Naming a new science programme
We've got a new programme in the works. It's an irreverent, witty, unashamedly opinionated science show with physicist and former pop sensation Brian Cox and comedian and science enthusiast Robin Ince. But what shall we call it?
Less than two months until first transmission and even more alarmingly, only one week until our first publicity deadline and still no title - ahh! How, in just a few words, do you convey all that the comedy genius of Brian Cox and the physics know-how of Robin Ince (or is that the other way round?) will bring to the greatest science show you'll ever hear... and I'm not biased obviously, I'm just the producer.
The Science Unit have been mulling hard and it turns out that we are a lot funnier then we thought - or at least we think we are - it is very hard to tell now. Early favourites included several plays on already established titles including I'm sorry I Haven't a Clone and Drop the Dead Dolly. Some truly terrible puns emerged including The Abi Titmus Test (vetoed for fairly obvious reasons), and Here's looking at Euclid which is so bad it's almost brilliant.
Well known science phrases have been put to good use: Particle Zoo, Periodically Funny (we could shoot ourselves in the foot with that one - suppose we aren't?!), and The Infinite Variables have all made the short-list. And our working title of Top Geek, a sneaky nod to our ambition to do to science what Jeremy Clarkson has done for cars, and never meant as a serious consideration, has turned out to be a surprise contender, although it does seem to be the Marmite of titles - loved or hated (more candidate names here). Robin came up with the genius title of The Infinite Monkey Cage. It's so weird its sort of perfect and is certainly a favourite amongst the production team and the Science Unit... but does it tell us what the programme is about and does it matter?
And Mohit Bakaya, who commissions science programmes for Radio 4, adds:
More generally, the issue of titles is an interesting one. In the age of podcasting and iPlayer it makes sense for titles to have that 'Ronseal' quality - to do exactly what they say on the tin. That way people searching for business programmes, for example, know what they're in for when they come across In Business. But what about The Bottom Line? Would they know that that would be of interest too?Yet sometimes purely descriptive titles can seem a little prosaic. How does one convey attitude, wit, something new and different and be recognisable in the age of the internet? That's the challenge!
- Alexandra has written for the Radio 4 blog before.
- Brian Cox presented an Archive on 4 about Carl Sagan earlier this year. It was pretty popular.
- More candidate names here.Your suggestions are, of course, welcome. Leave a comment if you've got a good idea.
- The picture, OK, who gave the monkey a ray gun?! is by Don Solo. It's used under licence.
Comment number 1.
At 19:32 2nd Oct 2009, Bx4 wrote:How about
Meeja Science
'It's science, Jim but not as we know it.'
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Comment number 2.
At 19:38 2nd Oct 2009, Scott M wrote:"Strangeness and Charm"?
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Comment number 3.
At 20:22 2nd Oct 2009, Bx4 wrote:On further reflection you may already have the ideal title
'The Monkey and the Raygun'
works on a number of levels.
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Comment number 4.
At 21:39 2nd Oct 2009, Forget It wrote:I'm not sure I can beat Scott M's nice one.
But here are few ideas:
Science, Get it?
Science sparks
Science Wow (c.f Science Now?)
Unnatural sciences (i.e. not the Natural Sciences)
Rock it science
Don't knock it science
Cosmic comical
Lets get Physical
-----hope that helps
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Comment number 5.
At 22:14 2nd Oct 2009, Stuart Ian Burns wrote:It's just a pity "Look Around You" has been taken.
Six Times Seven.
(S)Proof
Therapeutic Humour
Euclid Dream (cf, Lucid D:ream)
Spider Apple (another play on the name of the stars)
The Ohm Show
(I'm out).
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Comment number 6.
At 22:32 2nd Oct 2009, dasilva wrote:• Saganism
• Schrödinger's Wavey Quasion
Borrowing from Scott M's:
• Cox & Ince's Strange Attractor
• In Through The Looking Glass
• He = mc²
Not very good. Just warming up ;-)
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Comment number 7.
At 22:40 2nd Oct 2009, frankwales wrote:Flitty Kitty Big Bang
Warp Factory
Experi Mental
Truth and Consequences
Calculosity
It's all Geek to me
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Comment number 8.
At 22:52 2nd Oct 2009, FinallyAlecto wrote:Unnatural Selection.
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Comment number 9.
At 23:20 2nd Oct 2009, prowlett wrote:Two people talking about science... how about "Weak interaction"?
Trying to think of something that conveys science and humour:
"Deriving humour"?
Within that, the charmingly self-deprecating:
"Theoretically Funny"?
"Half Science, Half Wit"
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Comment number 10.
At 23:35 2nd Oct 2009, z e r o wrote:"The Cox-Ince Condensate"
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Comment number 11.
At 00:01 3rd Oct 2009, DaveMedlo wrote:In no particular order...
Periodic Round Table
Paging Professor Science
Cloning About
Cox on Sci-INCE
Partial Physics
Sci-Try / Sci-Why?
E=92-95FM
Up and Atom
Nuclear Familiar
The Nucleus Family
Large Hidea Collider (the 'H' is silent)
Men in White (Coats)
Radioation Poisoning
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Comment number 12.
At 00:30 3rd Oct 2009, catchthatpigeon wrote:The Farcical Accelerator
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Comment number 13.
At 00:47 3rd Oct 2009, Oblongata wrote:The evolution of Brian and Ince bringing you science!
BRIENCE!
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Comment number 14.
At 02:07 3rd Oct 2009, me_cizer wrote:sounds like a new addition to my podcast list, here are some more ideas.
The Professor and the Digressor
The Grand Theory of Something or Other
Playing with Dice
Double or Slits
Quarky Races
Comic & Atomic
ince to the power of cox (or cox^ince)
One Ince, Cox
The Particle and the Wave
Brian and Robin's Multiverse
The Titrate of Reason
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Comment number 15.
At 02:22 3rd Oct 2009, tamsinedwards wrote:Science Friction
The Geek Shall Inherit The Earth
In Science We Trust
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Comment number 16.
At 03:48 3rd Oct 2009, trekce wrote:I like science very much.
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Comment number 17.
At 07:35 3rd Oct 2009, TV Licence fee payer against BBC censorship wrote:"We've got a new programme in the works. It's an irreverent, witty, unashamedly opinionated science show with physicist and former pop sensation Brian Cox and comedian and science enthusiast Robin Ince. But what shall we call it?
Total Crap?....
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Comment number 18.
At 07:36 3rd Oct 2009, TV Licence fee payer against BBC censorship wrote:re the comment @ #17, Oops did I make a tpyo?
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Comment number 19.
At 09:40 3rd Oct 2009, Briantist wrote:If it can't be "Things can only get better" how about "Moore's Law"?
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Comment number 20.
At 10:53 3rd Oct 2009, lordBeddGelert wrote:Cox on the Box ?
I Sleep to D:-Ream ?
Event Horizon...
Forty-two
Laugh then think.. [in homage to the Journals of Improbable Research]
I am doing very badly at this - my best ideas occur in the shower, so I will pop off and see what crops up]..
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Comment number 21.
At 11:20 3rd Oct 2009, lordBeddGelert wrote:Righty-ho, Showered and ready to go. Not sure we'll get a result here today, so maybe just throw some words around to act as a catalyst for you..
And let us try to capture those whose only knowledge is of the 'science bit' on those fatuous cosmetic commercials...
Adventures in Anarchy
Catalyst for Knowledge.. or Catalysts for Chaos
If it Quarks like a Duck..
Hard water, heavy hydrogen
Bad time on Mars.
Enzyme Escapades...
Busting the Bull***t [might not work on Radio 4...]
Bad Science, Great Time
Charmed by a lepton.
or
From leptons to liposomes
Destination Diagnosis
CSI - Climate Science Investigation
In our Time Travel [Melvyn Bragg may disapprove..]
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Comment number 22.
At 11:28 3rd Oct 2009, wolgrumpfy wrote:Bearing in mind the popularity of cooking programmes and the history of accidental discoveries: how about..........
"The recipe went wrong!"
or
"So much for the gold!"
or
"Madness explained"
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Comment number 23.
At 12:50 3rd Oct 2009, stellarinfo wrote:"The other culture"
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Comment number 24.
At 13:21 3rd Oct 2009, lordBeddGelert wrote:Hmmm.. This is far, far harder than I thought and should serve me right for whingeing about dreadful programme titles like 'You and Yours' or 'File on 4'..
How about..
Going Critical.. [see what I did there..]
Event Horizon..
Escape Velocity..
The funniest science programme in the world - Probably..
FILLING THE VACUUM [because science seems to be a no-go area for the eejits working as journalists who seem exclusively taken from the ranks of thick middle-brow 'arts graduates' who didn't spend their mornings at uni looking out the windows, so that they would have something to do in the afternoon...] *
* Stephanie Flanders excepted.
How I learned to stop worrying and love Big Bang...
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Comment number 25.
At 13:32 3rd Oct 2009, PaperCarpet wrote:How about -
42
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Comment number 26.
At 13:35 3rd Oct 2009, Lawrence Jones wrote:Grad Div or Curl
Joule In The Crown
Jet & ITER
Displacement Currents
Hex Induction
Plane Wave
Rainbow In Curved Trousers
Clutch Bag
No Split Enz
This Charming Quark
String Vest
Avogadro’s Pear
The Vix Index
Calling Dr Love
Petticoats and Positrons
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Comment number 27.
At 13:36 3rd Oct 2009, pillmanuk wrote:Quantum Garage cf. Top Gear
it's all relativity.
Duality
singularity
Whatever you call it, hope it's a good view!
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Comment number 28.
At 14:23 3rd Oct 2009, Justin Pickard wrote:Both "The Cox-Ince Condensate" and "Strangeness and Charm" sound pretty good.
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Comment number 29.
At 15:57 3rd Oct 2009, herding_snails wrote:Square Fruit
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Comment number 30.
At 17:19 3rd Oct 2009, herding_snails wrote:Schrödinger's Chat
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Comment number 31.
At 18:15 3rd Oct 2009, lordBeddGelert wrote:Aster Droid
Burn up on re-entry
Compound Interest.. [for the chemists]
Darwin's Apes [a bit too narrow, but could refer to the presenters..]
Black hole, light noise.
Ertz Magnetic Field [In homage to my physics teacher, whose pronunciation of "Earth's" and "Hertz" was indistinguishable..]
Elsie and Magma Dizzum [Again, totally meaningless but this is what it sounded like when my physics teacher said 'Electricity and Magnetism']
Logosphere [like 'knowledge sphere' ? ]
Ideality [sort of combo of idea and reality..]
Knowledge Network [alliterative if slightly naff - though that never seems to be a reason not to use it for many Radio 4 programmes ]
Probe
I've got a pentapeptide and I'm not afraid to use it.
Lonely Galaxy Quest
Knowledge / Relay
I'm giving up because these are really rubbish ideas testing the old mantra of brainstorming that 'there is no such thing as a bad idea' to destruction...
Still, times are hard and we don't want yet more licence fee cash poured into some 'Adrian Wardour-Street's well-lined pocket while the credit crunch is on, especially while you can tap into the Wisdom of Crowds..
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Comment number 32.
At 19:12 3rd Oct 2009, Mhanga wrote:Particle Man and Robin
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Comment number 33.
At 19:51 3rd Oct 2009, JamesStGeorge wrote:Science comedy and pop physics.
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Comment number 34.
At 22:34 3rd Oct 2009, nikki noodle wrote:Ultimate Con_cern_s
Utter Interactions
It's the Universe, Stupid.
Light Sparks (or Bright Sparks, but that might be overly much)
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Comment number 35.
At 00:35 4th Oct 2009, Battlestarsbw wrote:Quontum wit
reaction core wit
circular universe imploding wit
singular reality wit
quazar witty universe
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Comment number 36.
At 16:26 4th Oct 2009, ravaged-not-ruined wrote:Atomic Attraction.
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Comment number 37.
At 16:32 4th Oct 2009, ravaged-not-ruined wrote:Stand Up and Atom.
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Comment number 38.
At 16:38 4th Oct 2009, ravaged-not-ruined wrote:Quips and Quarks.
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Comment number 39.
At 16:48 4th Oct 2009, ravaged-not-ruined wrote:Dr. Schlitz and Giggles
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Comment number 40.
At 16:56 4th Oct 2009, ravaged-not-ruined wrote:Laughing Matter
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Comment number 41.
At 17:10 4th Oct 2009, robinincenumber2 wrote:I gave the TAMLondon audience the choice of infinite monkey cage or here's looking at Euclid, they went with Euclid.
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Comment number 42.
At 20:08 4th Oct 2009, ravaged-not-ruined wrote:So that's that then? Has the final decision been made?
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Comment number 43.
At 21:35 4th Oct 2009, lordBeddGelert wrote:Robin Ince - Fair dos, that is certainly better than anything I came up with, and strangely appropriate since John Galliano at Dior is going big on the 'Casablanca' look at the moment..
Now you just have to make sure the programme lives up to the hype.
No pressure then..
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Comment number 44.
At 12:33 5th Oct 2009, Alexandrafeachem wrote:Hi all -thank you so much for all your suggestions. We will add them to the list and our crack comedy titles team (or the Radio 4 management office, as they are more commonly known) will deliberate and we hope to have an official title for you by the end of this week. We will let you know as soon as we do!.
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Comment number 45.
At 13:10 5th Oct 2009, lordBeddGelert wrote:What is the point of having Mitchell and Webb, plus Armstrong and Miller, plus the QI team and of course 'Just A Minute' and not forgetting the "I'm sure I haven't a clue" panel on the payroll if you can't force them to help you with tasks such as this ?
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Comment number 46.
At 17:52 5th Oct 2009, cheesescientist2009 wrote:The Debunkanators or
The Debunkers
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Comment number 47.
At 08:31 6th Oct 2009, Snafu_labour wrote:How about "I'm too thick to understand so it must be elitist"?
That reminds me I was going to check out some of Brian Cox's papers to find out exactly why the University of Manchester decided to give a Professorship to a pop star. Still keeping an open mind. Trying to be objective.
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Comment number 48.
At 16:46 6th Oct 2009, russen91 wrote:The 64 Million Dollar Answer.
That's the one we're all after, isn't?
or
Wonderlust
(Aristotle's "Man by nature desires to know..".and all that)
or
The Curiosity Cats
or
Strictly for the Curious
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Comment number 49.
At 09:50 7th Oct 2009, poppyMagda wrote:Witty Creativity
My propositions:
Am I funny?
Hands up!Shoot.
Why do we laugh?
Count to infinity and search.
Where do we go?
People in this country laugh.
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Comment number 50.
At 10:41 8th Oct 2009, RacingPuma2 wrote:"Carry on Cloning"
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Comment number 51.
At 12:09 8th Oct 2009, ravaged-not-ruined wrote:Science is Fun with Robin Ince and Brian Cox
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Comment number 52.
At 13:28 16th Oct 2009, herding_snails wrote:have you decided yet?!!!
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Comment number 53.
At 12:03 19th Oct 2009, ravaged-not-ruined wrote:Yeah.... Have you decided yet?
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Comment number 54.
At 13:11 20th Oct 2009, Dashblog wrote:Science Programme - You already have a good selection but "Magical Science Roundabout" or "The Science Lab at the End of the Universe" fits in with my goonish mind.
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Comment number 55.
At 17:46 23rd Oct 2009, herding_snails wrote:hallooooo!!!!!!
*peers into the black hole that this thread has become*
anyone going to tell us the final decision???!!!
*taps fingers impatiently*
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