Just did a quick couple of laps around the news services and didn’t see anything that rose a hackle.
So here’s a fun thing for you to take to show and tell at work tomorrow.
Courtesy of our friends at Mental Floss dot com. All rights reserved. Void where prohibited by law. Lather, rinse, repeat..from sea…to shining…seeeeeea…”
The names of some of our favorite TV characters have undergone behind-the-scenes changes for a variety of reasons, from politics to legal issues to shows on competing networks. Here are seven such examples.
1. “The Mash”
When Garry Marshall was first assembling the show that eventually became Happy Days, he envisioned the local hoodlum as a tall Italian guy named Marsciarelli whose nickname would be “Mash.” By the time the show was cast, what he ended up with was a short Jewish guy (because Henry Winkler tested so well) called Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli (because CBS now had their own series called M*A*S*H).
2. Archie Justice
Norman Lear purchased the American rights to the hit British sitcom Till Death Do Us Part in 1968 and wrote a pilot script called And Justice for All. The lead character’s name was Archie Justice. He filmed the pilot presented it to the executives at ABC. They hated it. Lear re-cast the parts of Meathead and Gloria and filmed a second pilot. ABC passed yet again. When CBS showed interest in the pilot two years later, Lear had to change the name of the show and settled on All in the Family. With a new title in place, the “Justice” pun was lost, so Archie’s last name was changed to “Bunker.”
3. Lucy Lopez
The original concept for I Love Lucy centered around Larry Lopez, a wealthy, internationally famous bandleader, and his actress wife, Lucy. When the pilot was filmed, the concept had been tweaked a bit so that Larry was now a moderately successful orchestra leader with a local following, and Lucy was a housewife with show biz aspirations. When CBS purchased the show, Larry Lopez became Ricky Ricardo, and Lucy Ricardo spent most of the episode in pajamas and a bathrobe to conceal Lucille Ball’s real-life pregnancy.
4. Hoffman/Kessler
Cosmo Kramer of Seinfeld fame was based on Larry David’s neighbor Kenny Kramer. But naming a TV character after a real live human can be a legal minefield, so in the first draft of the pilot script the wacky neighbor was named “Hoffman.” In between the time the script was written, press releases were sent out and the episode was actually filmed, his name was changed to “Kessler.” (The TV Guide listing and early reviews of this episode refer to “Hoffman,” while Jerry himself calls the character “Kessler” in the episode.) An agreement of sorts was eventually worked out so that Kramer could revert to using his rightful name.
5. Barnaby Cobb
Quinn Martin pitched a series idea to CBS in 1973 that starred Buddy Ebsen as a retired private investigator who started working again after his son was murdered. CBS liked the idea, but hated the name Martin had given his title character – Barnaby Cobb. They thought it sounded too “cornpone” (remember, this was the network which had recently cancelled most of their “rural” hits, such as Green Acres and Petticoat Junction), so the P.I.’s name was changed to Barnaby Jones and the series ran for an impressive eight seasons.
6. Zoe Stewart
Hannah Montana was launched as a backdoor pilot on an episode of That’s So Raven. The character’s name at that time was Zoe Stewart, but by the time the pilot for the spin-off series was finished, Nickelodeon a series of their own called Zoey 101. “Zoe” became “Miley Stewart” when Miley Cyrus was hired to play the character.
7. Ralph Hinckley
The hapless teacher-turned-superhero featured on The Greatest American Hero was named Ralph Hinckley. Just 12 days after the pilot episode aired, a deranged man named John Hinckley, Jr., attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. Producers quickly changed their title character’s last name to “Hanley” wherever possible for the remainder of the first season episodes. However, so fleeting is the memory of the American public that by Season Two of the series, Reagan was fully recovered and back on the job, John Hinckley was just a small blip on the pop culture radar, and William Katt was once again known as Ralph Hinckley
Fun stuff, huh?
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, trivia lovers.
I happen to be knowledgeable on this subject (I’m imagining your surprise at this moment) and can add a few non-de’ plume sobriquets to this collection.
8. Ringo Starr
It’s obviously no secret that the Beatle drummer’s real name is Richard Starkey. But few people know that for a brief period in the early sixties, he became enamored of Oriental culture and wanted to adopt a more Asian name. The other guys thought it was ridiculous and constantly ridiculed the name he chose for himself. Yoko Ono. Ringo finally dropped the name in 1970 saying that he still thought it was cool, but he didn’t want to go down in history as the guy who broke up the Beatles.
9. Al Gore
Although Albert Gore, Jr. was proud to be named after his very successful and much beloved father, he felt early on that America would eventually have a problem electing a guy named “Al” to the Presidency of the United States. Presidents, he knew as a student of history, had to be able to inspire people and “Al”, while a good solid American name, conjured up more visions of plumbers than presidents. Sure enough, his belief was validated in 2000 when the majority of American voters chose him to be President, but insisted on calling him George W. Bush.
10. Ann Coulter
The leggy lunatic from the righteous right felt early on that she would never be taken seriously as a political pundit with such a middle of the road name. Early alternatives she considered included “Eva Braun”, “Evita Peron”, “Gloria Steinhem”, “Tokyo Rose” and “Fran Drescher”. In the end, those were all rejected for a variety of reasons, but the whole renaming issue became academic when the majority of Americans began referring to her by the name she is best known for to this day: Moronic Bitch.
11. Brooke Hogan, Lindsay Lohan, any female named Kardashian
An assortment of alternate names has been considered for any and all of these people, as well as pretty much anyone who is currently the subject of any E! True Hollywood Story or is listed as a cast member of any show that begins with the words “The Real Wives of…” these days. Experts point out, though, that any change of name is totally unnecessary, since the 15 minutes is pretty much just about up.
12. Sarah Palin
A little known historical fact is that during the presidential campaign of 2008, the McCain brain trust, concerned that their boss’s choice of running mate had inflicted a fatal blow to their plans, gathered together and discussed various name changes in hopes that they could distract the voters long enough to pull off the election in their favor. Considered, but rejected, names included Farah Falin, Tara Talin, Michael Palin, Monty Python, Monty Hall and Mitt Romney. The closest they ever came to agreeing was when someone suggested that they rename the lady with the front porch view of the USSR in honor of the only other Republican candidate in history who had the comparable experience, wisdom, savvy and potential qualification to be President of the United States. Ultimately, as we all know, that never happened. Which is probably just as well, because as it turns out, Tina Fey would have found it a stretch to do an equally dazzling impression of…Dan Quayle.
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