Could You Picture The Show 'House' Being Named Anything Else? It Almost Was....

[Brian Damage]

Watch Hugh Laurie roam the hallways of Princeton Plainsboro Hospital, and the name "House" immediately comes to mind. Except it almost didn't turn out that way.

In fact, when it comes to TV titles, what seems obvious now wasn't always so.

Writers might want to keep an original title, but they understand the importance of marketing, research and focus groups in coming up with alternatives.

"If you heard about a show called 'House,' you wouldn't think it's about a diagnostician with a Vicodin problem," says Fox marketing topper Joe Earley in explaining the battles the network went through in coming up with a title for a show about a genius doctor with a bad bedside manner.

"There was a big fight internally about that," recalls Earley of the discussions prior to the show's 2004 launch. "(The name) didn't sound like a medical show and didn't tell you anything, but the people on the show stuck to their guns, and now you couldn't imagine the show being called anything else."

When a series is in development, there is always a struggle among a network, studio and writers to come up with the best possible name. The writer wants to ensure the title is catchy and unique, but the studio's and network's main concern is to be able to market it to audiences.

As is the case with "House," sometimes a title doesn't have to be so self-explanatory that it will automatically pique viewer interest. A little mystery can be good.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118033326?refCatId=14

[MariposaLKB]

Wonder what alternatives were suggested...? Don't remember where I read this, but I think they wanted to call it 'House" as a sort of homage to Sherlock Holmes (Holmes - homes - home - house).