Television is a different world from the real one as far as saying hi, saying bye and addressing each other.

Take the use of names in ‘soap operas’ or other television serials. It is remarkable how often names and kinship descriptions are used face to face – presumably in order for the audience to always remain up to date with the characters of the drama: who is who, who is related to whom, and how.

To some people, this practice of calling each other by name in a one-on-one dialogue would seem extremely awkward. Scandinavians, for example, find calling someone by name strange at the best of times – especially face to face. Why do you need to repeat each other's names when both of you already know who you are?

A cursory count of one of the most popular and long-running American-produced television serials will show that on average, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, parents and children, colleagues and workmates, friends and acquaintances and other people who are closely related in some way, call each other by name, face to face, around 30 times in every half-hour episode (which means about 20 minutes' or less running time on commercial television).

Perhaps this is a useful way of ‘learning the characters’ for a newcomer to the show; but does the constant name-calling feel comforting or awkward or even annoying to ardent followers?