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Misremembered Character Names

S

Stanislav

There are a few well-known TV characters whose names some remember incorrectly, sometimes by misunderstanding or confusing familial relationships.

Two examples to start off....

Al Lewis' character on The Munsters is frequently referred to as "Grandpa Munster." But his surname, of course, is Dracula. (As once referenced by Lily when giving her maiden name to a job interviewer.)

Jethro on The Beverly Hillbillies is often heard referred to as "Jethro Clampett." But remember, he's Pearl's kid, and his surname is Bodine.

Others?
 
And don't forget get Granny who's a Moses.

Miss Jane)...And Granny Clampett

Granny) No Ma'am, my name is Moses

Jed) Yes, she's my mother-in-law

Miss Jane) You're name is Moses

Granny) Yes Ma'am

Miss Jane) So you're Granny Moses. You know there was a very famous Grandma Moses who painted pictures

Granny) I've whitewashed a few fences in my day
Click to expand...

The Munsters also firmly established two facts. One that Marilyn is Lilly's niece (Herman: She's from your side of the family. Nobody from my side of the family ever looked like that). The second is if she is Lilly's niece why is her name last Munster?
 
Mark said:
And don't forget get Granny who's a Moses.

Miss Jane)...And Granny Clampett

Granny) No Ma'am, my name is Moses

Jed) Yes, she's my mother-in-law

Miss Jane) You're name is Moses

Granny) Yes Ma'am

Miss Jane) So you're Granny Moses. You know there was a very famous Grandma Moses who painted pictures

Granny) I've whitewashed a few fences in my day
Click to expand...

The Munsters also firmly established two facts. One that Marilyn is Lilly's niece (Herman: She's from your side of the family. Nobody from my side of the family ever looked like that). The second is if she is Lilly's niece why is her name last Munster?
Click to expand...

Trying to recall...was it ever established just why Marilyn was living with them? Maybe her immediate family was no longer around, and as she was now living with the Munsters, she adopted their surname?

Nawwww....."the writers goofed" is a much more plausible explanation... ;)
 
^ Why Marilyn was the "black sheep" of the family was never explained well, was it??

I know it's only a cartoon, but I think it's in the theme song, why "Cow & Chicken" are brother & sister (I thought the lyrics in the song were something like "don't ask why"...)

Two words: Artistic license....?

cd
 
cd637299 said:
^ Why Marilyn was the "black sheep" of the family was never explained well, was it??
Click to expand...

Big Munsters fan here, it was often explained why she was the black sheep, her looks. Even when they were moving to Buffalo, Marilyn herself says, "Maybe the boys there won't mind me being so plain." Of course Lilly summed up the attitude toward Marilyn the best, "Oh dear, it's just I love her so much, I keep forgetting about her handicap" :)
 
Trying to think of another one. On All In The Family, Stephanie is Mills, not Buker, though probably most people wouldn't think of her as a Bunker.

Actually Stephanie isn't even a blood relative of Edith. As Edith says , her father is Floyd Mills. Floyd was Edith's step-cousin from her aunt's second marriage. Stephanie's mother- Floyd's wife, Marilyn-had died some time earlier in a car accident.

When All In The Family turns into Archie Bunker's Place, he gets a niece Billie from his brother Fred. Billie is a Bunker.

I've been watching Petticoat Junction and I can't figure out the exact nature of Joe's relationship to Kate. Kate is a Bradley but he's a Carson. Bradley must be her married name, but Kate usually calls Joe, Joe not Uncle Joe. But Ucnle Joe is the one all the girls and Betty Jo's daughter Kathy Jo. For instanace Billie Jo is really, Williamina Josephine named after Uncle Joe.
 
I asked this on another thread, but do not recall if there was response....

On the short lived sitcom "Bette," was Bette Midler's character name EVER mentioned?

I only saw it on work break.....ISTR on episode where she tried to introduce herself to a guy:

Bette: Hello, I'm----

Guy: I KNOW who you are!

Was this intentional, not to mention her name? DID she have a character name??

cd
 
Mark said:
I've been watching Petticoat Junction and I can't figure out the exact nature of Joe's relationship to Kate. Kate is a Bradley but he's a Carson. Bradley must be her married name, but Kate usually calls Joe, Joe not Uncle Joe. But Ucnle Joe is the one all the girls and Betty Jo's daughter Kathy Jo. For instanace Billie Jo is really, Williamina Josephine named after Uncle Joe.
Click to expand...

I've also been catching up with PJ, and Kate calls him Uncle Joe several times. Might be one of those nebulous familial relationships where he's everybody's "uncle," regardless of the actual bloodline. Just as in BH, everybody called Granny that regardless of relationship. Same with Grandpa on The Munsters -- even Lily calls him Grandpa, though he's her father.
 
When Gary Coleman ran for governor of California during that Gray Davis recall brouhaha, one article that I read stated that Coleman had starred as "Arnold Drummond" on Diff'rent Strokes. AFAIK, that was incorrect.
 
firepoint525 said:
When Gary Coleman ran for governor of California during that Gray Davis recall brouhaha, one article that I read stated that Coleman had starred as "Arnold Drummond" on Diff'rent Strokes. AFAIK, that was incorrect.
Click to expand...

Spot on, good catch. There was an episode where Arnold and Willis decided to change their last name to Drummond but they backed out at the last minute. They remained Jackson, though legally adopted by Drummond.
 
On "Diff'rent Strokes" Arnold and Willis' actual last name was Jackson.
I don't recall if Philip Drummond ever adopted them.

Having lived most of my life in the South, I don't find it strange when
an older person is referred to as "Uncle" or "Aunt" even by people not
even closely related to them (two notable cases in point: the pioneering
country musicians Uncle Jimmy Thompson and Uncle Dave Macon). So it
seems logical to me that Kate Carson was Uncle Joe's sister and married a man
named Bradley. And as far as Kathy Jo calling him "Uncle Joe," I've called my
great-aunts and great-uncles "aunt" or "uncle."

It's also true that Granny ("The Beverly Hillbillies") was named Daisy Moses, but as
far as I (and maybe most people who watched that show) am concerned, she'll always
be Granny Clampett. Likewise, Al Lewis will always be Grandpa Munster, regardless of
the character's surname.
 
From British TV:
During the '80s, the BBC had a popular police drama called 'Juliet Bravo', about a woman police constable working in what had formerly been an all-male environment. The title did not refer to the main character's name(in fact, the original lead actress left after two years, and another character replaced her), but rather to the radio call sign of her car-2JB, 'Juliet Bravo' in the phonetic alphabet used in the UK. Similar to 'Adam-12', yet I don't think anyone believed that either of that show's characters were named 'Adam'!
 
Good to see you back, Stanislav. I missed seeing your TV history posts.

Agent 99 once used the name Susan Hilton, but we never really learned whether she had a real name, since Susan was also an alias.
 
Last name of Alice on The Brady Bunch. I believe it was Nelson. In a similar vein, I don't recall Sam's last name ever being mentioned. He was always known as "Sam the butcher." Maybe "TheButcher" was his last name. ;D
 
firepoint525 said:
Last name of Alice on The Brady Bunch. I believe it was Nelson. In a similar vein, I don't recall Sam's last name ever being mentioned. He was always known as "Sam the butcher." Maybe "TheButcher" was his last name. ;D
Click to expand...
It was Franklin. The episode where Bobby and Cousin Oliver thought San was a double agent, Mr. Brady was drawing some plans for a remodeling of Sam's Butcher Shop and he left an envelope for Sam that was address to Sam Franklin. That's the only time I can recall Sam's last name being refered to.
 
Not sure if this qualifies, but they changed the last name of the "Ralph" character (played by Bill Katt) on "Greatest American Hero". It was originally known as "Hinkley", but after the Reagan assasination attempt, the writers changed it to "Handley". I believe before the series ended, they changed it back to "Hinkley".
 
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