On 2nd October 2014, a new TV show premiered on the UK network Channel 4. Critics and pundits across the board praised the show’s wit, warmth, and innovation, with one going as far as to say it was “possibly the best television rom-com ever to be released”. Buoyed by this initial response, the network promoted the show whenever it could, spreading advertisements everywhere, and telling the world that they needed to watch this series… and the world promptly ignored it. The show’s first season went by without making so much as a splash in the cultural zeitgeist, generally forgotten by the average TV viewer.
Why was the show such a commercial failure? Easy: It was called Scrotal Recall.
Created by Tom Edge, the show follows Dylan, a 20-something landscape gardener who contracts chlamydia and must contact all his past sexual partners to tell them to get tested. As Dylan reconnects with all his fizzled romances, he reflects on why these lost loves failed, retracing their ups and downs in an introspective search for self. In similar fashion to 500 Days of Summer, the series was a bittersweet love story told in a non-chronological way, but there’s no way any viewer could possibly discern that from the title Scrotal Recall.
Originally the show’s working title that somehow ended sticking, Scrotal Recall is a one-note pun on the classic film Total Recall, with that being the name’s only merit (the TV is not sci-fi in any way, it doesn’t reference Total Recall, and no one involved in Total Recall was involved with Scrotal Recall). Stuck with this dud of a name, the show flailed on its first airing – although critically it was strong, commercially it was floundering. After the first season failed to get any traction, Channel 4 cancelled the series without any remorse and world completely forgot about this crudely titled nobody.
Well, until Netflix revived it. In a shocking move, the then-young streaming service brought the rights to the show in 2016 on the cheap, announcing it was renewing Scrotal Recall for a second season, but that they would definitely be changing its name.
Surprisingly though, Tom Edge said in an interview that the decision wasn’t made by Netflix but by the show itself. When Scrotal Recall made the jump to the streaming service, Edge asked Netflix if they could investigate how audiences reacted to the name – if the word “scrotal” was actually having an impact. The results were astounding: the vast majority of viewers said they loved the show, but wouldn’t recommend it to their friends and family because they didn’t want to say the word “scrotal” out loud. The show’s dwindling numbers weren’t due to a failed concept or inert cast but rather because fans embarrassed to share its title.
So, they changed it. The show earned itself a new moniker – Lovesick – which still referenced how the show is framed around an STI treatment but without the guttural shadiness of the word “scrotal”. Netflix released the new season and the audiences loved it. Armed with a new bland-but-not-self-sabotaging name, the show was a commercial success, with viewers flocking to the feel-good story of three friends growing up together and conquering the world of modern love. Indeed, the show was so popular, it was renewed for a third season by Netflix (something that the streaming juggernaut is often reticent to do).
Moreover, the show was so popular that it seemingly launched the careers of many involved. Edge signed a deal with multiple production companies following the show’s relaunch, contributing scripts to Netflix’s The Crown, BBC’s Strike and even writing the screenplay for Oscar-winner Judy. Johnny Flynn, who plays the show’s lovable but STI-ridden lead, has exploded in popularity as well, being cast as David Bowie in the upcoming biopic Stardust. Equally, Antonia Thomas, who plays the shows female lead, has been starring as Dr. Claire Brown in ABC’s The Good Doctor, and the list goes on. In fact, ironically, plans for a fourth season are currently on hold due to the cast and crew being so suddenly popular
By changing its title, Lovesick did more than distance itself from the puerile, frat-boy connotations of the word “scrotal” – it allowed the TV series to actually achieve commercial triumph, helping many involved to achieve similar success through association. But the biggest benefactor might have been for the show’s fans. As Edge aptly puts it, “I think most people are quietly relieved to be able to tell their grandparents what they watched this weekend without curling up and wanting to die.”
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