Closing credits

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Around the World in 80 Days (1956) had one of the longest and most elaborate closing credit sequences of any film. The credits took around seven minutes to finish. It provided an animated recap of the movie's three-hour storyline, identifying the actors in the order in which they appeared. Superman also had a very long closing credits sequence. It took nearly eight minutes to end, and at the time of the film's release it was the longest end credits sequence ever.[1] Although, some live action/animated films' end credits later ran from 7 to 8 minutes in length, such as Space Jam (1996), Scooby-Doo (2002) and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004). The British television series Spooks does not feature any credits, as a result of a decision made by the producers to add to the anonymity of the show's content (about the British Security Services). Instead, the credits appear as a special feature on the series DVDs, and also on the official website.

As in motion pictures, most television programs until relatively recently did not list the entire cast and crew.

Humorous credits[edit]

Some closing credits include out-takes. Sometimes a parting scene is edited in after the credits conclude as a final joke. For example, in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Ferris appears and breaks the fourth wall to say "You're still here? ... It's over! Go home!" And Animal in The Muppet Movie bellows "GO HOME!" The Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker films have included spoof production members, credits unrelated to the movie ("Author of A Tale of Two CitiesCharles Dickens"), cooking recipes and song lyrics in their closing credits, while Monty Python have included credits for ridiculous and non-existent production staff. On some occasions, the filmmakers will have a character come back and pop in during the credits to see the goings-on (a noted example is Finding Nemo, in which several characters interact with the credits like they are physical objects. In certain special episodes of the motoring show Top Gear, the credits are comedically altered in ways appropriate to the episode: for example, in the American special, the first names of all the cast and crew were listed as "Billy Bob". Meanwhile the South Park episode Trapped in the Closet featured altered credits after the episode, critical of Scientology, ends with Kyle yelling "Okay, good! Do it! I'm not scared of you! Sue me!" The credits then list every member of every position as either "John" or "Jane Doe". Another noteworthy example is Daffy Duck appearing in the credits of Gremlins 2: The New Batch complaining about how long they run. On other occasions additional scenes to advance the storyline (as in Wild Things, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End), influence or guide the viewers to a possible outcome of the film's conclusion (as in WALL-E) or set up sequels (as in Transformers and Iron Man) may occur after the credits roll. The closing credits for the extended edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King have sketches of the characters and the actors who portrayed them.

Sometimes the closing credits of comedy films include footage of bloopers that occurred during production. Most Jackie Chan movies include these. The practice was parodied in the Pixar films A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc., which feature specially-animated bloopers that portray the films' animated characters as actors who make mistakes.

On Father's Day, Big Brother UK credits everyone using their father's name. For example, Steve Jones would be billed as "Adam Jones' son." The 2006 film Clerks 2 by Kevin Smith features an extended closing credits that included a list of anyone who joined Smith's "friends network" on in the months building up to the film's release. The very long list of credits (in multi-column format) has forced some theaters to either stop the projector early or to cut out sections of the film reel so that the theater could be cleaned in time for the following showing.[citation needed] Upon the film's release, Smith announced that he would continue the MySpace friends credit list through 2006 and would include any new names on the DVD credits when the film is released on DVD, which he did. On the 1969-1974 version of Beat the Clock, the closing credits were known as a "boss list": The executive producer, for example, was the "Super Boss," the producer, "Boss," the stunt coordinator "Stunt Boss," the host's assistant "Pretty Girl Boss," etc.

Marginalization for television promotion[edit]

An example of marginalized credits from The Price Is Right.

On American television, the time the viewers spent watching the closing credit roll was often considered an opportunity to promote other shows on the network. Typically, this was accomplished by dipping or muting the closing music while an announcer on voice-over pitched another program – each announcer would often remind the viewer to "stay tuned" for the following show. Examples included Ernie Anderson on ABC, Alan Kalter on USA Network until 1996, and Phil Tonken on WOR-TV (now WWOR-TV). To help avoid cacophony with the theme song, most American TV shows produced since 1970 had few, if any, vocals in the closing music. As technology advanced, however, networks decided to replace the voice-overs with full-blown visual promos.



Most daytime soap operas used closing credits for many years. Most of the shows aired during the week (e.g. Monday through Thursday) would list just the main people involved with the production and a few of the principal actors and actresses. However, given the large number of people involved with the production of each serial, a full cast and crew credit crawl could last three minutes or longer. Because of this, an expanded credit roll would often air at least once a week, such as on the Friday show,[citation needed] with the closing theme often an expanded version of the show's opening music. Starting in 1999, soap operas began eliminating the full-screen crawl in favor of the one-third screen credits/promo combination. While NBC, ABC and CBS soaps all use the upper portion of the screen to show advertisements for primetime programming, ABC soaps showed previews for the next episode until 2008. Daytime soaps that are rerun on SOAPnet continue to use full-screen credits. Around Christmas time, ABC soaps air holiday-themed credits, which do not feature network promotions; One Life to Live, in particular, scrolls the credits over a shot of a lighted Christmas tree. CBS soaps also air holiday-themed credits that also do not feature network promotions; most of their airings are "classic" airings from previous seasons, and the credits usually include a fully decorated Christmas tree, a fire burning in the fireplace in the background, etc., complete with random Christmas music and ending with the cast breaking the fourth wall with a holiday greeting.

Daytime game shows worked in much the same vein as soap operas. A shorter version might list one or two people involved with the production, along with such plugs as for prizes and wardrobe providers. At least once a week, a full-length credit roll would air over the extended main theme (along with camera shots of such things as the contestant talking with the host and/or celebrities). By the mid-1990s, The Price Is Right was the lone daytime game show remaining, and it would eventually switch to marginalized credits, starting in the fall of 1999. Game shows that have the full closing credits that do not scroll up include Go, The New $25,000 Pyramid, both the Dick Clark and John Davidson versions of The $100,000 Pyramid, the original versions of Beat the Clock, To Tell the Truth, Password, What's My Line?, and The Price is Right with Bill Cullen, and the original Mike Adamle version of American Gladiators from the second half of the first season to the end of the series run. The original Match Game had the credits scrolling up at the bottom of the screen. The 70s version of Match Game had the credits scrolling up bottom-to-top during Match Game 73 and right-to-left starting with Match Game 74 and including Match Game PM and the syndicated version from 1979–1982. Goodson-Todman's Double Dare had the credits on the main game board. Sometimes on that show, the camera zoomed into the game board before the credits began. On the original daytime Wheel of Fortune in the 1970s and 1980s as well as the first few seasons of the nighttime Wheel, the credits always began with a list of sponsors over a shot of the Wheel.




Until CBS cancelled the Hallmark Hall of Fame series in 2011, original credits were aired; the ending promo would be shown first, then the original closing credits. When the Hallmark Hall of Fame series moved to ABC in 2011 starting with Have a Little Faith, with the advent of ABC using generic credits on some TV specials, ABC began using marginalized closing credits being played concurrently with the ending promo; as a result, original closing credits are no longer seen on original airings, and must be first seen on the DVD release or the Hallmark Channel re-airing.

Notable exceptions[edit]

Full closing credits are still created by the production company and are used in syndicated reruns of a program, and are always seen if the program is released as a DVD box set, is broadcast via video on demand or is streamed online via the network's website or websites such as Hulu that specialize in airing TV programs.[citation needed] Many animated shows still maintain and air the full version of the credits.


Spanish-language networks typically do not use generic credits or marginalize the credits for network promotion; however during movies aired in prime time, Telemundo and UniMas do air promos whilst the closing credits as produced by the film's production company are scrolling, usually shown in the speed scroll commonly used for basic cable or broadcast syndication runs of films due to time constraints. Similar to the aforementioned program-to-program hand-off during the credits, TBS and TNT, as well as some A&E programs, presently show one program's original production credits, in a double-box style side-by-side with the next program's cold open; TBS does this only from 6 a.m.-11 p.m. ET and TNT from 6 a.m.-midnight ET, and a promo may be shown if the next program's episode starts with the opening credits immediately followed by a commercial break and the double-box credit format is done with movies airing outside of late night).





The only CBS program that runs its end credits free of side-screen promos is its Hallmark Hall of Fame series, with its full scrolling credits, the way it was produced and intended to be seen.



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