Credit question

[kate1976]

On Charmed when the credits are on at the beginning it goes through saying Alyssa Milano, Rose Mcgowan and then it says Holly Marie Combs as Piper, why does it not give the character names for everyone else?

Another example is Buffy, it rolls credits at the beginning with the actors names and then Alyson Hannigan as Willow!

Anyone know why they do this? It's one of those little things that bugs me!

Thanks in advance!

[gerry]

Are these people the very last names mentioned in the opening credits?.

[kate1976]

No, in Charmed there are more people after Holly Marie Combs but it is just her who has her character name added!

[kempie]

The actors whose names appear first are said to have "top billing". They usually play the principal characters in the show/film and have the most screen time.

In film it is possible to give actors "equal billing" by placing their names side-by-side however this is not practical on a much smaller TV screen, thus this leads to...

"last billing", which is usually credited after the rest of the lead cast, prefixed with "and". In some cases, the name was followed by "as" plus the name of the character.

[kate1976]

Holly Marie Combs is one of the main characters in Charmed, and Alyson Hannigan was a main character in Buffy so that's why I can't understand why their character names were added! I really should try to get a life instead of thinking about little things like this shouldn't I?! ;~)

[kempie]

It is so that HMC does not appear less important than AM (likewise AH with SMG) by being credited second. They both can't be the first name listed.

It seems to work since you have remembered who the "last billed" actors are.