20 TV shows which surprisingly changed their names [PHOTOS]
One of the earliest success stories in the history of TV is “I Love Lucy,” which enjoyed six seasons atop the ratings. When the cast was ready to slow down a bit, audiences weren’t ready to see their favorite zany redhead leave altogether, so the 30-minute sitcom was retooled as 13 one-hour specials broadcast sporadically over three seasons, under a new name: “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”
In the 70 years since, many TV shows have seen name changes before airing their first episodes. One of the most notorious is ABC’s attempt to soften the title of “You Can’t Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23,” which was shortened to the less-offensive “Apartment 23.” However, apparently that wasn’t quite as catchy, so they compromised with “You Can’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23” ahead of its April 2012 premiere.
Only a few series have changed titles midstream, as this can be confusing for viewers. However, cast changes sometimes cause some retooling, especially when the star of a self-titled series is dismissed after contract disputes, as was the case with Valerie Harper (with the comedy titles “Valerie”) and her onscreen Hogan family, or with bad conduct of a star like Roseanne Barr, whose name was dropped from her sitcom “Roseanne” and changed to “The Conners.”
Possible confusion with other series can lead to a title change, as was the case with the Ellen DeGeneres ABC sitcom “These Friends of Mine,” which changed to “Ellen” after NBC added “Friends” to its lineup just a few months later.
Some shows have transitioned to a spinoff series, retaining some cast from the previous series, but either with new leads or new premises. For the purpose of this article, we aren’t including continuation series like “All in the Family”/”Archie Bunker’s Place,” “The Andy Griffith Show”/’Mayberry, RFD,” “M*A*S*H”/ “AfterMash,” “The Golden Girls”/”The Golden Palace” or “The Closer”/”Major Crimes.” Tour our photo gallery above to see 20 series that made the transition to a new title – sometimes successfully, sometimes not.
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