Hello everyone.
I have not posted much lately because something I posted here almost got me in trouble. A person found a post I made on Google which revealed specific information not known outside of tight circles, and confronted me about it. Fortunately it was a person relatively friendly to me, so I admitted to them that it was me behind the Hollywood Harry account, and that this site does not have a tremendous following anyway (sorry Druff). I told them I would ask Druff to delete the post, which he did. I told this person I would be more careful in the future regarding what I reveal. At least that's what I will do until I retire, then the gloves are off!
Rather than tell stories about specific shows or people today, I will break down for you how credit sequences of TV shows work. It is actually a lot more complicated than you might think, as there are general agreements made via SAG (Screen Actors Guild), WGA (Writers Guild of America) and DGA (Directors Guild of America). Also, individual contracts can affect these credit sequences, as well.
I will only cover television in this posts, not films.
Regarding actors, their appearances in the credits are generally along the following hierarchy, from most important to least important:
Series regulars (opening theme):
1) Before title of show in opening credits (frequently not done at all)
2) "Starring" billing right after title
3) "Also starring" billing after initial starring billing
4) Last actor credited in opening, usually as "And [actor] as [character]"
5) Name shown in middle of opening credits without "starring", "also starring", or the character name
6) "Co-starring" (not used much anymore)
Guest stars (printed on episode as it begins)
7) "Guest starring"/"Special appearance by" [actor] as [character]
8) And/Featuring [actor] as [character]
9) [actor] as [character]
10) Actor's name only
Closing credits:
11) First billing on closing credits
12) Closing credits, actor's name by itself
13) Closing credits, actor's name listed along with others in the episode
14) Uncredited
Often actors can move up the credit hierarchy if they stick with a show long enough, and they become more popular.
Of these, one of the more complex versions of this occurred with Henry Winkler on Happy Days. As I have posted here before, The Fonz was originally conceived as a minor character, and thus did not even appear in the Season 1 opening credits. However, as Winkler's portrayal of the character became unexpectedly popular, he was presented as "co-starring" along with Marion Ross, Anson Williams, and Donny Most in Season 2, and then was second-billing behind Ron Howard in Season 3 and beyond. When Howard left the series, Winkler got starring billing. Tom Bosley was always shown last in the "Also Starring Tom Bosley as Howard Cunningham". Happy Days' opening featured two "Starring" (first Howard, then Winkler), followed by "Co-Starring" (the lesser important actors), followed by Bosley, who became the 3rd most important behind Howard and Winkler.
There was some quiet resentment between both Howard and Winkler. Howard wasn't happy that the show quickly changed its focus to make The Fonz the de facto star, and Winkler wasn't happy that Howard continued getting top billing when clearly he wasn't the most popular character. However, the two men mostly stifled these feelings, got along on set, and stayed on good terms.
Something else you might not know is the fact that recurring guest stars (ones frequently appearing in the show, but not in the opening credits) have a key difference from series regulars (those featured in the opening credits). Series regulars typically are contractually obligated to be available for every single episode, even if not featured. This means that if a last-minute change is made where they are needed to appear in an episode otherwise not featuring them, they have to be available to drop everything and be on set. On the plus side, they get paid for these episodes where such commitments exist. Recurring guest stars sign a contract only for the episodes where they are featured, and thus are permitted to be unavailable or unreachable while the other episodes in the season are being produced.
There is no specific rule regarding the amount of screen time a series regular will get, versus a recurring guest star. In some cases, a series regular may barely get any screen time for awhile, and at the same time, a recurring guest star will appear on screen a lot. For series stars, it is sometimes written into the contract a minimum amount of screen time they are guaranteed, which may only be violated by mutual agreement (such as a backdoor pilot for a spinoff). These screen time minimums are not all that common anymore, but still exist.
Writers/producers/directors credits tend to be less complicated, as it's generally understood that most of these credits will not be in the opening theme. Non-actors in the opening theme tend to be ones who do not change throughout the season, such as "Created by", "Developed by", or "Executive producers". They tend not to list directors or writers in the opening credits, as these are typically pre-produced only once during the season, and directors/writers often rotate throughout the season. Primary directors/writers are usually listed in the beginning of the episode.
Closing credits on television shows are different than movies, as there is simply not enough time to list everyone involved with the production. Thus, many behind-the-scenes figures involved with television shows are uncredited. If they are credited, often it scrolls by so quickly that you'd have to pause the end credits in order to be able to read their name.
Druff told me an amusing story about an end credits sequence which I will share with you, and hopefully he will not be too mad at me for posting. He told me that about 30 years ago, he had sex with a woman in her 30s who claimed to be an animator of a then-popular cartoon. It was a one night stand sort of thing for both of them, for reasons I will let Druff explain if he wishes. Afterwards Druff wasn't sure if she was telling him the truth, so he set his VCR to record that cartoon, which he otherwise did not watch because he was too old to be watching cartoons at that point of his life. The credit sequence was really fast in order to display everyone's names, and even using the pause button he was unable to read the list of the animators. He had to play with the VCR remote enough to figure out how to do frame by frame play, in order to read the names there. When he finally did this, he saw the woman's name as one of the animators, and felt satisfied that he really did sleep with an animator of a then-popular cartoon.
Sorry Druff if you have not told this story publicly but it came to mind when discussing TV show credits. You said it was 30 years ago so I doubt anyone will care anyway.
I hope you are all doing well, and I will see if I can make some more appearances here, but just will be more careful regarding the insider stuff I reveal.
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Originally Posted by Dan Druff
