I don't mind them incorporating a few small things about the actor into the character but not too many, then the actor wouldn't have to act. With Randy it would have been hard to say that Johnny was of Scandanavian heritage ! I think the writers remained vague on Johnny's heritage so the viewers could take it where they want to, as most writers have in fan fiction. Emergency was good at giving little hints about the actors-for instance, Johnny asking Dixie if she knew anything about singing or Brackett talking about liking horses (and wearing cowboy boots and western cut suits occasionally).

I agree there should be difference between character and actor. For example, Johnny was raised on a reservation, RM was not. The smoking issues was brought up Johnny is a question mark on smoking, but RM smokes (or so he did). The actors just draw on parts of their personality to play a role. It's up to the show to expand on that character, and of course fanfic to keep that character alive.

As a reader, it creeps me out if the writer makes the character too much like the actor. It bothers me on two levels: First of all, I think it is an invasion of the actor's personal life. The fact that the actor's artistic creation appears on our TV in the privacy of our living room once a week does not make that person public domain. Sure he is a public figure but to mess with someone's life experiences cheapens them, no matter the writer's intentions or how respectfully the material is handled. Sometimes when I read a treatment that is too close to the actor's life, I am pulled out of the story by the constant reminder of Randy Mantooth, Kevin Tighe or whoever. In the worst cases, I feel a voyeur.

On a more abstract plane, I am bothered by the blurring between TV fantasy and reality. The intimacy of the TV viewing experience invites viewer to project their fantasies and hopes on a TV character. But this group creation -- the product of writers, an actor, and a director -- is not real. We are viewers may endow the character with a great personal significance and use him/her to explore our own issues. But, in the end the character and the actor are not the same person, and I worry when that distinction becomes lost. This is the route some of the worst fannish obsessions.

As a writer and a fan, I have always kept a fairly strict division between the character and the actor. I have little interest in ever meeting any of the actors. I have no connection to them; my relationship is with John Gage and Roy DeSoto. Further, the character John Gage is a vehicle for exploring what interests me. The details of the actor's life have no role in what I want to do in a story.

This is not to say, I think someone who makes Gage a Seminole or uses the name Jennifer DeSoto has done something terrible and is about to stalk the actor. But, when it gets to the point that the story is about Randy Mantooth or Kevin Tighe, it becomes just another form of poor characterization.

Your thoughts are welcomed and I have to agree, characters and actors have to be separate, or the character of Johnny doesn't exist other than an aka of Randy Mantooth. Same goes for the character of Roy. These two actors helped create Johnny and Roy, that's all. As for Johnny's Indian heritage, I don't think you can get around it and stay true to the show, considering the show revealed this about Johnny in the first place. What nation he is from is up to whoever is writing the fanfiction. As for Roy, why doesn't anyone write about his background, Desoto is a Spanish name. It would be interesting to see his heritage explored further.

I've been reading E fiction for only about a year now, but I didn't know until just recently that the name Jennifer DeSoto had anything to do with Kevin Tighe's personal life. I thought it was just a name created in E Fan Fiction that had simply caught on and become almost canon. It is such a staple of the work out there that I find it very disconcerting to read a story that gives her another name if she is referrenced.

If anything, the fact that the name came from the actor's real daughter is a negative for me, not a positive. I'm not sure why, but it somehow feels like it's imposing on the real person in some way.

I believe that some traits of the actor needs to come out in to the character. This helps us to understand the character better. I ones read an article about why Randolph Mantooth as choosen to play Johnny Gage. It said that the producers were looking for a high energy and out spoken Johnny Gage. As we know Randolph Mantooth has both the high energy and is very out spoken.

It's funny to me but before I started reading E fan fic if you had asked me what Roy's kids were named, I would have said Chris and Jennifer. Also, I remember Hank's wife being Emily and Stoker being married to Beth. Now, proving this is tough, but somehow after all these years this stuck in my head. I realize that people who have seen the eps much more recently than I have seem to have not gotten this from the eps so I don't know where I got it from.
I agree that pulling too much info from a real person's life into their character is not a great way to go, but try and make Mike something other than an engineer. Just try! (Ever wonder if he was that quiet in real life.)

Tammy writes:
I realize that people who have seen the eps much more recently than I have seem to have not gotten this from the eps so I don't know where I got it from.
I agree that pulling too much info from a real person's life into their character is not a great way to go, but try and make Mike something other than an engineer. Just try! (Ever wonder if he was that quiet in real life.)

Tammy,

I can assure you that in the episodes, the only name you list here that was ever mentioned, and that only once, was that Roy's son was named Chris (Hang Up.) The other names all come from fan fiction and not the show.

Mike Stoker, who was an Engineer with the LACoFD at the time, was promoted to rank of Captain during the run of the show. My understanding, no he isn't that quiet in real life.