Say My Name / Live-Action TV

LIVE-ACTION TEE-VEEE!

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• 24 had this in the form of "JOSH!" "UNCLE JACK!" "JOOOSSSHH!" "UNCLE JAAAAACK!" close to the end of the sixth season. Just one factor out of many why fans like to pretend season six was just a bad dream.
• The Big Bang Theory:
  • Wil Wheaton plays an antagonistic version of himself. Sheldon used to adore Wheaton's character Wesley on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but he became his mortal enemy when he failed to come to a fans' convention. They keep meeting, and when Sheldon is driven over the edge, he would scream in a hammy voice: "WHEEATOOON!" Then he would swear revenge. In one episode, he does this while looking toward the sky.
  • (knock knock knock) "Penny" (knock knock knock) "Penny" (knock knock knock) "Penny" is Sheldon's way of knocking at his friends' doors. Variations include "Leonard. Leonard. Leonard." or "Leonard and Penny. Leonard and Penny. Leonard and Penny."
  • When Leonard wants to try phone sex with Priya, who is in India, he says this. The screen backs to reveal her parents are present, with her father asking "Can I say your name, too?"
• Boston Legal: Danny Crane lies somewhere between this trope and Verbal Tic. Sometimes he says his own name to punctuate something awesome he's just done. And sometimes after breaking wind.
• Bottom: In "Gas", Richie and Eddie sneak into their neighbour's flat to remove the pipeline they had connected to next door's gas supply. While Richie is making himself comfortable in bed, Eddie suddenly finds himself with an open gas pipe, and only his finger to block it, so he calls for help.
  Eddie: Richie? Richie!!!! RICHIE!!!!!!
  Richie: Why didn't we just pay our gas bill?
• Invoked by Walter White in the appropriately titled episode of Breaking Bad. This proved that his ego has gotten through his head in a major fashion after killing Gus Fring.
  Declan: Who the hell are you?
  Walter White: You know. You all know exactly who I am. Say my name.
  Declan: Do what? I don't–I don't have a damn clue who the hell you are.
  Walter White: Yeah you do. I'm the cook. I'm the man who killed Gus Fring.
  Declan: Bullshit. Cartel got Fring.
  Walter White: You sure?
  [Declan glances at Mike, who shakes his head]
  Walter White: That's right. Now, say my name.
  Declan: ...You're Heisenberg.
  Walter White: You're goddamn right.
  • Interestingly enough, this scene takes the opposite approach from most other examples on this page. Instead of screaming it, Declan almost whispers it. Not out of anger, but out of fear. Because Declan realizes that he is not facing Walter White the pain-in-the-ass cook of Gus Fring's operation, but instead Heisenberg, the new drug kingpin. Not a man to be angry at, but to be afraid of.
• Buffyverse:
  • Buffy loves shouting her boyfriend's name out aloud, "ANGEEEL" or "RIEEELY" as well her father figure "GILES" . When her younger sister Dawn is introduced or rather created she yell "DAAAAWN" accordingly.
  • From Willow comes "OZ!!!", "Xander!!!" and "Tara!!".
  • Angel in possible Bad Future has a tragic little "Buffy" as he's getting staked.
  • Spike loves saying Drusilla's name or as he puts it "Drew..."
  • Darla gives Buffy a run for her money how many times she says "ANGEL!" or more usually "ANGELUS!". Angel returns the favor with "Darla" being his favorite sentence in the second series of Angel.
  • In Angel the supporting cast get their names shouted out many times, "DOYLE", "CORDELIA" "WES" (Wesley's nickname) "GUNN" (or "CHARLIES") "LORNE", "FRED" (or sometimes "WINIFRED") and "CONNER" (frequently by Angel).
    • One peculiar haunting example is when Wesley is attacked by Angel after baby Conner is lost, Angel previously refers to Wesley affectionately as "Wes" out of friendship. But when he is dragged away from the bedridden former watcher, Angel just bellows his surname "PRICE!!" with pure venom. It's not till Wesley saves him from the bottom of the ocean that Angel calls him "Wes" again.
  • Hilarious example in ending of "Conviction" in the last season of Angel when Spike comes back after his apparent Heroic Sacrifice in Buffy.
    Wesley: Spike? [in confusion]
    Angel: Spike. [in anger]
    Harmony: Blondey Bear? [in joy]
• The final episode of Criminologist Himura and Mystery Writer Arisugawa has Himura seemingly falling off a cliff to his death. When his best friend Arisugawa arrives on the scene, he collapses to his knees and screams Himura's name in anguish. In the post-series specials it's shown that Himura survives, and Arisugawa is no less enthusiastic in screaming his name as he walks through the door.
• Dexter:
  • Dexter screams Trinity's name. He is his Serial Killer nemesis and manages to escape him again: "ARTHUUURRR!"
  • From the third season: "MIGUEEEL!" Complete with knocking over his own computer and furniture in his office, Percussive Therapy style. It was all in Dexter's head, but he was absolutely infuriated. He thought Miguel Prado was his friend. Miguel was the first man with whom he could be open since his foster father Harry died. Said friend utterly screwed him over.
• Doctor Who:
  • Although it is not the character's name (who cares what WOTAN thinks?), the use of the phrase "Doctor who?" has been treated as a running gag for 50 years, and intersects with this trope in "The Bells of Saint John" when the Doctor asks Clara to keep repeating "Doctor who?" because he realizes he likes the sound of it.
  • The Doctor tends to scream the names of companions if they are in danger. Especially Ten.
  • In "The Runaway Bride" alone, the Doctor yells Donna's name at least five times.
  • The Master demands this of the Doctor when the two of them are fighting. "Use my name!" "...Master." Repeated later: "Doctor." "Master." "I like it when you use my name."
  • One interesting twist happens in "Partners in Crime". Donna and the Doctor see each other for the first time through windows on opposite sides of a room that they are both spying on. Cue completely silently mimed shouts of "DONNA!" and "DOCTOR!"
  • Sadly averted with Dalek Caan. Despite him being the longest-surviving member of the Cult of Skaro, at no point does anyone take the opportunity to scream "CAAAN!" at him.
  • Rory Williams gets these a lot from Amy, whether she just wants his attention or is in genuine distress.
  • "Spyfall":
    • While holding a roomful of people hostage, the Master, after making the Doctor kneel, makes her say his name several times.
    • He is then last seen (in person) stuck in the Kasaavin's home dimension, angrily screaming "DOCTOR!"
• Happens in EastEnders quite a lot.
  • "RICK AAYYY!!!
  • Steve Owen's cry of "PHIL!!!" just before his crashed car explodes spectacularly, killing him.
  • Sharon cries husband Dennis' name repeatedly, first out of joy when it looks like they're about to be reunited in order to start a new life, then in anguish when he's stabbed in the chest and dies in her arms.
• Friends: In the Grand Finale, Ross and Phoebe chase Rachel to the airport to stop her boarding her plane. When the gate agent won't let them on the jetway Phoebe resorts to screaming Rachel's name at the top of her lungs to get her to come back to the gate.
• The Golden Girls: A repairman comes to the house to fix the air conditioning. When Blanche complains that the heat is driving her crazy, he tells her she is not the only one, and that the old lady living next door is running through the sprinklers in her underwear.
  Dorothy: There's no old lady...MAA!!
• Highlander, when Duncan finds his friend dead in his church. "DAAARIIUUS! DARIUS!"
• Horatio Hornblower:
  • Horatio does say "Archie" a lot, but Archie Kennedy is his dearest friend and Heterosexual Life Partner, and moreover a broken cutie. One fan webpage kept counting the scores of how many times he says his name per episode. Episode "The Duchess and the Devil", when Archie felt Driven to Suicide and decided to starve himself, had 21 instances.
  • "The Examination for Lieutenant": Horatio screams Bunting's name when he's trying to desert. The honourable Horatio wants to save him and and bring him to justice, which the surly seaman of the week doesn't appreciate and considers it Cruel Mercy. Horatio's BUUN-TIIING in Slow Motion is rather laughable, though.
• A Running Gag on Impractical Jokers is Joe calling out for LARRY! (It's even part of the intro sequence.)
• In the series 3 finale of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Lynley's beloved partner Barbara Havers is shot. All Lynley can manage is a frantic shout of "Havers!!!" and then a hoarse whisper of "Barbara? Barbara???"
• Parodied in The IT Crowd: Douglas Reynholm bursts into his father's funeral, takes off his sunglasses, gets his bearings, and when he's sure he's got everyone's attention lets out an anguished "FATHERRR!"
• Janda Kembang: In episode 9, the RT leader shouts Rais' name upon finding out that Rais threw all the garbage from the community service in front of his house.
• Kamen Rider:
  • Kamen Rider Fourze: In its portion of Movie War Megamax, Gentaro screams, "NADESHIKO!" as Kannagi kills her. He spends the next couple minutes softly whispering her name.
  • Kamen Rider Gaim: During the final battle between Gaim and Baron, due to their conflicting goals, the two Riders yell out each other's names with Kaito/Baron screaming "KAZURABA!", followed by Kouta/Gaim screaming "KAITO!", before charging at each other.
  • Near the end of Kamen Rider Build, Kazumi dies and the Big Bad responsible just casually greets the remaining heroes. A pissed-off Sento responds with a screamed "EVOLT!"
• K.C. Undercover: Petey's Catchphrase "JUUUUDYYYYYYYYYYY!!!"
• Used at the end of a Law & Order original flavor episode in which a husband confessed to the murder his wife probably committed while he was testifying in her defense. Right after she was acquitted, the police swooped into the courtroom to arrest him, and the couple said each other's names as they were being separated. It was tragic at first. Then they just kept doing it, louder and louder, and it became something else entirely.
• M*A*S*H: In "Operation Noselift", Hawkeye can't say more than a sentence to or about his friend Stosh without saying his name.
• Whenever Murdoc in MacGyver seemingly meets his end: MACGYVEEER!
• McCloud: Chief Peter B. Clifford whenever New Mexico lawman Sam McCloud gets on his nerves, which is all the time. McCLOUD!
• Mimpi Metropolitan:
  • Parodied in the first episode when Bambang Soedarmo accidentally spills a glass of coffee to Mami Bibir's bag, much to his friends' horror.
    Prima: Bambang!
    Alan: Soedarmo!
    Bambang: Me!
  • In episode 8, after accidentally spraying Mami Bibir's face with pepper spray, Alan thinks it's a good idea to cool it down by throwing cold juice to her face. Mami Bibir doesn't react well.
    Mami Bibir: ALAAAN! ALAAAAAAN! [camera shakes] YOU'RE FIRED!
  • In episode 10, Mami Bibir screams Alan's name (which shakes the camera and breaks its lens) when the latter accidentally paints her face.
  • In episode 20, Prima brings Mami Bibir to feed Alan instead of Pipin as Alan wants. Alan is shocked and hits Mami Bibir's mouth, causing Mami Bibir to scream Alan's name in anger (and cracking the camera lens, again).
  • In episode 21, Bambang is still sleeping when he is supposed to become a guest star on a TV show. Mami Bibir wakes him up by screaming his name (which cracks the camera). When Bambang insists that the clock is probably wrong and goes back to sleep, Mami Bibir screams his name again.
  • The example from the first episode is repeated in episode 24 when Bambang feeds Alan and Prima onions as a prank. This time, Bambang's "Me!" is clearly sarcastic.
  • The arrival of Alexi's mommy in episode 35 is preceeded by an "Alexi!" yell from off-screen.
  • Near the ending of episode 36, Bambang, mad in love and waiting for Melani (who doesn't know he's waiting for her), screams Melani's name in the middle of a rain.
  • In episode 37, when Bambang realize Alan (actually Prima, but it was Alan's idea) is the one who wrote the asking-out message and not Melani, Bambang exclaims Alan's name in anger.
  • In episode 58, after Akbar tells Prima that Juna is fired from AADC and to get out from his set, Prima yells Juna's full name. Turns out screaming on set only angers Akbar further.
  • In episode 59, Mami Bibir finds out that Prima is name-calling her behind her back, resulting in Mami Bibir screaming Prima's name so loud not only the usual Camera Abuse happens, Bambang and Alan can feel their room shakes.
• Parodied in several Monty Python's Flying Circus sketches:
  • The detectives' ridiculous names are always echoed after they introduce themselves:
    Lookout: This house is surrounded. I must ask that no one leave the room. I'm Chief Superintendent Lookout.
    Lady Velloper: Lookout!
    Lookout: What? Where? Oh, me - Lookout. Lookout of the Yard.
    Lady Velloper: Why, what would we see?
    Lookout: I'm sorry?
    Lady Velloper: What would we see if we look out of the yard?
  • "The Semaphore Version of Wuthering Heights" is full of saying and screaming names, despite having no spoken lines.
  • The end of the Argument Clinic sketch has a policeman called Inspector Thompson's Gazelle of the Yard coming on and arresting the cast for "always saying 'It's so-and-so of the Yard' every time the fuzz arrives."
• In the first Mr. Show episode, during the in-universe Biopic of Ronnie Dobbs, after Ronnie dies, Movie!Terry does this while holding the corpse of Ronnie. The in-universe "real" Terry claims he did this for hours, setting a new world record for screaming.
  Movie!Terry: RONIIEE!!! [gasp] RONIIEE!!! [gasp] RONIIIEEE!!!
• Odd Squad: This is a very common schtick when it concerns Oscar, with agents shouting "OSCAR!!!" whenever he messes up or they need to call him. In episodes like "Xs and Os", Oona is also subject to this.
  Oprah: [out of breath] Oona! I cancelled my juice delivery! Do you have a gadget that makes juice?
  [Oona, with headphones on, ignores her]
  Oprah: OONAAAAA!!!
• In a film adaptation of The Odyssey, Odysseus calls out to Poseidon several times after he decimates his crew in revenge for blinding the Cyclops.
• In Over There, episode 3, Hassan and his sister Sawa performed this trope when they met each other.
• Pushing Daisies has this lovely Lampshade Hanging:
  Olive Snook: I also heard you walking the streets and moaning [Chuck's] name like in a Tennessee Williams.
• Red Dwarf:
  • A hilarious example during "Future Echoes". Lister is looking in a mirror when his reflection does something different, he calls "RIMMER! RIMMER!" in panic and Arnold comes along asking what's wrong but Lister, seeing things are normal, tells him to forget it.
  Rimmer: Fine! Well, if you have any more problems with nothing and things that don't matter, just scream out my name hysterically and I'll come pelting down the corridor. Alright?
  • "LISTER!" or "MR LISTER SIR!" from Rimmer and Kryten.
  • The greatest example from Kryten being after Kryten and Kochanski stop Lister's heart in order to trick an intelligent virus into transferring itself from his body to a fake arm Kochanski is holding. A full minute passes of Kochanski and Kryten cheerily discussing how well that plan went while walking out the door and out of frame, before Kryten remembers Lister and lets out the most frantic calls of a name in the entire series.
  • Best subversion in "Rimmerworld", when they leave Rimmer for 557 years. Upon seeing his friends again, Rimmer recalls their names "Derick Custer" (Lister), "Kit" (Cat) and "Titan" (Kryten).
  • Lister often yells "KRISSY" when his former flame Kochanski comes back.
• Sam & Cat: In the episode "#TheKillerTunaJump", Cat does this when Robbie sings "I Think You're Swell" to Sam.
• Schitt's Creek:
  • Alexis's way of vocal-frying her brother David's (Daay-Vid) name has become a show signature, and "Eww, David" is her Catchphrase.
  • Moira's accent is bizarre and no more so than when she says her daughter Alexis's name. (Alex-IS)
• Scrubs:
  • When Turk and J.D. reunite after Turk's honeymoon, they spend a good few minutes of saying "TURK!", "J.D.!" as they run toward each other.
• Sherlock:
  • In "A Study in Pink", John shouts Sherlock's name when he realises that Sherlock is in another building with the murderer. It's muffled through a window, which lessens the impact, but the fact that there's a dramatic echo (as well as an appropriate choice in soundtrack) helps.
  • John does this again in "The Reichenbach Fall" just before Sherlock jumps off the building, this time clearly audible.
  • In "The Empty Hearse", Sherlock and Mary cry John's name several times each while rescuing John from inside a bonfire.
• Sherlock Holmes: In the 1980s Granada production of "The Final Problem", Watson, knowing that Holmes has gone to meet Moriarty and probably his own death, repeatedly calls his friend's name over the roaring of Reichenbach Falls.
• Smallville: Clark, before saving the Damsel in Distress, ALWAYS pauses to say his/her name before zooming off.
• Stargate SG-1: Conversations between the scientist (Daniel Jackson) and the "dumb" military commander of the team have devolved into merely repeating each other's names with various intonations: "Jack." "Daniel." "Jaaaack." "Daaaniel."
• Stargate Atlantis: When Sheppard confronts his long time enemy Kolya, you can rest assured he will call out his name in a long loud scream.
• Super Sentai example: Since Asuka of Abaranger gets blown up, being Not Quite Dead, then possessed by an Artifact of Doom, many name-yelling opportunities arise. There's also a lot of "Nakadai-senseeei!"
• In The Mandalorian almost every character friend or foe that speaks english including droids and aliens says “Mando” to refer the titular character. Greef Karga (played by Carl Weathers) has a particularly impressive “MAAANNNDOOO!” in the third episode when confronting said Mandalorian over breaking the Bounty Hunter code. Ironically the only character who doesn’t call the protagonist “Mando” is the Big Bad Moff Gideon who refers to him by his real name of Din Djarin.
• The Tick (2016) when Arthur disappears abruptly, the Tick's first (and only) plan is to stand around shouting "Arthur! Arthur!" in random locations. He doesn't even think to check Arthur's apartment.
• Top Gear:
  • In the Botswana Special, Richard Hammond attempted to ford a river in the Okavango Delta using his Opel Kadett, AKA "Oliver". Unfortunately, the car stalled and ended up partially sinking in the river.
    Hammond: OLIVERRRR!!!
  • During the Africa special, the boys end up stealing bits of each others cars when James' skid plate comes loose. It keeps going on, until Jezza steals a part of James' bonnet to mend his car. James is furious.
    Jezza: [narrating] As dawn broke, the peace and serenity of this beautiful Ugandan morning was shattered by the bellow of a wild animal.
    May: CLARKSOOOOOOOOOON!!!
  • Clarkson does it twice earlier in the special before May does it to him. He does it first to Hammond after the latter makes them stop at a dingy hotel, and is disgusted to find skid marks on the bed sheets: "HAMMOOOND!", and then "MAY!" when he learns May stole part of his door to replace his broken skid plate.
• True Blood has Sookie: The girl's name is repeated endlessly by her lover Bill; one episode had 36 instances. This fact and Bill's accent have turned this into a Memetic Mutation: Sookeh!. This was parodied in one episode by Sookie herself. And as if the Say My Name in-show was not enough, Snoop Dogg made a song called "Oh Sookie" about the character that had her name in every verse of the song.
• The Tudors: Since nobody (barring Thomas More, his pseudo-father figure) calls Henry by his name directly to his face, for obvious reasons, the show has treated us to more than one somewhat narmful shot of people desperately shouting "Majesty!" as they are dragged off to the Tower of London or just snubbed by the king.
• In The Twilight Zone (1959) episode "Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room", the main character (Jackie) receives a phone call from George. We know it's George because Jackie says his name 16 times in the call that lasts less than a minute. When George shows up in the hotel room, Jackie calls George by his name 24 times. When George leaves, Jackie says his name another six times while he's all alone in the room, then when George shows up again, Jackie says his name another five times. This gives a grand total of 51 times that George's name is said in a 22-minute episode.
• In the 2017 season of Twin Peaks, Dougie Jones/Agent Cooper doesn't talk much, but when he does, he mostly just says his name.
• Ultra Series:
  • While not universal, most human hosts call out the name of the Ultraman they're partnered with when they trigger the transformation. This was invoked in Ultraman Z, where Z walks Haruki through the transformation process the first time and specifically insists that Haruki shout "Ultraman Z!" with "Ultra-spirit" when he does so. This scene in turn led the showrunners to make "I ask that you chant my name!" Z's Catchphrase.
  • In Episode 38 of Ultraman Leo, "Battle! The Leo Brothers vs. the Ultra Brothers!", Alien Babarue deliberately invokes this trope while disguised as Astra to keep up the facade he requires to provoke Leo and the Ultra Brothers into fighting each other while he brings the Land of Light and Earth together into an eventual collision, screaming "LEO-NIISAN!" repeatedly when the other Ultras attack him, with a level of agony so convincing that Leo immediately tries to protect the alien he believes to be his brother.
• The Umbrella Academy season two- after landing in the alleyway alone, Luther spends several hours shouting "Allison! Allison! ALLISOOOOON!". Eventually a random homeless man joins in with the shouting to make fun of him.
• Walker, Texas Ranger: On some episodes, usually, when she's kidnapped, not one seems to go by without Alex screaming "WALKER!"
• Without a Trace: When Martin gets shot. Badly. Danny says his name twice, quietly and shakily.
• Xena: Warrior Princess: Xena and Gabrielle say each other's names to varying degrees. Most notably and dramatically in "Sacrifice" (which also included their daughter Hope) and "Friend in Need".
  Gabrielle: HOPE!
  Xena: GABRIELLE!
  Gabrielle: XEEENA-A-A-A!
• The X-Files: Agents Mulder and Scully would say each other's names in poignant moments. The names were said in various tones of voice and various volumes — sometimes they whispered, sometimes they screamed. It was nearly always surname. Scully tried "Fox" (Mulder's somewhat embarrassing first name) only twice, and he called her "Dana" only in season 1, and it kind of felt like he was deliberately messing with her.

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