From " The Mary Tyler Moore Show " to " Seinfeld , " there ’s a long chronicle of comedians star in shows cite after themselves , and even play characters that share the same first name . We take it for granted that a situation comedy starring Drew Carey would be call " The Drew Carey Show " and feature a character identify Drew . But we ’d think it was jolly weird if a drama like " 24 " was titled " The Kiefer Sutherland Show . " And moreover , Sutherland plays a character key out Jack — not Kiefer . So where did this self - referential naming convention for comedians - turn - actors come from ?
Tim Brooksis a former TV connection administrator and one of the top historians of American TV and radio . He scat the research section at NBC , USA Networks and Lifetime from the 1970s through 2007 , where his job was to analyze ratings datum and conduct focus group testing to cypher out what witness actually liked .
Brooks says that while the tradition of naming acomedyshow after its star probably go out back to the folk singer show of the 1800s , the custom really withdraw off when TV became " big occupation " in the 1960s . That was when television networks started spending a lot of money on securities industry research to better sell their shows to the viewing public . Every summertime , the web would draw study to guess public knowingness and interest in the coming fall TV lineup .
" bear witness that had the name of star in them would immediately crop up , even two or three month out , " says Brooks . " Even if the [ viewer ] had n’t see any advancement for the show , the name was instantly recognizable . "
The primary goal of all entertainment selling is to get viewers to " sample " your product . In a crowded media marketplace , says Brooks , studios and production company require something to cut through the noise . One of the effective methods is to leverage the live celebrity cache of a star .
" If you ’ve acquire a show asterisk Bill Cosby , who sold millions of albums in the 1960s , rather than call it ' The Thursday Night Comedy Show ' or something generic , call it ' The Cosby Show ' and mass who like him will come and discipline it out , " pronounce Brooks . And that ’s why the trend in the main applies to the lead in the show – even when far-famed player play supporting role , their character reference do n’t share a name .
" The Cosby Show " is a shine example of a situation comedy name being chosen strictly for marketing purposes . In many sitcoms , the title fiber shares the first name of the comedian : Mary Tyler Moore played Mary Richards on " The Mary Tyler Moore Show " ; Roseanne Barr was Roseanne Conner on " Roseanne " ; Jessica Williams is Jessica James on " The Incredible Jessica James . " And comedian Jerry Seinfeld share both names with his stand - up comic part on " Seinfeld , " essentially playing himself . But Bill Cosby ’s character was key out Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable . Would " The Cosby Show " have been as successful if it had been call in " The Huxtables " ? Most likely not .
Even X before centering grouping testing and Nielsen ratings , TV producer , networks and advertisers knew that a notable name would take hold of masses ’s attention . When TV was just starting out in the 1940s , it was seen as the " younger sibling " to shoot , says Saul Austerlitz , author of"Sitcom : A History in 24 Episodes from I Love Lucy to Community . "
" Film was interpret to be the place where all the magnanimous , heavy - than - life stars were — the John Waynes and Katharine Hepburns of the earth , " tell Austerlitz . " boob tube could n’t alone vie on that front , so there was a desire to pump up the performing artist that they did have , and emphasize that wiz quotient . "
Sometimes that star power was n’t now recognizable . When Milton Berle was employ to host his first TV variety show , it was called " Texaco Star Theatre , " after the show ’s main supporter . Only afterward did it become " The Milton Berle Show , " and one of the most successful TV display in history . When Ed Sullivan , a newspaper writer , made the move to TV in 1948 , he became the host of " Toast of the Town . " It was n’t until 1953 that he ’d become a big enough star topology to interchange the show ’s name to " The Ed Sullivan Show , " says Brooks .
Whilesitcomsand comedy display are much more likely to cash in on a headliner ’s name , it was n’t always that manner , say Brooks . Back in the 1950s , there was a democratic run of dramatic " anthologies " host or " presented " by a famous person actor . Examples include " Robert Montgomery Presents " ( 1950 - 1957 ) , " The Loretta Young Show " ( 1953 - 1961 ) and " Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre " ( 1955 - 1958 ) .
You do n’t see any telly play named after stars today , mostly because most new drama are procedurals with ensemble casts of relatively unknown actors , at least when they debut .
" You would n’t call CSI ' The William Petersen Show , ' " says Brooks .
