Cougar Town is by far the most infamous example of the title gone wrong in modern television. Star Courteney Cox admitted that it was chosen for shock value, which at least makes some sense, because after the first few episodes it became clear that the show would be about a forty-something women and her non-cougar friends. Even the high school football team called the Cougars didn't make repeat appearances after the pilot, making the title utterly baffling and possibly even detrimental to ratings. Both the creators and original network ABC hated the name so much that they debated changing it after the first season, but it was eventually agreed that more fans would be lost than gained. Co-creators Bill Lawrence and Kevin Biegel have even gone on record multiple times to slam the title, but both eventually just decided to roll with it, because what else could they do? Now Cougar Town mocks itself before anyone else can with title cards which actually highlight the ridiculous name, most obviously in the season three premiere: "It's still called Cougar Town. Yeah, we're not happy about it either." A character later spots a statue of a cougar and wonders aloud in bewilderment, "Nothing here has anything to do with cougars!" Rather than ignore the issue, the writers of Cougar Town have embraced and actively celebrated it, and in the process have turned their terrible title into a badge of honour. Hats off to them.
