A long-defunct TV show forced Soylent Green to change its name

“Make Room for Daddy” is probably not a name that sticks in the consciousness of anyone under 60. “Make Room for Daddy” was the title of “The Danny Thomas Show” for its first three seasons from 1953 to 1956. The show was about a character very similar to Danny Thomas named Danny Williams (Thomas) and his inability to juggling an entertainment career (he performed regularly at the Copacabana club) and a suburban family. Jean Hagen played Danny’s long-suffering wife during these first three seasons,

“The Danny Thomas Show” wasn’t canceled until 1963, so it may still have remained in the public’s memory by the time “Make Room! Make Room!” by Harry Harrison. has been published. So perhaps with a little imagination, we could understand why Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer decided to call the film “Soylent Green” instead. Harrison was quoted as saying:

“When (actor) Chuck Connors got his (copy of my book), he called the director across the set: ‘Hey, Dick, why don’t you use that title instead of the crappy ‘Soylent Green ?’The Answer What Fleischer may not have known was that the decision was made in high places that my title could be associated with a long-defunct television series called “Make Room for Dad.” Moral: when you throw out a good title, you always get a bad one.”

Harrison had plenty of reasons to be bitter about the production of “Soylent Green.” It appears that MGM not only made numerous changes to its book without asking permission – the cannibalism angle was not in Harrison’s book – but also attempted to extract money from the book. the author through a Byzantine labyrinth of bureaucracy and shell companies. Harrison recalled the entire ordeal.