Opening credits -Wrong?

[omnirad]

TOS got their opening credits right. Shatner/Nimoy/Kelley were the stars of the show. Everyone else out back with ya.

TNG should have kicked Frakes in with the alphabetical crew line up. Old baldy was the only star of the show.

DS9 should have had no one "star" and listed all the primary actors equally.Minus Jake, who was hardly there as much as Garak or Ducat.

Did VOY list Mulgrew as the lone star, or was Chuckles up front too? I do not recall at the moment. But by the forth season it should have read as the 'Captain/Seven/Doctor show'. and some others ...

ENT should have given Backula, Blalock and Trineer top billing, a la TOS, per their plan, and the rest bring up the rear. Minus Travis, the grinning extra.

 

[erastus25]

I agree that Jake should have been tossed off the front credits, or in later seasons they should have added all the other primary characters (Garak especially). And you're absoultely right about Voyager. Seven was a great character but suffered from wayyy too much overexposure.

 

[Navaros]

I don't think listing actors based on amount of screen-time they had is the best procedure either.

Ideal way would be to list actors based on the quality of their acting & character, regardless of how much or little screen-time they got. Ie; Remove Farrell and DeBoer off DS9's opening credits and add in Alaimo, Eisenberg, Combs, Fletcher, Robinson, Hertzler, Grodénchik, Biggs etc. etc. Also, adjust their pay accordingly. It's completely ridiculous that in some cases much less-qualified actors than those masters got way more pay than the masters.

 

[omnirad]

But recurring characters are not in every episode, or close to it. Actors that are listed in a shows opening credits get paid for every episode whether they are in it or not. Producers are not keen to pay people for not working. Characters like Garak or Shran would be diminished if over used.

My point is, you gotta have button pushers like Checkov, Yar, Harry Kim, and Hoshi. Just don't pretend they are really co-stars with the big boys.

 

[Luke Lightsaber]

Star Trek has the longest credit sequences of any show! I think the Captain should always be listed first, then the Commander, then the Science Officer, or whatever.

 

[Trekkin' Trev']

Credits are done based on contractual obligation, nothing more. The TNG era shows and ENT start with the star (captain of each, and also Frakes on TNG) and then proceed to list the others alphabetically. Beltran and Blalock were just lucky that alphabetically they came first following the stars' credit, and in the case of ENT the whole thing was coincidentally alphabetical because of Bakula's name. Unless an actor's contract specifies that he/she is a "regular" then that name will not appear in the main credits (this is renegotiated each season). Otherwise no matter how many times they appear, they are considered a "guest star." Colm Meaney on TNG is a great example.

 

[erastus25]

Star Trek has the longest credit sequences of any show! I think the Captain should always be listed first, then the Commander, then the Science Officer, or whatever.

I know! It still stuns me that Voyager had an almost 2 minute opening sequence when other shows were cutting down their theme songs to save time for the actual episode.

 

[Carpe Occasio]

They should run the regular cast credits during the opening sequence of the episode like they do the guest star credits.

 

[Hermiod]

TOS got their opening credits right. Shatner/Nimoy/Kelley were the stars of the show. Everyone else out back with ya.

True, the rest were only guest stars.

TNG should have kicked Frakes in with the alphabetical crew line up. Old baldy was the only star of the show.

Frakes' agent got him a Starring credit despite LeVar being the second highest paid guy on the show.

DS9 should have had no one "star" and listed all the primary actors equally.Minus Jake, who was hardly there as much as Garak or Ducat.

Avery Brooks was the star of the show, though.

Did VOY list Mulgrew as the lone star, or was Chuckles up front too? I do not recall at the moment. But by the forth season it should have read as the 'Captain/Seven/Doctor show'. and some others ...

Beltran, due to his name, came after Mulgrew but had an "Also Starring" credit.

ENT should have given Backula, Blalock and Trineer top billing, a la TOS, per their plan, and the rest bring up the rear. Minus Travis, the grinning extra.

I don't disagree with this. I would have only had the three of them and used the others as guest stars when necessary.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Frakes' agent got him a Starring credit despite LeVar being the second highest paid guy on the show.

Probably because one original premise was for the more Kirk-like first officer to be a very prominent feature character - ie the leader of away missions, the romantic, handsome lead - with the captain shunted to second billing... until they convinced Roddenberry of the value of hiring Patrick Stewart as the captain and making the captain the most central character.

 

[Lindley]

Star Trek has the longest credit sequences of any show!

Credit sequences used to be longer in general.
I think most of Babylon 5's sequences were 90 seconds or so. Stargate SG-1 had 1-minute titles. (They tried 10-second titles for half a year, then put back the full ones when viewers complained.) Farscape had pretty long titles as well, probably 60+ seconds.

 

[Carpe Occasio]

Star Trek has the longest credit sequences of any show! I think the Captain should always be listed first, then the Commander, then the Science Officer, or whatever.

They should run the regular cast credits during the opening sequence of the episode like they do the guest star credits.

You want to see long, regular cast credits? Watch Lost. That cast is huge. But they run their credits during the sequence after the first commercial break.

 

[JiNX-01]

There should have been three levels of credits.

Opening credits: Stars
Opening scene: Featured stars (e.g. Randy Oglesby)
Closing credits: Supporting regulars (e.g. Park, Keating, etc.) and other guests (e.g. Tucker Smallwood)

This would have clarified the producers' intent and eliminated expectations that fans of Linda or Dom et.al. would be seeing their favorites every week.

 

[omnirad]

Frakes' agent got him a Starring credit despite LeVar being the second highest paid guy on the show.

Probably because one original premise was for the more Kirk-like first officer to be a very prominent feature character - ie the leader of away missions, the romantic, handsome lead - with the captain shunted to second billing... until they convinced Roddenberry of the value of hiring Patrick Stewart as the captain and making the captain the most central character.

Yes, Frakes lucked out with his billing and pay after he was phased back post season 2. But seasons 3-7 his screen time dropped to Geordi/Crusher levels. Nice pay check for bellowing "Sheilds up!" and "Red alert!"

 

[RobertScorpio]

Star Trek has the longest credit sequences of any show! I think the Captain should always be listed first, then the Commander, then the Science Officer, or whatever.

I know! It still stuns me that Voyager had an almost 2 minute opening sequence when other shows were cutting down their theme songs to save time for the actual episode.

But it was so perrty!!

 

[Luke Lightsaber]

I like how BSG does the credits. Throw all the names on the screen for three seconds.

 

[The Wormhole]

Beltran and Blalock were just lucky that alphabetically they came first following the stars' credit,

Actually, Jolene Blalock was the third listed in Enterprise's credits. John Billingsley came before her and after Bakula.

 

[Timewalker]

Star Trek has the longest credit sequences of any show! I think the Captain should always be listed first, then the Commander, then the Science Officer, or whatever.

I know! It still stuns me that Voyager had an almost 2 minute opening sequence when other shows were cutting down their theme songs to save time for the actual episode.

Of all the Trek shows, I enjoy Voyager's opening credits the most. The grand orchestral music and that gorgeous sequence when the ship sails through the planetary ring... I never get tired of that, and often hum the melody along with the credits.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Credits are done based on contractual obligation, nothing more.

Exactly so.

 

[omnirad]

Credits are done based on contractual obligation, nothing more.

Exactly so.

Should some of the contracts have been negoiated differently considering the outcome is my point.
Hoshi, Mayweather, and Reed get the same deal as T'Pol, Trip and Phlox ? These characters were used in signifigantly different ammounts on Enterprise for example. Does anyone know if all those actors made 'co-star' scale pay?

If Jake Sisko made the same bread as Kira and Worf I'll jump into the wormhole without a spacesuit!