Quoting skipnet50:

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Most TV shows have a basic set of characters that appear in the, usually the Opening of the show, We could
1) List these characters ONCE at the top of the cast data before any divider and the remainder of the cast within the dividers or

2) List all Cast within the dividers

What do you think.

1) Might be cleaner
2) More accurate

My main problem with alternative 1) is that sometimes all cast members (including the regulars) are listed in the end credits in order of appearance, which would make alternative 1) inaccurate when it comes to the correct credits order.

I disagree... they should not be credited for the whole season if they were not credited in the credits for the whole season. They should be credited only for the episodes they are credited for. What good is having episode dividers if you can't see which episodes they are in? I for one want to know which episodes they are in.

Quoting Rifter:

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Quoting Addicted2DVD:

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I disagree... they should not be credited for the whole season if they were not credited in the credits for the whole season. They should be credited only for the episodes they are credited for. What good is having episode dividers if you can't see which episodes they are in? I for one want to know which episodes they are in.

We're talking about recurring cast - not extras or guest stars.  Recurring cast members are under contract and are listed in the credits even if they do not appear in a particular episode.  Therefore, WE should include them in the short list of regulars.

I know we are talking about recurring cast. I never seen Recurring cast in the opening credits... If they were I would say list them with the main (opening Credit cast) portion...  recurring cast is like Gunther on Friends... he is not in every episode... but he does come back for many episodes for the whole 10 seasons of friends... he is not listed in the main cast in the opening credits... only in the episodes he is in. and they are the only episodes he should be credited for.

Quoting chibul:

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I could care less if they're under contract or not. Plus, at that point, you have people trying to decide who's a recurring cast member and who isn't. The original situation makes it nice and simple - cast members in the opening credits go at the top, and everyone else is placed under episode dividers.

Pete, do you watch Jericho? A show like that would be tough to handle, as there isn't an opening credit roll at all - they start the show, flash a title screen for 5-10 seconds, and then list ALL the cast members for that episode at the bottom.

Yes... I do watch Jericho... and a few other current shows that does the same. I been thinking about this too... but I don't think it would be too hard... it still starts with main cast. I would just use main cast from every episode on top and then go to episodes from there. It shouldn't be a problem anyway. If there is anything way out of the ordinary we will surely bring it to the forums anyway.

Quoting Addicted2DVD:

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Quoting Rifter:

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Quoting Addicted2DVD:

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I disagree... they should not be credited for the whole season if they were not credited in the credits for the whole season. They should be credited only for the episodes they are credited for. What good is having episode dividers if you can't see which episodes they are in? I for one want to know which episodes they are in.

We're talking about recurring cast - not extras or guest stars.  Recurring cast members are under contract and are listed in the credits even if they do not appear in a particular episode.  Therefore, WE should include them in the short list of regulars.

I know we are talking about recurring cast. I never seen Recurring cast in the opening credits... If they were I would say list them with the main (opening Credit cast) portion...  recurring cast is like Gunther on Friends... he is not in every episode... but he does come back for many episodes for the whole 10 seasons of friends... he is not listed in the main cast in the opening credits... only in the episodes he is in. and they are the only episodes he should be credited for.

OK, some shows don't list them in the beginning, but a lot do.  Take Battlestar for example.  NONE of the recurring cast is listed at the end, but they do list at the beginning, and it varies somewhat from week to week.  But recurring is still recurring, so how else are you going to SHOW recurring unless you put them all at the top?  If you list them in the episode divisions, some people may not realize they ARE recurring but just an extra.

Sorry, I'll wath my grammer from now on!!!!

All jokes aside...John, by using the method we're discussing, it eliminates all doubt. If we go down your road, we'll be going back and forth all century over what constitutes a recurring role, whether or not this actor is indeed recurring or not, and so on.

IMHO option #2 is the only really accurate and easy-to-use option, even if it creates some kbytes more in the database.

It seems to me we are getting all wrapped around the axle and making this far harder than it needs to be.
Hollywood as we all know does all sorts of bizzare things, I think it's deliberate

Columbo has THREE sets of Credits, The Openiong Theme credits which only list Peter Falk as Columbo, then over the opening scene you get the major guest stars, then at the end you get everybody else.

Recurring characters are irrelevant to this particular discussion.

The question is a simple one and while it won't apply in every situation, thank you, Hollywood, it will apply to most. A person who is intorduce mide-season in opening credits should only be billed with each set of Episode data for the remainder of that Season, after all they do NOT appear in all Episodes. Assuming in the next season they keep the opening credits the same, that person would then become an above the divider credit. This rreally is very simple, why are we making it so hard.

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