MovieChat Forums > The Nanny (1993) Discussion > Why create a character with the same fir...

Why create a character with the same first name?

posted 8 years ago by number9-4
20 replies | jump to latest

I've never understood this phenomenon. There's Fran Fine/Drescher, Andy Taylor/Griffith, Steve Harvey/Hightower, Reba McIntire/whatever her character's last name was on "Reba" (and I think even on the canceled "Malibu Country," her character also was named Reba), Ellen Degeneres/Morgan, and probably a bunch more I'm forgetting.

Why do actors (or producers -- whoever comes up with the idea) do this? If the character is supposed to be an extension of their real-life personality, why is it so important they still have the same first name (but not same last name)? It's just odd and kind of confusing, to me.

Has anyone ever heard someone affiliated with any of these shows explain why they do that?

[–] marvelass 8 years ago

- Bob Newhart/Bob Hartley (The Bob Newhart Show)
- Bob Newhart/Bob McKay (Bob)

.

[–] RoboReCop (3324) a year ago

And then there's 'The Michael J. Fox Show' (2013), character: Michael Henry.

[–] CarolTheDabbler (575) 6 months ago

I have no idea what the "official" reason is, but the practice does seem to have several benefits:

1. Using the same first name reinforces the public's awareness of the both the actor and the character (similarly to naming a show after its star).

2. Viewers don't have to remember two different first names.

3. Using different last names makes it easy to clarify whether you're talking about the actor or the character.

I think this is mostly done on sitcoms, where it's less likely to seem frivolous (or maybe it's just that frivolous is works better in a comedy). Of course there's Magnum, P.I. starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, and The Rockford Files, starring James Garner as Jim Rockford, but those are comedy-dramas, AKA dramedies, not straight dramas.