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When Friends debuted on NBC in 1994, ABC decided to change the name of its returning Ellen DeGeneres-led sitcom These Friends of Mine to simply Ellen. When Roseanne Barr went on a racist Twitter tirade in 2018, her newly rebooted show Roseanne killed off her character and became The Conners. For both shows, the name-change likely spared them from a swift and premature death.

While rare, sitcoms occasionally change their titles, and when they do, it’s usually an attempt to save the show from a looming cancellation. And yes, sometimes it works. But not always. The unfortunate losers in the name-changing game are below.

1 ‘The Norm Show’ aka ‘Norm’

Norm Macdonald’s short-lived sitcom was built around a wildly half-baked idea: Macdonald is an ex-hockey player working as a social worker for community service. Despite the fact that that’s not remotely how the law works anywhere on Earth, the...

Comedian and actress Pat Carroll, a television pioneer and an Emmy, Drama Desk and Grammy winner, died at her home on Cape Cod, Massachusetts on July 30, while recovering from pnuemonia.

A frequent film actress and television guest star and series regular starting in the late 1940s, her work was seen on the Jimmy Durante Show, The Danny Thomas Show, Laverne & Shirley, ER and many other shows. She voiced Ursula in The Little Mermaid, and voiced several cartoon series.

Patricia Ann Carroll was born May 5, 1927 in Shreveport, Louisiana. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was five years old, and she soon began acting in local productions. She graduated from Immaculate Heart High Schol and then attended Catholic University of America after enlisting in the US Army.

Carroll’s acting career started in 1947 with the film Hometown Girl. In 1956, Carroll won an Emmy Award for her work on Sid Caesar’s House,...

“I don’t know what to say. I’m starting to feel like a real butthole here,” Jeff Probst admits at the beginning of the third special Adult Swim has labeled The Greatest Event in Television History.

See, for over a year now, Adam Scott has been attempting to stage a star-studded ’80s TV series credits recreation that truly lives up to that lofty label. Already he’s tried and failed twice, despite help from famous pals Jon Hamm and Amy Poehler.

So you can understand why, at the beginning of this quirky series’ third installment, Probst decides to manage...

There is a long tradition in storytelling of remakes, retellings, or in other ways copying someone else’s idea. Television is no exception. This fall season, two new British imports are on the way, Prime Suspect and The X Factor, and several of the most popular returning series originated across the pond as well. America has been remaking British television for decades, to varied success. A good idea is a good idea, regardless of its zip code, but the differences between British and American audiences can often make the process a difficult one. Dramas and reality programs have different sensibilities than in America, and British humor is particularly tricky to translate.

The TV model in the UK is considerably different than in the Us. Seasons usually last at most 13 episodes, and some have fewer than 6. Series may have two seasons in a year, or two seasons in 10 years. There are...