2013-2015)

To be fair, the Courteney Cox-led sitcom was conceived as the story of a recently divorced woman in her 40s trying to get her love life back on track in a younger dating scene. But the direction soon changed and it became an enjoyable sitcom about friendships, adult relationships and finding your groove.

However, the title was not changed and continues to turn off audiences to this day. The show itself even pokes fun at its own name in the title cards starting in Season 2.

Selfie (2014)

Selfie was a funny, deep, and culturally referential story about a woman (Karen Gillan) hoping to find happiness through the use of social media. But it went unnoticed by mainstream audiences, largely due to its off-putting title.

The show lasted only one season and changed two platforms before being canceled. It was later rediscovered and praised by critics and fans, but campaigns to bring it back failed.

Terriers (2010)

Believe it or not, this show has nothing to do with dogs except for a small arc in the pilot. The name was probably given to the project because the main characters are small-time private investigators who end up going up against a rich and powerful guy, and terriers are small dogs known for being fearless and hunting a much larger prey.

But that parallel was never clear from the title and FX's marketing campaign. As a result, the dramedy was canceled after Season 1 and never got the recognition it deserved.

Scrotal Recall (2014-2018)

This sounds like a porn spoof of Total Recall, right? Well, it's not. In fact, it is a hilarious British sitcom about college friends who share a house. While the sex lives of the young people play a central role in the beginning, the story later becomes more about the relationships within the friend group.

After Season 1, the sitcom moved to Netflix and was fortunately renamed, which probably saved it from cancellation. Now you can find it under the name Lovesick, which both sounds and fits the plot much better.