Titus (TV series)

Titus
The Titus logo used in the opening credits.
Created by	Christopher Titus Jack Kenny Brian Hargrove
Starring	Christopher Titus Zack Ward Cynthia Watros Stacy Keach Frances Fisher David Shatraw Rachel Roth (Seasons 2–3) Elizabeth Berkley (Season 3)
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	54 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	approx. 22 minutes
Production company(s)	Kenny & Hargrove Deranged Entertainment 20th Century Fox Television
Release
Original network	Fox
Original release	March 20, 2000 – August 12, 2002

Titus is an American dark comedy sitcom that debuted on Fox in 2000. The series was created by its star, Christopher Titus, Jack Kenny, and Brian Hargrove. The sitcom is based on Christopher's stand-up comedy act, more specifically his one-man show Norman Rockwell is Bleeding (which itself would be broadcast on television in 2004), which was based loosely upon his real-life family; lines from Norman Rockwell is Bleeding were spoken by Titus as commentary (see below). Titus plays an outwardly childish adult (based on himself), who owns a custom car shop. The show follows him and his dimwitted half-brother Dave, his girlfriend Erin with the "heart of gold", his goody-goody friend Tommy, and his arrogantly lewd, bigoted, heavy smoking & drinking, womanizing, divorced multiple times, father Ken "Papa" Titus.

Titus began doing comedy when he was 18. After two years of relatively normal comedy bits, his act soon began to evolve to focus around his family, particularly his father's heart attacks and his mother's mental illness.

One night while performing, an assistant to a Fox executive was in the audience, and he brought his bosses to the show.

Knowing he had a deal with Fox, Titus wanted "Dad is Dead" to be the pilot. After the series ended, Titus commented that, if one watches Norman Rockwell is Bleeding, and then "Dad is Dead", the latter essentially "rapes" the former.

Because Kenny and Hargrove came from live theater, and Titus from live comedy, it was a unanimous decision that the live story would be shot in real time, like a play, in as few takes as possible; as cues for the editors in post-production, so they could incorporate flashbacks and action in the neutral space, the action would pause briefly, and then resume. Episodes were blocked and rehearsed extensively, and shot on Friday every week.

The cast also had different methods of working. Being a comedian, Titus knew where the punchline would be and never explored anything else. Zack Ward had difficulty finding the joke during rehearsals, but Kenny realized that he was looking for where the joke could be. Watros asked Titus to point out where the joke was, and promised to hit her marks. During breaks in rehearsal, Shatraw would work by himself on set, looking for specific quirks or actions that Tommy would do or take.