What's in a Name?
I can't tell you how many times I've heard this sermon preached at church. I think I got tired of this topic by the time I'd heard the umpteenth variation when I was in the third grade, but I do see that there's a lot to the signficance of a name.One of the blogs I read daily is JaneEspenson.com. Jane's a super-talented writer who wrote for Buffy and has committed her blog to talking about the craft of writing a television spec. Within the last couple of days, she's gotten into some good discussions about the nature of a title and what it means for the show.
One of the things she says that is that part of the reason that The West Wing always seemed to be "better than TV" is because it never used simple, slang titles. Episodes called "Shibboleth", "What Kind of Day Has It Been", "Holy Night", "Gaza", and "Noel" sound like they're about something substantive and important. And while that would be my largest complaint about the show--way too self-important, it is an interesting note that something as simple as a title says volumes about the desired effect of what image you hope to present. There's probably a reason that all of Grey's Anatomy's episodes are named after pop songs, just like most Desperate Housewives episodes are named after Sondheim tunes. It says volumes about what the show really is at the core.
posted by cinegod @ 8:35 PM
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