10 Great TV Shows With Absolutely Terrible Titles

Some TV shows have such terrible names, you have to remind yourself that they're actually good. A good name can make or break a TV show, and as this alphabetical list will show, a lot of excellent series have been undone by titles that are too long, hard to say, irrelevant to the plot, or straight up repellent.

Anyone who has tried to title a project of any sort can tell you that it's no easy feat, and not every showrunner can come up with brain-searing titles like Breaking Bad, Twin Peaks, or The Twilight Zone. If you've ever been turned off by the title of a show on this list, give it a try. You might be surprised by how much you like it.

Better Off Ted (2009-2010)

Better Off Ted is a play on "better off dead", a sardonic joke reserved for when someone gets themselves into a particularly bad situation. Puns for titles rarely, if ever, work, especially when it doesn't relate to the show at all. I guess it's saying that Ted's (Jay Harrington) life is so bad that he might be better off dead?

That doesn't really track with the show, which is a satirical workplace sitcom set within a soulless corporation where Ted and his coworkers invent absurd devices fit for Bond villains. It's a fantastically funny and creative show, so why the showrunners gave it a title that makes no sense and is a tongue twister to boot is beyond me.

Don't Trust The B---- In Apartment 23 (2012-2014)

By the time someone tells you half the title in Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23, you've already moved on to the next topic. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is one word shorter than the title of this ABC sitcom, and we almost exclusively use the acronym, AKOTSK, when we're talking about it. Seven words in a title is ludicrous.

Also, not to be a prude, but you can't curse in a network TV title. Everyone and their mother knows what the "B" stands for, and parents don't need to spend time explaining that to their kids. What they're going to do is avoid talking about it at all, which is why this surprisingly nuanced and intelligent sitcom only got two seasons.

From (2023-Present)

Here's a horror mystery series on MGM+ set in a nightmarish town somewhere in the United States. When travelers pass through it, they can never escape, and those who survive find that even if they escape the creatures who live in the woods, they are unable to find their way to civilization. This haunting, strange tale should be called... From.

They may as well have named the show "The". The title tells you next to nothing about the series and totally faceplants on its way to trying to sound ominous. You wouldn't be blamed for thinking that it's actually pronounced, "fraam", rhymes with prom. It's a silly, meaningless title that doesn't hint at any of the exciting story you'll find if you actually watch From.

Halt And Catch Fire (2014-2017)

Halt and Catch Fire is a bombastic, war epic, and espionage thriller that ends with an explosive showdown between former friends who become enemies. Just kidding. It's a period drama about the personal computer revolution of the 1980s and the beginnings of the World Wide Web, but doesn't the title fit the former description better?

The AMC series is an excellent and brilliant drama with a distinctive style that will rope you into the business of personal computers in the same way Mad Men roped people into the world of advertising. Its mistake was titling the show something that sounds more like a sequel to Oppenheimer or a spinoff to the second Hunger Games movie.

Orange Is The New Black (2013-2019)

Orange is the New Black is sort of a catchy title, but the more you think about it, the less sense it makes. The show can be slightly forgiven because it takes its name from the memoir that inspired it, but it certainly works better as a book title than it does a TV show. It's an example of snowclone.

A snowclone is a phrase based on a cliché, substituting certain words to express a similar idea to humorous effect. Hamlet said, "To be or not to be", Brendan Fraser in George of the Jungle said, "To swing, or not to swing?" That kind of thing. So Orange is the New Black is a snowclone of "X is the new black", as in, something comes along that is more in fashion than the ubiquitously stylish color black. After all that explanation, I'm guessing the title is no more clever and no more funny than it was when you first heard it.

Peep Show (2003-2015)

Peep Show is a terrible title that doesn't seem to have affected the show's standing in any way, but even though most people know and love the comedy stylings of David Mitchell and Robert Webb, the title is still odd to hear. The show often utilizes point-of-view shots, giving the series its name, as we are "peeping in" on a private conversation.

It's dumb, and the numerous collaborations the pair made under the title Mitchell and Webb show they could have just as easily gone with Mitchell and Webb: The Sitcom​​​​​​, and even that would be better. Peep Show may have escaped out from under its terrible name, but that doesn't make it any less bad.

The Knick (2014-2015)

The Knick is a period medical drama on Cinemax starring Clive Owen as Dr. John "Thank" Thackery, and is directed by Steven Soderbergh. Set in 1900 in New York City, The Knick is centered on the staff of the Knickerbokcker Hospital whose intelligence runs up against the science of the era.

It's a fantastic series with a highly unique spin on the classic medical drama storyline, and yet they went with The Knick, which makes it sound like the show is about a thief who nicks stuff from people, or maybe you misheard someone say they liked The Mick with Kaitlin Olson. It's far too modern a name for this type of show.

Terriers (2010)

Terriers is not a show about little vermin-hunting dogs, nor is it about the United Kingdom's Territorial Army, nor is it even about two guys named Terry. The one-season FX series is about an ex-cop named Hank Dolworth (Donal Logue) who partners with his best friend, Britt Pollack (Michael Raymond-James), to solve crimes in Ocean Beach, San Diego.

If anyone can tell me how any of that relates to the term "terriers", please let me know in the comments. It's an inexplicable title choice, and it might be the reason the show was canceled so quickly, because everything else about it is great. It's funny, clever, and the leads have a quirky chemistry.

Trophy Wife (2013-2014)

Just the term Trophy Wife is an eye-rolling thing to hear, and even if you understand the ABC show won't be a crude comedy about a disparaging term, it still makes the opening credits of every episode distasteful. The series is actually a wise exploration of generation gaps and mixed families, but you wouldn't know that from the title.

Kate (Malin Åkerman) is the "trophy wife" of the title, the third wife of an older, successful lawyer, but the series doesn't poke fun at her as much as it has fun with the odd ways families can grow and shrink and how we often have to make room for people we never expected to be there. The title, Trophy Wife, just sends the wrong message.

Veronica Mars (2004-2007, 2019)

Some people might like the title Veronica Mars, but I hate it. It's such a strange name for a teen mystery series. The name "Veronica Mars" feels like it was made by a random name generator. It's the name of a character in Disney's Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century. It's the name of a scion of the Mars candy company empire.

It's not the name of a teenager who moonlights as a private investigator. Kristen Bell is excellent in the series, and the show was beloved enough to earn a revival season in 2019, but I can't help but wonder if Hulu executives thought they were greenlighting the latest sci-fi hit TV show.