The thread about greatest sitcom characters got me thinking about this.
Bob Newhart’s character in “The Bob Newhart Show” is Bob Hartley.
His character in “Newhart” is Dick Louden.
Presumably this is done to use the public’s general familiarity with an actor in order to draw an audience. So the show is named after the actor, but the character has a different name.
Other examples off the top of my head:
The Andy Griffith Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Something like “Seinfeld” doesn’t count because he used his real name for his ‘character’ in the show. “Roseanne” doesn’t count because her character’s first name was Roseanne, even though their last names differ. Variety and talk shows don’t count either. Dramas could count, but I can’t think of any that fit.
What are some other examples? Was this a trend in the past that has gone away? I can’t think of any more recent examples than Newhart, but I’m sure I’m missing something.
No–it’s okay if their first names are the same as long as their full names are not.
“Mary Tyler Moore” could not possibly be named after the character Mary Richards, but “Roseanne” could be named after the character Roseanne Conner rather than the actress Roseanne Barr.
In Bill Cosby’s first self-named show, “The Bill Cosby Show”, he played Chet Kincaid. In “The Cosby Show”, he played Cliff Huxtable. In “Cosby”, he played Hilton Lucas. So he has 3 that qualify.
The other ones I can think of besides your examples are:
The Danny Thomas Show - character name Danny Williams (it was later titled Make Room for Daddy when the plotlines changed)
The Bill Cosby Show - character name Chet Kinkaid (not to be confused with The Cosby Show - character name Cliff Huxtable)
The Bill Engvall Show - character name Bill Pearson (still airing)
I think Jeff Foxworthy’s show meets the criteria you’ve laid out, but I can’t remember offhand.
I don’t know why they stopped doing this (or do it so rarely anymore), but it’s probably a marketing thing. You could probably find a bunch Wiki-surfing American sitcoms.
Poking around using “The x Show” as the key to find possibilities (got bored after getting through the Bs):
The Ann Southern Show (1958-1962). Character name was Katy O’Connor. The Betty Hutton Show (1959-1960). Character name was Goldie Appleby. The Betty White Show (1977-1978). Character name was Joyce Whitman. The Bill Dana Show (1963-1965). Character name was Jose Jimenez. The Bill Engvall Show (2006- ). Character name is Bill Pearson. The Bob Cummings Show (1955-1959). Character name was Bob Collins. The Bonnie Hunt Show (1995-1996). Character name was Bonnie Kelly.