Stock Episode Titles
 | IMPORTANT: The content of this page is outdated. If you have checked or updated this page and found the content to be suitable, please remove this notice. |
|---|
"'Demons, Demons, Demons.' Wow. They put a lot of thought into that title."—Cordelia Chase, Angel
Scudworth: I'll title it, "What It's Like to Be a Teenage Clone, colon, A Rope of Sand."
Mr. Butlerton: Good title, it draws the reader in without giving too much away.
Sometimes, writers are imaginative. They think up the most amazing plot twists, the funniest dialogue, the best characters possible for their episode.
And then they have to think up an episode title. Sometimes with Idiosyncratic Episode Naming it's easy, but most shows don't have that, so the writer is forced to make it up himself. And sometimes, he turns to the Stock Episode Title.
What makes a Stock Episode Title? Well, the minimum requirement is five separate shows using it (and not just one writer using it over and over again, like Aaron Sorkin does with "What Kind of Day Has It Been?"). For example, the episode title "My Brother's Keeper" has been used fifty-two times over the years,[1] probably because it's a Literary Allusion Title from The Bible. Most Stock Episode Titles are either Literary Allusion Titles or simple, single word titles. A great many Stock Episode Titles relate to the Wedding Day.
Because a writer may be able to write a great episode, but will still bang his head against the wall when trying to think up a title.
See also Stock Subtitle.
A chart of the most popular Stock Episode Titles. Note: Two- or three-part episodes have been counted as one.
Further note: While the pilot episode of a show is very commonly called "Pilot" - 1715 times, in fact[2] - it doesn't really count, does it?
About the Table
- "Notes / See Also / Not to Be Confused With": When there's a disambiguation page, these entries should be on it. If they aren't, please move them there. Eventually, this column should be completely empty with the current entries moved to disambiguation pages.
- "ATT Page":
- If the link in this column is red, go ahead and create a disambiguation page for the works.
- If it's blue and in italics, it already is a disambiguation page; feel free to add on-topic entries to it.
- If it's blue but not in italics, please check whether the link already leads to a disambiguation page. If it doesn't, please consider moving the current page and making a disambiguation page.
- If the link is green, then wait until after you have consensus to rename the trope before moving it so that the page can be freed up for a disambiguation page.
The Table
Seriously, what's with all these episodes about pilots? ...Wesley?'