# Same Name, Different Character **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530 "2010-01-26T17:20:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/1 "2010-01-26T17:20:47Z")
The other day my mind wandered to a memory of a scene from _Hill Street Blues_ which featured officer Bobby Hill. This of course made me think of young Bobby Hill of _King of the Hill_. Two characters with the same name, couldn’t be more different. That in turn reminded me of the period when _Friends_ and _ER_ were on the same channel on the same night. Sometimes you could see Rachel Green and then Rachel Greene (Dr. Mark Greene’s daughter) within an hour of each other. (These two, I think, had more in common than the two Bobby Hills.) What other homonymous pairs are out there in the world of fictional characters? ---
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/2 "2010-01-26T17:37:35Z")
Eric Foreman on That 70s Show, and Dr. Eric Foreman on House. Completely different in personalities and looks. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/3 "2010-01-26T17:44:32Z")
IMO the most famous example is Homer Simpson from the Simpsons and Homer Simpson from The Day of the Locust. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/4 "2010-01-26T17:48:59Z")
> [@Alias](#): > > Eric Foreman on That 70s Show, and Dr. Eric Foreman on House. Completely different in personalities and looks. And this occasionally throws me. How could they surplant the original Eric? Dang cottages! ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/5 "2010-01-26T17:54:34Z")
> [@Alias](#): > > Eric Foreman on That 70s Show, and Dr. Eric Foreman on House. Completely different in personalities and looks. Which made it interesting when the actor that played Red (Eric Foreman’s dad) on That 70’s Show played a patient’s dad on House. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/6 "2010-01-26T18:17:33Z")
Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown, he’s a clown, that Charlie Brown. Which is not the one in **Peanuts.** The Doctor in **ST: Voyager** and the Doctor. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/7 "2010-01-26T18:24:15Z")
In **Lost Girls** Alan Moore has Wendy Darling (from _Peter Pan_) married to **Harold Potter**. His character in a risque fantasy comic is very different from Rowling’s **Harry Potter** fantasy character, and predates him by several years (having first appeared in 1991) ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/8 "2010-01-26T18:26:31Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > IMO the most famous example is Homer Simpson from the Simpsons and Homer Simpson from The Day of the Locust. Not to mention Homer Simpson from Police Cops. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/9 "2010-01-26T19:16:40Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Not to mention Homer Simpson from Police Cops. Who is a sharp contrast to Homer Simpson from _Polce Cops_, who in turn is actually a lot like Homer Simpson. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/10 "2010-01-26T19:26:06Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > IMO the most famous example is Homer Simpson from the Simpsons and Homer Simpson from The Day of the Locust. IIRC, Homer Simpson of the cartoon show was partially named after the “Day of the Locust” character. Matt Groening gave his Simpsons the first names of his family members (his father was named Homer), and while casting about for a surname for his fictitious family thought of Homer Simpson from “The Day of the Locusts.” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/11 "2010-01-26T19:26:59Z")
On an episode of Big Valley, the madame in a brothel was named “Any Carter.” Watching it in reruns during Jimmy’s Presidency gave us the giggles. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/12 "2010-01-26T20:19:28Z")
There’s a Yanto Jones in [Mine, All Mine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mine_All_Mine) and a [Ianto Jones](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ianto_Jones)in [Torchwood](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchwood), but they’re both Gareth David-Lloyd in unrelated Russell T Davies programs. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/13 "2010-01-26T20:35:06Z")
I recently caught part of a 90s TV movie, […And Then She Was Gone,](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101242/) starring Robert Urich as Jack Bauer. Not that Jack Bauer; some other Jack Bauer. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/14 "2010-01-26T20:42:39Z")
Not exactly the same thing, but did you ever see the U.S. version of the original Godzilla? Raymond Burr is intercut into the original (albeit dubbed) Japanese footage to provide a hook for English audiences. Name: Steve Martin. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/15 "2010-01-26T21:39:17Z")
Two Harry Potters in [Troll](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092115/). ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/16 "2010-01-26T22:15:34Z")
Leela from [Doctor Who](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leela_(Doctor_Who)) Leela from [Futurama](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turanga_Leela) ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/17 "2010-01-27T00:32:46Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Which made it interesting when the actor that played Red (Eric Foreman’s dad) on That 70’s Show played a patient’s dad on House. I still say he should have played Foreman’s dad on House. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/18 "2010-01-27T02:13:02Z")
Bert and Ernie from _It’s a Wonderful Life_ and Bert and Ernie from _Sesame Street_ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/19 "2010-01-27T03:42:22Z")
In **To Have and Have Not** , Bogart played “Harry Morgan,” not to be confused with the pirate or the actor. There also seems to be a “Harry Morgan” on **Dexter**. No wonder Bacall called him “Steve.” ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530/20 "2010-01-27T03:58:32Z")
Rick Hunter from \*Robotech \*and Rick Hunter from _Hunter_. [/80s\_kid] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-name-different-character/526530.md?page=2)