Change in Name of the Series

[Cincy Guy]

I've never seen any explanation of why the name of this series from changed from "The Bob Cummings Show" to "Love That Bob" when it went into reruns on daytime network TV. Obviously, the references to Winston Cigarettes had to be taken out, but you still had the voice-over by announcer Bill Baldwin saying the changed title of the show.

I'm familar, for example, with Dragnet reruns being called "Badge 714", but those were reruns on individual local stations when the series was still being shown on the network. When "The Bob Cummings Show" ended in 1959, Cummings didn't have another network series for at least two years.

[missy's pop pop]

As you pointed out, cincyguy, syndicated versions of old network shows often were sold to stations and networks under different titles to distinguish them from the concurrent first-run episodes. (Paramount did that in the eighties with "Laverne and Shirley and Friends" and "Happy Days Again.")

To me, "Love That Bob" sounded snappier and more upbeat than "The Bob Cummings Show." In fact, one of the one-hit wonders of the 1958 television season riffed on that title when Robert Sterling and Anne Jeffreys played rival talent-agency owners named "Jack" and "Jill" in a frothy little thing called "Love That Jill."

I was always fascinated when, during the closing credits, the camera panned down to the Winston ashtray (with a smoking cigarette in one slot)....I think R. J. Reynolds "really liked that picture!"

[Cincy Guy]

Yes. There are a number of shows whose titles were changed went they went into re-runs (either on the network or a local station). Perhaps one of the best known is "Dragnet" being re-titled "Badge 714".

One of the more unusual was "Captain Midnight" switching the name of the series and the star to "Jet Jackson". That caused more than just a title change, but re-dubbing the dialogue in the shows to this different name.

[treky]

and THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW became ANDY OF MAYBERRY (and my older brother thought the name of the ENTIRE series was ANDY OF MAYBERRY until I corrected him a couple years ago)

Which brings up something I've always wondered: why was this done to some series, but not others? For instance it wasn't done to BEWITCHED, THAT GIRL, THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, MY 3 SONS and a lot of others; not just sitcoms also dramas.

[missy's pop pop]

Originally Posted by Cincy Guy

Yes. There are a number of shows whose titles were changed went they went into re-runs (either on the network or a local station). Perhaps one of the best known is "Dragnet" being re-titled "Badge 714".

One of the more unusual was "Captain Midnight" switching the name of the series and the star to "Jet Jackson". That caused more than just a title change, but re-dubbing the dialogue in the shows to this different name.

The problem was that Ovaltine owned the rights to the Captain Midnight character, as its longtime sponsor. When the show was sold to TV syndication, Ovaltine did not want to continue sponsorship, so the title and the character names were changed as you described above.

Imagine "I Love Lucy" having to re-dub their characters' names to Bobby, Sally, John, and Martha after CBS sold it to local syndication in 1967. Just imagine how weird that would sound today. That's how strange the "Jet Jackson" inserts sounded back then.

[MyMovieRomance]

Originally Posted by missy's pop pop

As you pointed out, cincyguy, syndicated versions of old network shows often were sold to stations and networks under different titles to distinguish them from the concurrent first-run episodes. (Paramount did that in the eighties with "Laverne and Shirley and Friends" and "Happy Days Again.")

To me, "Love That Bob" sounded snappier and more upbeat than "The Bob Cummings Show." In fact, one of the one-hit wonders of the 1958 television season riffed on that title when Robert Sterling and Anne Jeffreys played rival talent-agency owners named "Jack" and "Jill" in a frothy little thing called "Love That Jill."

I was always fascinated when, during the closing credits, the camera panned down to the Winston ashtray (with a smoking cigarette in one slot)....I think R. J. Reynolds "really liked that picture!"

This is very interesting info. I was just about to ask such a question, so I'm glad I happed upon your answer. :-)

LOVE THAT BOB is probably my favorite show of the 1950s, and some days, I consider it to be my favorite show of all! This is one show which I'm glad that the title changed. Because, as you said, LOVE THAT BOB sounded snappier and just happy. This was, after all, a show about a happy, carefree ladies man, living a rather glam life and was not at all serious. So, the less formal title was PERFECT for it.

I do have another question though:

Since the title of the show was changed, does that mean the credits were changed too? I love the way the credits are a developing picture and Bob saying "Hold it! I think you're gonna like this picture!" It's just so perfect for such a show. Was that opening tacked on later, or was it always there?