punctuation - Do you need to put the names of TV shows in quotation marks or not?


Which of the following sentences is correct?


Version 1:



There are TV shows like Dragon's Den and Shark Tank.



Version 2:



There are TV shows like "Dragon's Den" and "Shark Tank".




Answer



How to distinguish titles of works is a matter of style. There is no single, universally correct answer; you should adhere to the guidance of your editor, publication, or organization, or in the absence of a house style, your preferred style manual.


For example, the Chicago Manual of Style stipulates that the titles of television shows should be italicized, but that individual episode names should be demarcated with quotation marks. APA style dictates the same.


Associated Press style, on the other hand, prefers that the names of television shows should be wrapped in quotation marks, and not italicized or underlined.


Bluebook legal citation, for yet another example, wants the name of the show and episode together, separated by a colon, and both italicized, without quotation marks. Journal names and film titles, incidentally, are to be cited neither with italics nor with quotation marks, but with small caps.


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