Producer Bill Lawrence admits that he has never created a TV show in which he didn't make one incredible screw-up.
So where did he go wrong with "Cougar Town"? The title.
After the first season, Lawrence begged ABC executives to let him change the name of the sitcom, especially since it no longer had anything to do with middle-aged women preying on younger guys.
Lawrence worries too much. Titles have little effect on the success or failure of a program. "Everybody Loves Raymond" was an awful name but a great show. "Body of Proof" is a clever phrase; if only the scripts were half that smart.
Nonetheless, network executives pour a lot of time and effort into landing just the right title, one they hope will separate them from the pack and attract a younger demographic. That was the goal in 2010 when CBS signed off on "$#*! My Dad Says," a sitcom based on a hot-buzz Twitter feed read by the kind of young people the network desperately craved.
Only problem was that the sitcom wasn't nearly as provocative as the title. William Shatner's character was so soft that Archie Bunker would have washed him down with a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon. It was canceled after one season.
"GCB," which premiered on ABC last month, was originally called "Good Christian Bitches," after the pulp novel that inspired it, but the network temporarily changed its title to "Good Christian Belles" after some affiliates said they wouldn't air it under the original name. The network finally landed on just using the initials, an obvious attempt to evoke the naughty word without actually using it.
In reality, the show isn't naughty enough. It's just another prime-time soap about catty women trying to be the next "Desperate Housewives." The only difference is that star Leslie Bibb has yet to be seen cowering naked in the bushes.