The 2015–2016 television season is a big one for Fox. Between the final season of American Idol, the return of of The X-Files, and Gotham and the upcoming Lucifer representing the network in the ever-growing comic sphere, some of the most exciting names on primetime television have their homes on Fox. Unfortunately, there is also one show that will have a home on Fox that has already gone through three names, and none of them seem to have generated much excitement. New series Lookinglass has been officially renamed as Second Chance.
If chills ran down your spine at that new name, you may want to get yourself checked out.
A play on words from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass is particularly perplexing when taking into account the first of the series’ titles: The Frankenstein Code. While not much better than Lookinglass, the nod to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein promised some wonderful weirdness. The name was changed from The Frankenstein Code fairly early in development, and the show had been going by Lookinglass following creative changes over the summer.
To be fair to Second Chance, Lookinglass wasn’t exactly the greatest name for a new series. The portmanteau of “Looking” and “glass” already raised the question of how to pronounce it – “Looking lass” or “Lookin glass?” – months before the premiere, and it was certain to make anybody typing about it want to throw a copy of Through the Looking-Glass at whoever came up with it.
Second Chance does seem to be an accurate name. The show will follow the story of a man who is given a second chance (and a younger body) after being killed in a robbery. The role of the hero will be played by Rob Kazinsky. Few details about the exact plot of the show have yet been released, possibly because producers are waiting on the next shipment of darts to throw at a board of options.
There’s no reason to think that the frustrating title changes are any kind of reflection on the quality of the show, but Second Chance is already on its third chance at nailing down a name, and this one is by far the least extraordinary. Lookinglass at least had enough intrigue to potentially send folks to their computers to hit up Google and see if a network was really using that name for a new primetime series.
Still, it's not a great sign for the longevity of the series that Fox has already reduced the number of episodes in the first season order for Second Chance. Changing the name again and again runs the risk of losing any amount of viewers interested. Hopefully, third time will be the charm for Fox. Second Chance may be vague and generic, but it is a set label for the series that might hold in an audience.
Barring any further name changes, Second Chance will premiere on Fox on Wednesday, January 13.
