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Q: How do TV shows decide what order the cast is named in? Some shows change it up by season but others are always the same.

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

I've got a disappointing answer for you: Credit order on TV is the result of nothing more — and nothing less — than constant, painstaking negotiation between producers, actors and, of course, their agents.

"You would be stunned by how many hours I spend arguing about things like this," one anonymous agent said in an article for Backstage magazine.

Items for negotiation include whether the actor's credit gets stuck in the end credits or makes it to the opening ones, whether the credit appears alone on-screen or with others (known as a single- or shared-card credit), and whether the actor gets special billing such as a "with" or "and" credit.

All this applies to guests as well as a show's regular cast, but as you point out, the regular-cast credits tend to be a little more stable. When there are changes, chances are they come after that actor's contract was renegotiated.

Sometimes a credit change comes with a character's growing importance in the show. "24" did this a lot — for example, Carlos Bernard (who played Tony Almeida) appeared in the end credits for Season 1 but was promoted to the openers in Season 2.

 

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