I recently noticed that TNT has taken to running the end credits of one show over the opening sequence of another show! As far as I can tell, they only do this with back-to-back episodes of the same show [e.g. X-Files, Charmed, Angel] but I don't watch much TNT so I could be wrong about that. Is this practice unique to TNT or do other networks do this too? Is it not bad enough that they shrink/speed up credits beyond legibility, must they now ruin the actual openings of shows as well?

I saw NBC do it one time last year with MY NAME IS EARL/THE OFFICE, but only once. Maybe they got plenty of complaints or maybe it was just an experiment. NBC isn't shy about running shows a minute or two past the hour, so it wasn't just to beat a time crunch.

Of all the things I dislike about TV, I absolutely detest credit crunching the most. So often after a show I say to my wife, "Who was that guest star or supporting actor?" and, blammo!, the screen speeds or squeezes into utter illegibility. Terrible...

What's frustrating about it is that there is no good reason for it to happen. Only simple greed.

I'm constantly surprised that SAG or AFTRA or some of the other industry unions haven't campaigned to change this practice. The people that worked on those shows and/or movies deserve to have their names publicly acknowledged. Depending on how old the movie is, some of the actors are getting royalty checks of only a few cents - if anything - every time the movie airs. They deserve to at least have their names readable in the credits. Same with the Best Boy, the Gaffer, the Stunt People, etc. I accept commercial breaks as a necessary evil of television, but those credit crunch things are abominable. I've actually seen sitcom broadcasts where the tag to the episode is shown in complete silence, while the network airs a voiceover promo. If I was the writer of that episode, I'd be pissed.

D.

I've seen TBS to this with there syndicated shows in the afternoon, as well.

I guess the reality is that end credits are a turn-off for the average tv punter, even moreso than the lengthy end credits of movies (I'm sure everyone here has found themselves almost alone as they sit through lengthy credit crawls to answer a burning question that's been bugging them throughout the movie).

Advertising is the sole reason for the existance of most tv stations and the appearance of end-credits will have people reaching for the remote. Even channel-hoppers who stumble on them will tune out, knowing that they will be followed innevitably by more advertising. Only an announcement about the next program or indeed a straight leap into the next program will hold their interest.

As a film lover, it doesn't bother me. If I care enough to want credits, I'll get the series on DVD. It only bothered me when I used to tape stuff from TV but I haven't done that for years. If I have a burning question, I'll just google it or check out IMDB. Heck, if I think about it, I don't consciously sit through credits on any DVD's I watch. I only do that in the cinema unless I'm anxious to catch another flick. In the end, I know they're there on dvd or internet resources if I need them.

Victor

Somehow television survived back when shows had credits; somehow television survived when we didn't have ads popping up on the screen during a scene; somehow television survived when we didn't have networks running 40% infomercials (or like PAX, 80 % infomercials); I know I'll come off like some commie-liberal-bastard to the usual suspects, but has television in any way improved with deregulization? I realize corporations have become more powerful and someone has made more money, but has television in any tangible way improved since they stopped regulating advertising, public affairs programs, etc? Is it better that we get 19 minutes of show in a half-hour instead of 26? I'm sure that someone may have a very logical answer about "yes"; but if television is an opiate, I think we've got some very polluted weed being offered to us right now!

Ronald Reagan's evisceration of the FCC, including the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, was the beginning of the end of quality television and radio. Broadcast radio as we once knew it is dead, and I fear for the future of TV.

The only other network I've seen do this is E!

from THE SIMPSONS

Bart (trying to prove to friends that he works for Krusty The Clown): "Look, you can even see my name in the credits!"

(credits immediately go to ultra-squahed mode)

Martin (squinting at unreadable credits): "It says Betty... Betty Simington..."

Nelson (punching Bart): "That for taking credit for someone else's work!"