No, you can't call me Dave

[genmaximus110]

It's so weird that Maddie and David won't let anyone from the office call them by their first names. After all the years they've been together, you would think it would be odd to keep calling them Mr. Addison and Miss Hayes. And especially for David to tell Bert that he can't call him Dave it just strange to me. Kind of stuck up, if you ask me.

[maddieaddisonjr]

Yes, people call their bosses by their first names. The Blue Moon office staff aren't a bunch of children...or are they? Maybe that keeps the staff more in the background of the star couple if they are formally address than casually. So the only people using their first names are each other. They are set apart from everyone else.

[lin212]

To take this even further, it's just not the bosses who are addressed formally. David and Maddie do refer to Agnes and Bert sometimes, but it usually is Miss Dipesto and Mr. Viola. Then all of the male staff members are called by their last names. As far as the female staff, I am not sure if we hear any names at all until S5, when Agnes refers to Jamie and Inez. Even David calls Jamie "Miss Lamont". Hmmmmm, definitely not your usual office protocol, especially in such a loosely run organization.

[bsddomi]

maddieaddisonjr said:

Yes, people call their bosses by their first names.

No, not everywhere. Here in Germany it'd be considered impolite to call your boss by your first name and it's not allowed at all. We are not even allowed to call a user by his first name, it's always Mr and Mrs. If we did you can bet that they'd file a complaint.

I believe that many people prefer the formal tag to keep other people at a distance. They fear that if they allowed others to call them by their first name these people would lose all respect. In a way you can look at it as "I'm the boss, I have more to say then you, little employee".

I don't mind the informal tag at all but I've worked in countries where it's common to call people by their first name and I know that it's also common in many other European countries but I know that when some German company sends me a mail it's always formal, "Dear Ms Soandso".

So maybe that was the case in the show. They all seemed to get along very well and felt like a family but still wanted to keep that distance and let the team know that they are the bosses. Show some respect.

[honeyblondenoggin]

I think it is definitely true that in some organizations, it is appropriate and required to maintain that level of formality. I work at a college, and while I call most people by their first names, I can't bring myself to call professors by anything other than "Dr. So-and-so," especially since I also went to school here and HAD these people as professors.

However, with the level of IN-formality usually exhibited in this particular office, it is a little odd for the use of such formal language. I mean, Maddie would seem to give off the vibe of formality, but good ol' Dave? The self-professed chief coo-coo? The agency's social director? The leader of the limbo? And HE'S the one who won't let Bert call him Dave!

I think that this language was definitely purposeful by the original writers/GGC. The office staff were often referred to as "kids" and treated a lot like children in a school (naptime, punished by putting their heads down). I think that was to really showcase what an INFORMAL relationship that Miss Hayes and Mr. Addison had with each other (or, more to the point, the type of relationship that dear ol' Dave WANTED with Maddie).

And, perhaps, the use of formal titles (Mr/Mrs) was a reflection of the time period, and 20 years later we are just a more informal society.

But the use of formal language is so interesting, Maddie NEVER refers to David as Dave, Davey or anything else except for Addison, which is even MORE formal that his first name! David, on the other hand, very, very rarely calls Maddie "Madolyn" and when he refers to her as "Ms Hayes" it's usually meant to be formal in a sarcastic way.

The way language is used on Moonlighting is quite purposeful, never random or accidental.

[nazel]

I don't think it was okay for Burt to call David Dave, it's just not right, he's his boss, & I think he should call him Mr Addison

[iluvdavid]

I think they should have used their first names.

[bertviola]

I really hated it when David said that to Bert(much more than when he "hurt" Maddie in "When Girls Collide"). Does Dave even have ANY friends? We see him with some guys back in NY that he hasn't seen since their Tom Cat days, but in LA? He doesn't seem to have ANY friends there. Bert admires him from day one, is his errand boy, etc...would it have killed him to allow him to call him Dave? He sometimes called him Bert/Burt anyways. And in Lunar Eclipse, Bert does call him Dave and wants him to be the best man. I really felt it's out of character for him, cause he never seemed like a stickler for such things(I mean, he's the one who held limbo contests, phone sex lines, etc, etc...surely he isn't one for being strict with rules).

[vic]

Yeah, he treated Bert pretty bad in this episode.

Bert warns him about Donnegan but David just grabs him by the collar and slams his head against the bathroom doorway.
Then later he says he can't call him Dave.

Isn't this David the casual, fun guy in the office? It seemed out of character for him to act this way.
I get that David is the alpha male, but it seemed out-of-character for him to treat Bert as if he were beneath him.

[bertviola]

Exactly. And it's the only time. I mean, this is the guy who helped him with his Lamaze, for crying out loud! Surely it wouldn't kill him to let him address him on a first name basis:(? I don't know if the writers are to blame or if Bruce kind of lost the interest at the end. But it doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the show.

[northernlight]

Maybe it was to keep the balance. With it being a light-hearted, fun place to work anyway, calling their bosses "Maddie" and "David" might have been a step too far. David wasn't really all that lenient, only in comparison with Maddie.