When did TV show announcers stop announcing the titles of an episode, and when did chroma-keyed episode titles stop popping up on screen as the show started its first scene after the opening credits? I used to like to know what the episode titles were...
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"Today's Episode..." or "Tonight's Episode..."
- Thread starter RFCCRadioAudio
- Start date
From the dawn of television, many shows never announced the title of the episode. Quinn Martin cop shows always did, with announcer Hank Sims announcing the name of the show, the guest stars, and of course, "Tonight's episode..." But that was mostly a QM thing. Police Squad (a parody of cop shows) also used Hank Sims, except the announced title never matched the title on the screen.
There's actually a website that lists all the QM episode titles, and some of them are really corny. Here are a few examples:
Perchance To Kill
See Some Evil, Do Some Evil
The Day Of The Viper
The Deadly Jinx
Rendezvous With Terror
Blueprint For A Caper
Web Of Deceit
Jeopardy For Two
Theater Of Fear
Honeymoon With Death
http://listoftheday.blogspot.com/2008/01/quinn-martin-production.html
It wasn't until the internet came along that I discovered the titles of most sitcom episodes. For years, the only place you ever saw titles was if TV GUIDE devoted a 'Close Up' listing to a particularly noteworthy episode. The only time I recall seeing a sitcom episode title onscreen was for MASH's finale, "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen". I always wondered where the various TV history books got heir sources for sitcom episode titles.
"Mystery Science Theater 3000" used to poke fun at the Quinn Martin episode titles sometimes. Once they riffed on a movie about a guy who killed his wife, who then came back to haunt him...One scene showed the guy walking along a beach, followed by a shot of a seagull flying nearby, at which point one of the robots intoned, "Tonight's Episode: Jonathan Livingston Murder".
Very true. Most of the great sitcoms never announced their titles...AITF, MTM, Bob Newhart, and most others. I think the "titles" were more an internal way of networks identifying episodes that went beyond the standard "season 1, espisode 1" that we see on most dish and cable channels today. BTW, I believe the season/episode graphics today are totally due to those who want to DVR certain episodes or certain seasons.
Some shows used naming conventions: Wild Wild West had every title begin with "The Night of..." and Friends had everyone with "The One With of Where..."
Chuck Lorre' s shows also have naming conventions: 'Two and a Half Men' would just use a random line or phrase found somewhere in that episode's dialogue. 'The Big Bang Theory' generally uses some scientific/'geeky' term to hint at the subject of the episode, like 'The Wolowitz Conundrum.'
Many newspapers in the pre-internet era used to include episode titles in their TV listings.
The opening to Police Squad!("In Color!) for an example of the Quinn Martin parody. The announced episode title never matched the title on screen. And the "special guest stars" always died in the opening credits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm_t3g4RhpY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm_t3g4RhpY
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