Doctor Who
- Last three Torchwood episodes to be written by Chris Chibnall and have crap titles
Film
- George Takei to be in Star Trek XI?
- Justice League to come out in 2009
- Ridley Scott planning movie about Reagan and Gorbachev
US TV
- Second season of Flight of the Conchords pushed back to 2009
- Cashmere Mafia about to get cancelled?
- CBS picks up weirdly Psych-esque Bruno Heller pilot The Mentalist
- CBS boss says strike help cut costs permanently
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February 27, 2008 | Reply
The Conchords are releasing an album on my birthday though. Thoughtful of them.
February 27, 2008 | Reply
Dare I ask what you don't like about the titles? I thought they were interesting...
February 27, 2008 | Reply
It's a tradition round here to slag off Chris Chibnall for whatever reason I can think of, whether it's valid or not.
However, look at the first three (A Day in the Death, Something Borrowed, From Out of the Rain) which aren't Chibnall tales, then look at the last three (Adrift, Fragments and Exit Wounds) and you can see that
1) He really didn't think very hard about them
2) They're all movie titles. All the movies are rubbish. Exit Wounds is a Steven Segal film - need I say more?
3) They have all the poetry of a Ford Escort repair manual.
February 27, 2008 | Reply
I didn't pick up on them as movie titles, but they fit the pattern that's been prevalent for at least 20 years - one word titles for episodes (okay, two for Exit Wounds).
I can't be certain but I think the trend started with 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'. What I hate about it is that sometimes you can't picture what the episode was about just by the title if you're looking for a specific story.
In the old days, there was poetry in episode titles! And they were functional to boot. From the original 'Star Trek' as an example: "For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky", "City On The Edge Of Forever", "Is There In Truth No Beauty?". Even if they were simplistic, you knew the plot - "Plato's Stepchildren", "I, Mudd", "Catspaw", "Miri".
Also, I've always had a fondness for the shows that carried a theme in their episode titles - the "Cases", "Affairs", "Steeles", "Briefs", "Raids", and "Nights Of", etc. (New members of that club: "Everybody Hates ___" and "Chuck vs. ___")
Yeah, those three Chibnall titles are crap.
February 27, 2008 | Reply
I think Next Gen was the first to start going for shortish titles ("The xxx" being the standard form), although there were a few longer form titles. I believe the explanation was because of the diminishing space available in TV Guide and I don't think EPGs have changed that much. They too lamented the demise of For the World Is Hollow-esque episode titles, though.
The worst offender in the realm of short titles is Smallville, which has only ever had one-word episode titles (Hydro, Hothead, Cool, etc) which you can never use to distinguish one story from another.
Of the modern crop, I was most impressed with Witchblade's second season's, which were almost all in cod Latin/Greek (eg Agape, Consectatio, Lagrimas) although I'm sure there are some good ones I'm overlooking.
But, you're right, the UNCLE ones were the best, although I liked the practicality of Friends' "The One with…"
February 27, 2008 | Reply
You know I actually resisted a gratuitous Chibnall slag-off in the Ashes to Ashes/Life on Mars discussion? I must be going soft.
Mind you, his episodes were utter crap.