# Character names that become distracting in reruns **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 5, 2021, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271 "2021-02-05T16:22:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/61 "2021-02-14T18:11:51Z")
Matt Groening named his character for the _TDotL_ character. All of the Simpsons except Bart have the names of Groening’s real-life family members. He used the last name “Simpson” in order to have the father be Homer Simpson. [digression] Has anyone seen the film _The Day of the Locust_ with Donald Sutherland as Homer? I remember it as being pretty amazing. [/digression] ---
**Author:** ![GreaterZamboni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@GreaterZamboni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreaterZamboni)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/62 "2021-02-15T17:40:08Z")
I can finally keep Starbuck from “Moby Dick” separate from Starbuck from “Battlestar Gallactica” from Starbucks coffee. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/63 "2021-02-15T22:14:58Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > When the movie _The World According To Garp_ came out in 1982, a character played by John Lithgow was named Robert Muldoon, a transsexual (as was) who went by Roberta. At the time, the Prime Minister of New Zealand (where I lived) was named Robert Muldoon. And **Robert Muldoon** also turns up in _Jurassic Park_ as the game warden (played on-screen by Bob Peck). ---
**Author:** ![julezz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@julezz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/julezz)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/64 "2021-02-15T22:39:00Z")
That’s f\*n crazy! ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/65 "2021-02-16T10:56:03Z")
I can’t believe I almost forgot this one: When the film Jurassic Park came out (I never read the book), I found the name of the main character, Alan Grant, distracting, because back in the 1950s, Josephine Tey wrote a series of mystery novels, including her fairly well-know (still in print after all this time) _The Daughter of Time_, featuring a Scotland Yard detective named Alan Grant. To me, Michael Crichton pilfered from Josephine Tey, but I’ve heard from a couple of people who picked up either _The Daughter of Time_, or one of her other books (a couple were dramatized on PBS’ _Mystery_), and found the name “Alan Grant” distracting, because they kept expecting Velociraptors to appear. ---
**Author:** ![Eclipse\_Chaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Eclipse\_Chaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eclipse_Chaser)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/66 "2021-02-16T13:17:07Z")
I don’t think there was any plagiarism. It’s a pretty common name. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/67 "2021-02-16T14:35:15Z")
Near the beginning of _Catch Me If You Can_, Christopher Walken receives some kind of award from his local club. He thanks “Mayor Robert Wagner” then goes on to tell a little story about two mice who fell into a bucket of cream - in which one of the mice drowns. This scene was a little jarring for anyone who knows about the death of Natalie Wood. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/68 "2021-02-16T14:44:13Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > He thanks “Mayor Robert Wagner” Robert Wagner actually was mayor of New York in the 1950s and 1960s. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/69 "2021-02-16T15:34:45Z")
> [@GreaterZamboni](#): > > I can finally keep Starbuck from “Moby Dick” separate from Starbuck from “Battlestar Gallactica” from Starbucks coffee. The story I read somewhere was that one of the two Starbucks founders was obsessed with Moby Dick, and was pushing for _Pequat_ (the name of the ship…and my favorite insult) or _Ishmael’s Coffee._ Luckily, someone remembered the name of the first mate… … A minister in our town was named Steve Erkel. He and his cousin Steve Erkel had a friend, Michael Warren, who needed a name for a TV character… _Warren regrets this. He had no idea the character would persist after an episode or two…_ (from Wiki): > Due to the show and the character’s tremendous popularity during the early 1990s, [Steve] Erkel encountered difficulties using his own name; he received many prank phone calls from “Laura” asking for “Steve”, and businesses found his name to be suspicious. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/70 "2021-02-16T16:51:10Z")
> [@digs](#): > > and was pushing for _Pequat_ (the name of the ship…and my favorite insult) Nitpick: _Pequod_ ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/71 "2021-04-25T13:19:24Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > To me, Michael Crichton pilfered from Josephine Tey, but I’ve heard from a couple of people who picked up either _The Daughter of Time_ , or one of her other books (a couple were dramatized on PBS’ _Mystery_ ), and found the name “Alan Grant” distracting, because they kept expecting Velociraptors to appea Well, Richard III was known as the White Raptor in Shakespeare’s plays so it all fits. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/72 "2021-04-25T15:01:51Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > This one is funny - Julian May’s book “Intervention” was written in the 1980s. Part of it takes place in New Hampshire’s “Presidential Range” - mountains named after US Presidents. In the section where one character notes that people still call one of the mountains by its old name even though it was renamed Pierce (in honor of Franklin Pierce), a 21st century rereader will be startled - because the old name of the mountain was Clinton. Maybe they made an exception to the rule, and named it after DeWitt Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/73 "2021-04-25T15:06:41Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I always wondered if “Cardassians” in Star Trek was some kind of Hollywood in-joke. > [@Shoeless](#): > > I’m no expert on the Kardashians but isn’t the patriarch of the whole clan a high-powered Hollywood lawyer? (He was on OJ’s defense team, right?) I’m sure he was well-known at the time of ST:TNG and DS9, even if the rest of the family had not yet achieved notoriety. > > And even if it wasn’t intentional, it’s certainly distracting now. I’ve never made that connection. On the other hand, I’ve noticed that a lot of Turkish names (and names from ancient Asia Minor) bear a striking resemblance to a lot of the alien names in Star Trek. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/74 "2021-04-25T15:07:38Z")
It was named for DeWitt Clinton until renamed for Pierce. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/75 "2021-04-25T15:09:02Z")
Greg Egan’s novel Distress from 1994 or so, features a character named Ned Landers, which I found distracting upon rereading. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/76 "2021-04-25T15:16:40Z")
But the Mt Clinton road remains to remind folks. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/77 "2021-04-25T15:39:43Z")
> [@GreaterZamboni](#): > > I can finally keep Starbuck from “Moby Dick” separate from Starbuck from “Battlestar Gallactica” from Starbucks coffee. 🙂 Don’t forget Starbuck in the movie The Rainmaker (1956, Burt Lancaster) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/78 "2021-04-25T16:35:40Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > That book made a big impression on me as a kid. I think it is responsible for my terror of firecrackers that persists to this day. I’m wondering if it’s a factor in why I was comfortable approaching the blind woman I met in 1977 and married six years later. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/79 "2021-04-25T17:53:54Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > > [@digs](#): > > > > > [@GreaterZamboni](#): > > > > > > I can finally keep Starbuck from “Moby Dick” separate from Starbuck from “Battlestar Gallactica” from Starbucks coffee. > > > > The story I read somewhere was that one of the two Starbucks founders was obsessed with Moby Dick, and was pushing for _Pequat_ (the name of the ship…and my favorite insult) or _Ishmael’s Coffee._ Luckily, someone remembered the name of the first mate… > > Nitpick: _Pequod_ Just the kind of thing a Pequod would say… ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271/80 "2021-04-25T17:54:25Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > But the Mt Clinton road remains to remind folks. And served to completely confuse my daughter when we had to road walk back to my truck after coming down Eisenhower (dad, there isn’t a Mt Clinton on my map, and the road kinda leads to Washington…). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-names-that-become-distracting-in-reruns/932271.md?page=5)