“7 at home”, “The Scott Brothers”, “Cougar Town”, “My Uncle Charlie… A small selection of series titles that have become obsolete for sometimes surprising reasons!
Between the unfulfilled promises of the starting synopsis, the more or less logical evolution of a plot, or more simply a problem with the crappy translation of a title, certain titles of series end up no longer having any meaning! The proof by twelve.
Last Man On Earth
In 2020, the human race was exterminated as a result of an incredible pandemic. After traveling the country up and down, Phil Miller must face the facts: he is the last man on Earth…. Yes, well, actually no. He faints at the end of the pilot and when he wakes up… tadam… there is a woman (not very pretty, played by Kristen Schaal) in front of him! The title of the series is therefore no longer valid from the first episode, and in the following episodes, other characters arrive!
Below are the first images of the series…
The 100
Original Title: The 100
Math enthusiasts, this is for you. We recap: After 1 nuclear apocalypse caused by Man during a 3rd World War, the 318 survivors identified take refuge in space stations and manage to live and reproduce there, reaching the number of 4000. But 97 years more late, the mother ship, the Ark, is in poor condition. 100 young delinquents imprisoned over the years for crimes or betrayals are chosen as guinea pigs by the authorities to come back down to Earth and test the chances of survival.
The characters of the series evolve in a world without pity, where fights and deaths follow one another, so much so that they are very quickly no longer 100 at all. Impossible to know the exact number, especially since it evolves all the time, but after 3 seasons (out of 7 in total), they have certainly lost half of the workforce!
Below is the trailer for the first season…
7 at home
Original Title: 7th Heaven
7? Yes… At the beginning, the Camdem family has 2 parents and 5 children. Not to mention the Happy dog of course. But the birth of the twins from season 3 turns everything upside down. They are now 9 at home. The title is no longer valid in France, but also in the United States since it means “7th heaven”. Then some children logically and definitively leave the nest, starting with Mary (Jessica Biel) in season 6. Departures compensated by an incessant ball of passing inhabitants, taken in by the good Reverend and his wife, in particular Robbie (seasons 5 to 7) and Martin (seasons 8–11). In short, they are much more than 7 in this household! The series title didn’t last long but that was to be expected.
The Scott brothers
Original Title: One Tree Hill
During the first 6 seasons of the teen soap the VF title is valid since there are two Scott brothers at the center of the action: Nathan and Lucas. But when the latter, played by Chad Michael Murray, leaves Tree Hill, Nathan is the only representative of the brotherhood and this until the end, in season 9 (despite a furtive appearance from Lucas). TF1 would have done better to keep the original title (which refers to a U2 song)!
Below, the credits of the series; memory sequence!
Corky, a teenager like no other
Original title : Life Goes On
By choosing to rename the family series Corky, a teenager like no other, TMC (the first to have broadcast it before France 3) made a daring bet. The social impact of the show was thus highlighted (it notably spoke of AIDS long before others dared), through this character with Down’s syndrome, completely new to television.
If the first season was indeed very centered on him and on the challenges that his existence represented on a daily basis for his parents and his sisters, the following three years gave pride of place to the other characters, making the title very reductive.
My uncle Charlie
Original title : Two and a half men
When Charlie Sheen freaked out until finally being thanked by the production – after many twists and turns – My Uncle Charlie lost its leader, its hero, one and a half of the “men” of the original title. Ashton Kutcher replaced him in the new role of Walden, but the title remained the same in VF. So no “My friend Walden”.
Across the Atlantic, the “and a half” is no longer relevant either since the character of Jake (Angus T. Jones) disappeared after the actor’s departure. And in VF, the very notion of “uncle” n There is no more reason to be either!In short, here is a title now totally off the mark.
fox
New Girl
For how long can the latest arrival of this crazy roommate be considered “New”? A great season! The New Girl hasn’t been so fresh for several years now and advitam eternam Jess will remain so. Clearly, the Americans should have kept the starting title, admittedly a little daring: “Chicks and dicks”! Note however that during Zooey Deschanel’s pregnancy, there was a “new New Girl” for a few episodes played by Megan Fox!
New Girl, that was it…
Cougar Town
It didn’t take more than a dozen episodes for the title Cougar Town to be obsolete, simply because the heroine of the comedy, Jules (Courteney Cox) stopped being a cougar! The scriptwriters of the series have indeed realized (a little late) that it was necessary to detach it from this very fashionable theme to seduce a wider audience and allow it to register over time.
Creator Bill Lawrence would have liked the name of the series to change at the same time, but ABC refused. However, he had some ideas like Friends with beverages, Sunshine State, Wine Time, Grown-Ups, Family Jules…
Full of the second degree, however, he has taken the habit of including in each new credits a short sentence making fun of the title, as in the capture below:
Don’t touch my girls
Original title : 8 simple rules for dating my teenage daughter
Based on a bestseller, this sitcom logically took over the title of this one. But, a season later, it was simplified to “8 simple rules” although that didn’t really make sense anymore. And he had even less when actor John Ritter, playing the protective patriarch, died. He was no longer there to lecture young men trying to date his daughters! The problem was the same with the VF title Don’t touch my girlseven if the mother was always there to watch over her offspring.
Falcon
The hero of the TF1 detective series that bears his name, inevitably present since the very first episode, dies during season 4, following a coma. The consequence of the decision of his interpreter Sagamore Stévenin to leave the series.
However, because it remained a great success for the channel, it will not stop and it is the character of Maxime, played by David Kammenos, who will take over. A character specially introduced to ensure the transition, but Falco will remain Falco and will not become “Kurcing” (his surname).
Holidays of love
International title: Love Island
How long can you go on vacation? When the little Miracle of Love band wins the lottery and decides to take a trip to the islands, everything suggests that The Holidays of Love will last for a few episodes and no more.
Except that the saga, which became a police time, survived 8 years and 160 episodes! And after two seasons, the holidays were clearly over for everyone. Everyone has found a job (in a bar, a travel agency, a boat rental company…) and earned a decent living! For its broadcast abroad in many countries, it was renamed “Love Island”. What solved the problem in a certain way in spite of the silliness (assumed?) of this choice!
Nostalgia sequence with the credits of “Holidays of love”!
Successive titles: Valerie / Valerie’s Family / The Hogan Family
In 1986, the very popular actress Valerie Harper was given the reins of a new family comedy that bears her first name: Valerie. At the end of the second season, if the audiences are in good shape, the negotiations behind the scenes become complicated between the star, NBC and Lorimar, the producer. The three parties failing to agree on the amount of her salary, she is dismissed and, extremely rare, her series continues… without her!
It is therefore renamed for the occasion “Valerie’s Family” during the third year, then The Hogan Family from the fourth. His disappearance from the cast is explained by the death of his off-camera character. The series lasts a total of six seasons. It could have been a headache for French broadcasters, but it was not the case since it was never broadcast in France!