History FunWithAcronyms / LiveActionTV

** ''Series/KamenRiderX'' gave us GOD, the '''G'''overnment '''O'''f '''D'''arkness. That probably wouldn't go over too well]] outside Japan...

** ''Series/KamenRiderX'' gave us GOD, the '''G'''overnment '''O'''f '''D'''arkness. That probably [[UnfortunateImplications wouldn't go over too well]] outside Japan...

* ''Series/FamilyMatters'' has the fictional '''I'''llinois '''O'''ccidental '''U'''niversity.
** Also, Carl Winslow's middle name is Otis, making his initials spell "COW". This has been explicitly pointed out on at least one occasion.

* ''Series/WonderWoman1975'': In seasons 2 and 3, [[SecretIdentity Diana Prince]] works for the '''I'''nter-'''A'''gency '''D'''efense '''C'''ommand, a government agency that is never clearly defined.

* S.A.M. from ''Series/SesameStreet'', which stands for '''S'''uper '''A'''utomatic '''M'''achine. Those who were severely freaked out by him as children would argue '''S'''atan's '''A'''utomaton of '''M'''alice would be more accurate.

* On ''Series/SaturdayNightLive;''

** ''Series/KamenRiderAgito'' involves a police unit formed to fight mysterious monsters called the '''S'''quad '''A'''gainst '''U'''nidentified '''L'''ifeforms.
** ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'' has a meta-example, as "Decade" is derived from "DCD" - '''D'''ata '''C'''ard'''d'''ass, the company that makes the CardBattleGame ''Ganbaride'' from which several key elements of Decade (like his TransformationTrinket and the cards that power it) are derived.

** TAC: '''T'''errible-monster '''A'''ttacking '''C'''rews from ''Series/UltramanAce''.

** WINR: '''W'''orldwide '''I'''nvestigation '''N'''etwork '''R'''esponse (pronounced as ''Winner'') from ''Series/UltramanTheUltimateHero'' (aka ''Ultraman Powered'').

** TLT: '''T'''errestrial '''L'''iberation '''T'''rust (prounced "tilt") from ''Series/UltramanNexus''.

** AIB: '''A'''lien '''I'''nvestigation '''B'''ureau from ''Series/UltramanGeed''.

* ''Series/ThirtyRock'',

* ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'':

** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] with S.T.A.R. Labs on ''Series/TheFlash2014'': Harrison Wells (the real one, [[IdentityImpersonator it's complicated]]) was originally going to call his laboratory the '''T'''echnical '''E'''ngineering '''S'''cientific '''S'''tudies as a tribute to his wife, Tess Morgan. Tess suggested that he name it the '''S'''cientific and '''T'''echnological '''A'''dvanced '''R'''esearch Laboratory because she considered him her "star". Her name ultimately won out.

* An episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' had an organization known as '''M'''others '''O'''pposed to the '''O'''ccult, who saw fit to [[IncrediblyLamePun raise the stakes]] against most of what features in the show. Naturally, they lampshade it.
-->"Oh... and ''nice'' acronym, Mom!"
* On ''Series/BurnNotice''

** The Doctor's TARDIS ('''[[TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace T]]'''[[TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace ime]] '''[[TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace A]]'''[[TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace nd]] '''[[TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace R]]'''[[TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace elative]] '''[[TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace D]]'''[[TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace imension(s)]] '''[[TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace I]]'''[[TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace n]] '''[[TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace S]]'''[[TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace pace]]). At least one companion has pointed out that these initials don't make any sense in any language other than English, a point that leaves the Doctor (for once) stumped.

** UNIT, short for '''U'''nited '''N'''ations '''I'''ntelligence '''T'''askforce. The ExpandedUniverse took this further: the French branch is called NUIT (French for "night"; '''N'''ations '''U'''nies...), in Russia it's OGRON (for '''O'''perativnaya '''G'''ruppa '''R'''asvedkoy '''O'''byedinyonnih '''N'''atsiy, which roughly translates as "United Nations Reconnaissance Operations Group", but also happens to be the name of a ''Series/DoctorWho'' monster), and one novel set in World War II featured an equivalent organisation called LONGBOW (for '''L'''eague '''O'''f '''N'''ations '''G'''lobal '''B'''izarre '''O'''ccurrences '''W'''atch)

** TOMTIT from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E5TheTimeMonster "The Time Monster"]]: '''T'''ransmission '''O'''f '''M'''atter '''T'''hrough '''I'''nterstitial '''T'''ime.
*** The ''Literature/PastDoctorAdventures'' novel ''The Quantum Archangel'', a direct sequel to "The Time Monster", features an advanced version of TOMTIT called TITAN - '''T'''rans-'''I'''nterstitial '''T'''ime '''A'''nalysis '''N'''etwork.
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E5TheGreenDeath "The Green Death"]], the megalomaniac computer which plans to take over the world was called BOSS (Bimorphic Organisational Systems Supervisor). "My creators found it amusing. I find it... [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast appropriate]]."
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E4Dragonfire "Dragonfire"]], the "ANT" in the ANT hunt stands for '''A'''ggressive '''N'''on-'''T'''errestrial.

** Averted with [[ArcWords TORCHWOOD]], which is actually more like "Fun With Anagrams": rearranged, the letters spell "Doctor Who". Out-of-universe, it was a codename for tapes of the revived show to keep the revival secret. In-universe, the Torchwood Institute is named after the (fictional) Torchwood House in Scotland, where Queen Victoria was attacked by an alien werewolf and decided to form the organization.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E11Utopia Professor Yana]], [[spoiler:who's actually TheMaster in human form. The Doctor is then reminded of the Face of Boe's dying words: '''[[YouAreNotAlone Y]]'''[[YouAreNotAlone ou]] '''[[YouAreNotAlone A]]'''[[YouAreNotAlone re]] '''[[YouAreNotAlone N]]'''[[YouAreNotAlone ot]] '''[[YouAreNotAlone A]]'''[[YouAreNotAlone lone]].]]
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E4TheSontaranStratagem "The Sontaran Stratagem"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E5ThePoisonSky "The Poison Sky"]] takes the "use letters from within the words" cheat to its logical conclusion with ATMOS, which stands for "'''ATM'''ospheric '''O'''mission '''S'''ystem". (With bonus IncrediblyLamePun.)

** According to Creator/StevenMoffat, the WorkingTitle for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E8SilenceInTheLibrary "Silence in the Library"]] was "'''A''' '''R'''iver '''S'''ong '''E'''nding", apparently generated when he and Creator/RussellTDavies were playing a game of inventing ''Doctor Who'' titles with rude acronyms. And yes, that is actually why she's called River Song.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E14TheNextDoctor "The Next Doctor"]]: The title character has his own TARDIS... the '''T'''ethered '''A'''erial '''R'''elease '''D'''eveloped '''I'''n '''S'''tyle, a hot air balloon.

* In ''Series/KnightRider'', Michael and co. worked for the '''F'''oundation for '''L'''aw '''A'''nd '''G'''overnment. Despite the catchy acronym, they only use "FLAG" a couple of times on screen, preferring to say "The Foundation".
** On the other hand, there was K.I.T.T himself ('''K'''night '''I'''ndustries '''T'''wo '''T'''housand)
*** And his [[EvilTwin evil prototype]] K.A.R.R. ('''K'''night '''A'''utomated '''R'''oving '''R'''obot)
*** And in the 2009 {{Revival}}, it was '''K'''night '''I'''ndustries '''Three''' '''T'''housand.

* ''Series/LoisAndClark'' met several of them in the episode where ComicBook/LexLuthor's ex-wife was inducing people to hate ''Franchise/{{Superman}}''. One of them was '''S'''uperman '''T'''yranny '''O'''ver '''P'''eople.

* ''Series/MacGyver1985'': Murdoc works for the Homocide International Trust... making him a literal "HIT man".

* ''Series/{{MADtv}}'' has a recurring skit of a college group called '''K'''appa '''K'''appa '''K'''appa Sorority. The girls are more than aware of what the initials can also stand for... and one of them is black.
** A rival sorority of theirs is named '''Z'''eta '''I'''ota '''T'''au.

* A popular segment on ''Series/DieWochenshow'' that parodied shopping channels was called '''''SHIT''' – '''Sh'''opping '''i'''m '''T'''V''.

* In ''Series/FTLNewsfeed'' there's SHIVA, the Society for Heuristic Investigation of Virtual Anomalies, and also a nerd fanclub called FLAKE: Fans of [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft]], [[Creator/IsaacAsimov Asimov]], [[Creator/StephenKing King]], and Extraterrestrials.
* In ''Series/{{Porridge}}'', Fletcher sets up a campaign to exonerate a fellow prisoner, "Blanco" Webb, which he names "'''C'''ampaign for the '''R'''elease of '''O'''ld '''W'''ebb", having first rejected "'''C'''ampaign for the '''R'''elease '''A'''nd '''P'''ardon of '''O'''ld '''W'''ebb".
* ''Series/MadAboutYou'' had Paul and Jamie struggling to name their daughter, until they decided to take heed of Paul's mom advice that '''M'''others '''A'''lways '''B'''ring '''E'''xtra '''L'''ove to name her Mabel. The series finale shows that while growing up, during her rebellious teen phase Mabel had considered changing it to Sonya, ''''S'''ome '''O'''ther '''N'''ame '''Y'''ou '''A'''s..."([[CurseCutShort "Lady!"]]).
* ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'' has the H.O.P.E. Center, and H.O.P.E. is short for '''H'''elp '''O'''ur '''P'''eople '''E'''xcel. It is a nonprofit organization the titular policeman and Alex opened after she was hospitalized after the events of "The Wedding", deciding they should do more for the community besides putting the criminals behind bars, such as getting the victims back on their feet and the like. The Center made its debut appearance in Season 7's "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS7E2Trackdown Trackdown]]".