Not a TV show, but my favorite film for getting around this problem was the 1988 Sidney Poitier movie Shoot to Kill. The killer, who was unseen for the first part of the movie, joins up with a group of hikers. All of the hikers were played by character actors recognizable at the time for having played villains, and all about equally famous, so it was impossible for the audience to guess who the killer was based on casting alone.
The ONLY guy I was sure was innocent was Andrew Robinson, who played the psycho killer in “Dirty Harry.” But he made a great red herring.
Also, you might start paying attention to the names of guest stars after about the hundredth time of watching a whole show going, “Isn’t that that guy… you know, he was in that thing with whatsisname…?”
I don’t watch any of the CSI shows on a regular basis, just catch the occasional episode when nothing else is on. But whenever I do see it, there always seems to be a moment early on in the show when the heroes want to question a suspect - and he/she snidely mouths off to the officers. Either they make some nasty comment about the police (if it’s a man), or act exasperated, harried & impatient (if it’s a woman.) That person never fails to be the killer. It’s as if a big flashing arrow pointing toward the actor and the words “DID IT” were suddenly emblazoned on the screen.
Basically it’s “disrespect the CSI detectives=killer.”
And as for more classic whodunnits, isn’t it the old joke that whoever appears to have the least motive/opportunity are ALWAYS the killer? In fact, most of Agatha Christie’s books work that way - excluding the detective and (most of the time) the narrator, if you survey all the characters at the country house when the cantankerous old lord was bumped on the noggin’, there will be ONE person who doesn’t seem likely to profit from the murder. That person did it.
I get ticked when watching a Law and Order episode and some actor or actress shows up as the lawyer or judge that I should recognize but don’t. And then closing credits are pre-empted by local news teasers. And I am still trying to figure out who that actor is. Grrrr. If I had payed attention to the opening credits, I might have an idea.
If I hadn’t channel surfed during the commericial I could rewind the DVR but I almost always channel surf during the commercials.
Then I have to wait until imdb updates. Grrrrr
It wouldn’t matter, by which I mean to say if there name was in the opening credits, it wouldn’t be in the closing credits. The closing credits are for people who don’t make it into the opening credits.