History FirstNameBasis / LiveActionTV

* In ''Series/BarneyMiller'', most of the police personnel are on a LastNameBasis with each other (or in Wojo's case, a Nickname Basis). But Chano Amenguale and Nick Yemana are pretty much always Chano and Nick to everyone on the squad.

* On ''Series/TheBobNewhartShow'', Bob generally calls his patients by their last names, but refers to Michelle Nardo by first name.

* Used in ''Series/{{Castle}}'' with everyone in the precinct, including Castle, except for highly emotional moments. Becket calls ME Lanie Parish by her first name all the time to show they are long time friends. Det. Ryan and Esposito refer to each other by last names, though Ryan started referring to Esposito as Jav or Javier around the third season. Castle's mother and daughter are primarily referred to as Martha and Alexis, respectively.

** Carisi is "Carisi" to everybody except his immediate family, who call him "Sonny"[[note]]his full name is Dominick Carisi, Jr[[/note]]. Like Barba, he remains "Carisi" even as an ADA despite being well-liked, because he's always been just "Carisi". Rollins, and ''[[ImpliedLoveInterest only]]'' Rollins, occasionally calls him by his actual first name, Dominick.

* In the early episodes of ''Series/TheXFiles'' the protagonists always refer to each other as "Agent Mulder" and "Agent Scully." Although they remain on a LastNameBasis for the rest of the series, the dropping of these titles show they're beginning to accept each other as partners. More on Scully's side than Mulder's; Mulder drops the "Agent" quickly into the pilot, whereas Scully calls him Agent Mulder until the second episode. Over the rest of the series, Mulder remains "Mulder" due to his EmbarassingFirstName, and Scully is "Dana" only in times of stress, intimacy, or around her family. To the amusement of many fans, even in the 2010's reboot, they are still on a LastNameBasis despite living having had a child together, living together for years, and going through a traumatic break-up.

*** Scully winds up on a sporadic first name basis with them both in season nine, though more often with Reyes than Doggett.

** ''Series/TheXFiles'': In contrast to their rigidly LastNameBasis counterparts, Doggett and Reyes call each other by their first names, usually only addressing each other by "Agent Doggett" or "Agent Reyes" around other agents. This is due to them knowing each other prior to their assignment to the X-Files; Reyes worked on the case to solve the kidnapping and murder of Dogget's young son a few years before their introduction on the series.

* In the early episodes of ''Series/TheXFiles'' the protagonists always refer to each other as "Agent Mulder" and "Agent Scully". Although they remain on a LastNameBasis for the rest of the series, the dropping of these titles show they're beginning to accept each other as partners. More on Scully's side than Mulder's; Mulder drops the "Agent" quickly into the pilot, whereas Scully calls him Agent Mulder until the second episode.
** Scully only ever tried calling Mulder "Fox" once and was informed that he [[EmbarrassingFirstName liked "Mulder" better]], so she never tried again. Mulder called Scully "Dana" when he was especially concerned about her, or when they were having a particularly intimate moment (not necessarily like that, pervs) during the first few seasons. But by around season 4, even that had stopped, as if the last names had become more intimate by that point. In [[Film/TheXFilesIWantToBelieve the second movie]], set six years after the series, [[spoiler:they've been living together the whole time]] and they're ''still'' on a LastNameBasis.
*** However, Mulder does tend to call her "Dana" around her family; Scully only meets with Mulder's mother once and does not refer to Mulder by any name.
** In the FreakyFridayFlip episode, Mulder's calling her "Dana" casually was one of her first hints that he was NotHimself.
** In contrast, Doggett and Reyes call each other by their first names, usually only addressing each other by "Agent Doggett" or "Agent Reyes" around other agents.
*** Scully winds up on a sporadic first name basis with them both in season nine, though more often with Reyes than Doggett.

** Used as foreshadowing when uses an ImpersonationGambit while making contact with the HiddenVillain in a virtual reality construct. The villain quickly sees through the impersonation and asks, "Takeshi, is that you?" implying that they're someone who knows Kovacs intimately.

** Takeshi Kovacs' ImaginaryFriend notes that his calling Detective Ortega by her first name is a bad sign, given that she's supposed to be an expendable local in his RedshirtArmy.

** Meanwhile, Major Kira's first name - Nerys - was used only rarely, and usually signified a very close relationship, such as her friendship with Dax and her relationship with Odo.
** Garak was called 'Garak' by everyone, but in his first [[ADayInTheLimelight spotlight episode]] we discover his ''first'' name is Elim. When Tain's housekeeper appears in one episode, constantly calling Garak by his first name, it not only stands out glaringly to the audience, but to Odo as well, who is extremely suspicious about why the housekeeper of the man who exiled Garak would have such affection for him. But that question is par for the course, given Garak's MysteriousPast. (In Andrew Robinson's novel, it was because she's Garak's mother.)
** In ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', Dr. [=McCoy=] never used "Captain" ''except'' when the situation was serious, otherwise he would use Jim and Jim would call him "Bones." He addressed him as "Leonard" only once, in "Friday's Child", and only because they were congratulating each other on the High Teer of Capella IV, Leonard James Akaar, being named after them (this is also the only time [=McCoy=] addresses Kirk as "James" instead of "Jim"). Spock, naturally, is the exact opposite of [=McCoy=] (and neither of them would have it any differently): Kirk is usually addressed as "Captain", but when Spock is [[YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious subject to emotional instability]], he's "Jim". He mellows considerably by the time of the movies, and almost always refers to Kirk as "Jim".
** Scotty is almost always on a LastNameBasis with everyone, even though he himself insists on being called "Scotty". He is ''never'' addressed by his own first name, "Montgomery". Scotty addresses Kirk as "Jim" exactly ''once'' in three seasons.

** Meanwhile, in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Jean-Luc Picard's more aristocratic style of command meant that only longtime friend Beverly Crusher ever referred to him by his first name (aside from recurring antagonist Q, but there were... [[HoYay other]] [[AGodAmI reasons]] for that one. And Riker, in the episode where he was briefly turned into a Q (Picard promptly called him on it). Data, Worf, and Geordi, however, were referred to by first name even while on duty (albeit in part because Data only ''has'' one name and Worf, though HappilyAdopted, uses the Klingon {{UsefulNotes/Patronymic}} "Son of Mogh" rather than his parents' surname of Rozhenko). Picard will also switch off how he refers to the crew depending on whether it is a formal or informal situation. When acting as Captain Picard, he says Mr. Data, Mr. Worf, Dr. Crusher. When informal or more personal, he used first names, particularly with, as above, Beverly, who he's known for like two decades. Riker gets the nickname of "Number One" on duty unless it's a full-formal situation, but Picard sometimes addresses him as "Will".

** Scully only ever tried calling Mulder "Fox" once and was informed that he [[EmbarrassingFirstName liked "Mulder" better]], so she never tried again. Mulder called Scully "Dana" when he was especially concerned about her, or when they were having a particularly intimate moment (not necessarily like that, pervs) during the first few seasons. But by around season 4, even that had stopped, as if the last names had become more intimate by that point. In the second movie, set six years after the series, [[spoiler:they've been living together the whole time]] and they're ''still'' on a LastNameBasis.

** As the members of Team Machine start off not liking or trusting each other, this is a sign of them becoming FireForgedFriends. Villains like Root and Elias also do this as TermsOfEndangerment becoming Token Evil Teammate}}s.

** Given that many people in this verse (both heroes and villains) go to a lot of trouble to hide their identities, using their first name is often done to intimidate them.

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