Why are the casts of tv shows referred to the way they are?
July 6, 2009 9:59 AM   Subscribe

What determines how people get referred to in tv credits?

To clarify, usually in the credits that come before a show, after the teaser, it just lists people's names. But then sometimes towards the end it will say "With [actor x]" or "...And [actor y]". Who gets a "with" or an "and" before their name? Is it determined by the size of the role, the fame of the actor, or some other factor? Or is it completely random?

This obviously is not a matter of life and death, I just always wondered.
posted by Dormant Gorilla to Media & Arts (3 answers total)
 
Best answer: All of the above, including the negotiation skills of the actor's lawyer/agent. The ever-informative Cecil Adams addressed this in one of his columns.
posted by katemonster at 10:02 AM on July 6, 2009


Best answer: Also, tvtropes.org seems to be broken right now, but they've got an interesting page about "also starring". Here's the Google cache of it.
posted by katemonster at 10:07 AM on July 6, 2009


Response by poster: Asked and answered, thank you!
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 12:15 PM on July 6, 2009


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