Something that happens all the time, but bought to my attention once again on Six Feet Under on Tuesday and again with Rome last night - a quirk of US credits.
The opening titles list the principle actors (but not characters) and often the last credit is "and .... .... as .... "
For example, SFU is "And Rachel Griffiths as Brenda", while Rome referred to the actors who played Caeser and Marc Anthony!
I''ve noticed this too Brekkie, and it's a definate US thing, since I don't recall it being used here.
"Charmed" (OK....no jokes, I happen to like it ) does the same thing, announcing the last of the major lead roles as:
Holly Marie Combs
.......as "Piper"
...and yet not mentioning the character names of the others. There are many other examples, but not that spring readily to mind. It would be nice to know the explanation though.
on a similar note, one UK eccentricity that has ceased is crediting the presenter of a programme with "Introduced by".
Whilst you can see how that might be sensible for say Grandstand where the presenter could be thought of as a glorified continuity announcer, introducing various contributions, there are many examples where it wasn't particularly approopriate, such as 3-2-1 and Play School (just a couple I can remember off the top of my head whilst TV-A is down).
It also occurs with Seinfeld - '...and Jason Alexander as George'. I always assumed it was because the actor was well-known before his role in Seinfeld, but since it happens with the last credit on other shows, it may not be the case.
I think it is partly tradition: but also a sop to a leading actor or actress who is not playing the lead role, but whose stature requires an enhanced billing, rather than just being lost in a list of names.
I think listing all character names is soooo cheap, aust shows do it all the time but it is starting to stop (thankfully)
Less US shows are doing the "and Jason Alexander as Goerge" style.
US opening titles almost ALL have the following structure
Star1
Star2
Star3
with Star4
and Star5
(sometimes the character name is added with "as Character Name" but this is becoming a dead practice)
Show Name
Created by Creators Name
cut to black
presenting
a # production
in association with #
based on a story by #
staring
#
with
#
#
and
#
introducing
#
as
produced by
#
directed by
#
etc
and eventually
THE NAME OF THE FILM (and about # time too)
why don't they start with the film name?
another thing with US programmes is the guest star, the special guest star and the extra special guest star, slight boot licking, I mean, in Coronation Street we didn't have:
Extra Special Guest Star Apperance by
Sir Ian Mckellen
as
Mel Hutchwright
he just appeared in with the rest of the cast credits.
There is a set style for credits on films - they generally all follow that style.
Why should A # Production be one of the first captions? The would refer to the producer whose project it is and who has spent time making the picture from start to finish, often long before the film's stars would have been cast.
I think this all must go back to the old days of cinema, well before the time of a multiplex. The assumption was that you
knew which film you were going to see
,
as it was the only one on
! Of course nowadays it's fairly easy to go into the wrong one when there are 10-20 on offer!
I suppose in the pre-1990s era it was the only chance for the Director, Producer etc getting any credit. If they stuck them at the end of the film the auditourium would be empty by the time their names came up! (Most people leave when the end credits start normally).
I have noticed many TV programmes adopting the same principle these days. Both Corrie & EEnders credit the producer/director/writer at the beginning now (which was almost unheard of as little as 6-7 years ago).
Of course nowadays it's fairly easy to go into the wrong one when there are 10-20 on offer! 