When a work is adapted into a different medium, there is a tendency to subtitle that work with the format of the new adaptation. For example, a TV show called
Bob And Alice, when adapted into a movie, will be called
Bob and Alice: The Movie.
Because this is an uncreative and predictable method of naming something, it's a good sign that the adaptation is a cheap tie-in product knocked out to ride the coattails of a more popular work (this is especially true of things
adapted into video games).
This is not necessarily true, however, and just as frequently the system is simply used as a way to disambiguate different works in a franchise.
This is a fluid trope. Sometimes, if an adaptation becomes more popular than the original work, it'll drop the subtitle, while in other cases, if a new adaptation is produced, a show that didn't originally have a subtitle will have one added on. Many times, these are even added on by fans.
Colon Cancer is a frequent result of this trope, especially if an adaptation of an adaptation is made. Take, for example, this gem:
Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Manga.
Compare
Trope: 2000,
Super Title 64 Advance. Contrast
Electric Boogaloo. See also
The Foreign Subtitle.
Examples (listed by medium):
Parodies:
The Animated Series:* Animated "The Series" go here too.
The Comic Book or
The Manga:
The Game or
The Board Game:
The Movie: (see also, The Film of the Book)
The Musical:
The Next Generation: (and similar names)
The Series:
Other
