I know that for some actors (who might not be actors first and foremost), having the character named for them makes their work easier. Is there any information about this being a concession to a really popular personality, an acknowledgment of the actor’s lack of skill or ability to become the character, or any other perceived negatives?
Looking forward to the day I get a sitcom where I play my number,
11811
There was an Australian TV series, The Games, where the main characters were:
John, played by John Clarke
Gina, played by Gina Riley
Bryan, played by Bryan Dawe, and
Nicholas, played by Nicholas Bell
It also had an episode where John Howard played the part of John Howard – deliberatedly, so he could be mistaken for another John Howard. (That’s explained in the Wikipedia entry on the series.
This is common in a lot of sitcoms (the wayans bros, seinfeld, raymond), so you might be right, but I figure they’re involved in production as well and take a ‘why bother’ approach to naming the lead character.
If this snippet on IMDB about Tony Danza is true in other cases, you’re absolutely right.
Lots of times, a big name star who gets lured to TV has a character with their own name: Lucille Ball, Ricky Ricardo, Debbie Reynolds, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Doris Day, Bette Midler, Emeril LeGasse, etc. In some cases, it’s just to have the public identify the character more closely with the star. In the above list, only Emeril might have had a problem reacting to being called a different names: the rest has long acting experience beforehand.
Sometimes it’s coincidence: In The Pretender, Andrea Parker played the character of “Miss Parker”; I don’t know if that was planned before she was cast or not.
And for real confusion, there was Robert Altman’s Images:
I was going to mention Tony Danza. I think there’s only been one regular series where his character wasn’t named Tony. Two, looking at the IMDb- Family Law and The Practice (where his character was named “Tommy”- close enough).
Andy Griffith=Andy Taylor
Bob Newhart= um, Bob Newhart
Mary Tyler Moore=Mary Richards
Rhoda Morganstern=never mind…
(yes, I watched TV last in 1970-something).
Several members of the supporting cast of the American The Office have the same name. Angela is played by Angela, Oscar by Oscar, Phyllis by Phyllis… even Creed is played by a Creed.
Most of the cases (well, other than Tony Danza) that I can think of are comedians whose shows are based on their standup routines (Jerry Seinfeld/Jerry Seinfeld, Roseanne Barr/Roseanne Connor, Ellen DeGeneres/Ellen Morgan, Jeff Foxworthy/Jeff Foxworthy) so it could be partially a case of wanting the audience to closely identify the sitcom character with the standup “character”.
I think pretty much everybody on Curb your Enthusiasm has the same first name as the actor playing the role. (Of course, many people are playing themselves, but I am referring to the people who are actually cast as actors, such as Cheryl Hines and Jeff Garlin.)
I think you’re both right. If you’re basing a TV character on a real person (or on their pre-existing persona), and you’re trying to think of a name for the character, the first thing to come to mind is going to be the person’s actual name.
And if the public is already familiar with the person who’s playing the character, they’re going to be thinking “Hey, that’s Roseanne!” or “Hey, that’s Tim!” whenever Roseanne Barr or Tim Allen comes on the screen anyway.
I was surprised to learn that Judge Harold T. Stone, of Night Court, was not created with Harry Anderson in mind; it was just a happy coincidence that Anderson fit the part so well. On the other hand, I assume, but don’t know for sure, that Harry the Hat, his character from Cheers, was based on Harry. (For that matter, what about Woody? Surely Woody Boyd was named after Woody Harrelson, right? It wasn’t just a coincidence?)
Seinfeld
I Love Lucy
Star Trek: Voyager (Kate)
You me, um, Dr. Bob Hartley.
That’s D period, R period. Drrrr. 
Another textbook example of the law that says that when you post to correct another’s mistake you make one yourself. :smack:
What I typed in my head but not on the screen:
“You mean, um, Dr. Bob Hartley.”
I don’t think there were any lead characters, exactly, but on Third Watch Kim Raver played Kim Zambrano.
I think I remember reading that the character that became Tony Banta on Taxi was originally written as a big Irishman. When Tony Danza auditioned and told them he was actually a pro boxer looking to move to acting, they re-wrote the character.
While they may have gone with the name Tony partially because of his inexperience, the character was, in a sense, written for him.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Stella are two newer sitcoms where the trios of male leads have the same names as the actors.
Artie Lange played Artie on “The Norm Show”, where Norm MacDonald played Norm.
When Carolee Campbell was hired for the soap “The Doctors,” the producers liked her first name so much they gave it to her character Carolee Simpson.
So, we have:
Tim Allen/Taylor
Harry Anderson/Stone
Roseanne Barr/Conner
Tony Danza/Banta & Micelli
Andy Griffith/Taylor
Bob Newhart/Hartley
A few new ones:
Bob Crane played Robert Hogan on “Hogan’s Heroes.”
Doris Day played Doris Martin on “The Doris Day Show.”
Fran Drescher was Fran Fine on “The Nanny.”
Patty Duke played Patty Lane (and her cousin Cathy) on “The Patty Duke Show.”
Michael J. Fox and Charlie Sheen both kept their real first names on “Spin City” (They were Michael Flaherty and Charlie Crawford, respectively).
Ted Knight played Ted Baxter on “The MTM Show.”
Kate Mulgrew played Columbo’s wife, Kate Columbo, on a short-lived series.
Ray Romano was Ray Barone on “Everybody Loves Raymond.”
Tom Arnold played “Arnie Thomas” on the Roseanne show.
On Days of our Lives, “Austin Reed” was played by Austin Peck.