# In TV shows intros, why only the last actor's character name is shown? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 8, 2013, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-shows-intros-why-only-the-last-actors-character-name-is-shown/657787 "2013-05-08T13:24:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-shows-intros-why-only-the-last-actors-character-name-is-shown/657787/21 "2013-05-10T10:56:43Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > By the main star himself (John Denver) _Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale Of Rocky Mountain High That started from this tropic port Thank God I’m a country boy._ Oh wait. It was Bob Denver. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-shows-intros-why-only-the-last-actors-character-name-is-shown/657787/22 "2013-05-10T13:00:58Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > I might as well take care of the obligatory correction and say here that his name was BOB Denver. _Gilligan_ killed Laura Palmer?! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-shows-intros-why-only-the-last-actors-character-name-is-shown/657787/23 "2013-05-10T14:33:38Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > _Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale > Of Rocky Mountain High > That started from this tropic port > Thank God I’m a country boy._ > > Oh wait. It was Bob Denver. You, Madame\*/Sir, are god damned hilarious. \*I went to google to see how to spell Madam and the first link was Madame Curie and according to google image she was a god damned five-head. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-shows-intros-why-only-the-last-actors-character-name-is-shown/657787/24 "2013-05-10T20:57:14Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > Great behind-the-scenes story, and it shows that Denver was a decent sort of guy looking out for his co-stars. I might as well take care of the obligatory correction and say here that his name was BOB Denver. Also, he took advantage of their having to redo the titles anyway, since the series was switching from B&W to color. I was in fourth grade when the show first came on, and even then I thought it was a really dick move to refer to the Professor and Mary Ann as “the rest,” especially since they were my two favorite characters. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-shows-intros-why-only-the-last-actors-character-name-is-shown/657787/25 "2013-05-10T21:44:04Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > You, Madame\*/Sir, are god damned hilarious. Thank you much, I do have my moments. 🙂 Let it be known to all that I am male though rarely deserve to be called Sir 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Beelzebubba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Beelzebubba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beelzebubba)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-shows-intros-why-only-the-last-actors-character-name-is-shown/657787/26 "2013-05-11T20:11:55Z")
I called my cousin to verify (she and her hubby both work in Hollywood…well, Burbank, actually). The first and last spots are the most prized ‘credits’. The first spot is almost always just the actor’s name, but the last spot is the actor’s name and his/her character’s name also. For example, on “Charmed” it shows _Alyssa Milano_ in the 1st spot, then in the last (third) spot it shows _Holly Marie Combs as “Piper”_ ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-shows-intros-why-only-the-last-actors-character-name-is-shown/657787/27 "2013-05-11T23:04:00Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > By the main star himself (John Denver), actually. His contract let him be billed however he wished. So he stated that he should be billed under the “and the rest” category as well unless they changed it to include the other actors. They couldn’t have Gilligan’s Island without a credit for Gilligan, so, of course, they changed it. > > What I always thought was weird is that it fits 100 times better. “And the rest” had a big pause at the end that sounded weird. As I learned in music theory in college, it sounds better if the chords get faster and the rhythm more intense towards the end of a phrase. Bob Denver. **ETA:** aaaannnnd… I’m way late on that one. derp. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-shows-intros-why-only-the-last-actors-character-name-is-shown/657787/28 "2013-05-12T06:18:52Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > Bob Denver. > > **ETA:** aaaannnnd… I’m way late on that one. > > derp. What happens when you’re stuck on an island. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-shows-intros-why-only-the-last-actors-character-name-is-shown/657787/29 "2013-05-12T17:17:50Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I don’t know if there is a backstory to it but I always remembered the intro for _Leave It To Beaver_ ending with, “And Jerry Mathers as The Beaver.” And parodied on _SCTV_ with “… and Dave Thomas as The Beaver” (I think it was sometimes Harold Ramis). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-tv-shows-intros-why-only-the-last-actors-character-name-is-shown/657787.md?page=1)