Sons of Anarchy: The Original Plan For SAMCRO's Name (& Why It Changed)
Sons of Anarchy’s title motorcycle club originally had a different name – here’s what it was and why it changed. Created by Kurt Sutter, Sons of Anarchy premiered on FX in 2008 and came to an end in 2014 after seven seasons. The series was very well-received from the beginning and was praised for its tone, the performances of the main cast (mostly that of Katey Sagal as Gemma Teller-Morrow), and its exploration of themes like racism and corruption, both within the club and with other organizations.
Sons of Anarchy follows Jackson “Jax” Teller (Charlie Hunnam), VP of the motorcycle club Sons of Anarchy in the fictional town of Charming, in California. The events of the series are kickstarted when Jax finds a manifesto written by his late father, John Teller, one of the founding members of the club, in which he shared his vision and plans for the club, which are very different from those of the club’s President, Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman). This leads Jax to question the club’s path and history, his relationships, family, and himself. Sons of Anarchy took a lot of inspiration from real-life motorcycle clubs, but that doesn’t mean it was easy for Sutter to find the right name for the lead club of the series, and his original plan for it was very different.
Kurt Sutter has been very active on social media during the coronavirus pandemic, interacting with his followers and answering many, many questions about Sons of Anarchy, its characters, events, mysteries, and even the planned spinoffs as is the prequel series First 9. Among those questions was one about how Sutter came up with the name “Sons of Anarchy”, to which he replied that the club was originally named “The Zealots”, but he felt it “had too much of a religious vibe”. “Zealot” is used to refer to a person who is fanatical in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals, and historically, the Zealots were a political movement in 1st-century Second Temple Judaism who looked to incite the people of Judea Province to rebel against the Roman Empire and take them out of the Holy Land.
Sutter added that part of the problem when naming the club was finding one that wasn’t already used, as there are a lot of motorcycle clubs around the world, and he didn’t want to “step on any MC toes”. He then named the club “Sons of Anarchy” but didn’t want it to be the name of the show as well, so he went with Forever Sam Crow (in reference to the club’s full name, Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original a.k.a. SAMCRO). However, once they finished filming the pilot, they got a letter from a lawyer explaining that there’s a motorcycle club that owns the rights to “Forever (club name)”, and in order to avoid starting the series with a conflict with the MC community, he changed the show’s name to "Sons of Anarchy" out of respect.
In the end, naming the club “Sons of Anarchy” was the best decision as it’s a lot catchier and sounds more intimidating than “The Zealots”, and it fits the characters and the club in general a lot better. As for the title of the show, while it is quite obvious to name it after the main club, Forever Sam Crow doesn’t feel fitting, and using the same name as the club ultimately made it easier for the audience to recognize the show and its characters.
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