Gripe About The Various Entertainment-Related Unions (1971, news, Law & Order, tv show)

[LauraC]

Why do the various entertainment industry unions allow the TV broadcast and cable networks to either shrink the closing credits so they can advertise another show or movie above them or speed through the closing credits --- either way you can't read them?

I watch something on TV, movie or TV show and if I like a song I hear, I track it down and buy it. I was watching an older movie on pay TV (Showtime, HBO, Cinemax, etc.) and heard a song that the closing credits said was "The Devil's Right Hand," went online to listen to various artists perform it online and purchased the Waylon Jennings version. I bought two songs last year that I heard performed on Twin Peaks (Showtime) series show: "Mississippi" by the Cactus Blossoms and "No Stars" by Rebekah DelRio. Showtime let's you see credits. If I buy music that way, someone not only gets name recognition but makes money from it.

Sometimes I want to check out an actor (usually a character actor) who isn't above the title but who I recognize that I have seen in other things I liked or I recognize an outdoor location and I want to see if I'm right. At least the pay channels show the closing credits full screen and at a normal speed.

Example: Law & Order (all versions) re-runs make me nuts. Do you know how many current actors got an early start on one of the Law & Orders? You see them and you know you know them but from where? Who are they so you can look them up and see what else they've done that you can watch? The beginning of show credits are meaningless because when you see them, you don't know the character they go with. Yet every cable channel (and there are many) who airs Law & Order re-runs on almost any day of the week, never allow you to read the closing credits.

I've bought music from Justified (Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, Brad Paisley) but no thanks to FX channel's closing credits you can't read/see. Had to track them down on the Internet. The same is true for movies aired on broadcast TV or cable TV.

And think about the people who work hard behind the scenes on a TV show or movie. Most of them are only in the closing credits.

I repeat, why do the various unions in the entertainment industry not make a big stink about this?

[elhelmete]

Originally Posted by LauraC

Why do the various entertainment industry unions allow the TV broadcast and cable networks to either shrink the closing credits so they can advertise another show or movie above them or speed through the closing credits --- either way you can't read them?

I watch something on TV, movie or TV show and if I like a song I hear, I track it down and buy it. I was watching an older movie on pay TV (Showtime, HBO, Cinemax, etc.) and heard a song that the closing credits said was "The Devil's Right Hand," went online to listen to various artists perform it online and purchased the Waylon Jennings version. I bought two songs last year that I heard performed on Twin Peaks (Showtime) series show: "Mississippi" by the Cactus Blossoms and "No Stars" by Rebekah DelRio. Showtime let's you see credits. If I buy music that way, someone not only gets name recognition but makes money from it.

Sometimes I want to check out an actor (usually a character actor) who isn't above the title but who I recognize that I have seen in other things I liked or I recognize an outdoor location and I want to see if I'm right. At least the pay channels show the closing credits full screen and at a normal speed.

Example: Law & Order (all versions) re-runs make me nuts. Do you know how many current actors got an early start on one of the Law & Orders? You see them and you know you know them but from where? Who are they so you can look them up and see what else they've done that you can watch? The beginning of show credits are meaningless because when you see them, you don't know the character they go with. Yet every cable channel (and there are many) who airs Law & Order re-runs on almost any day of the week, never allow you to read the closing credits.

I've bought music from Justified (Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, Brad Paisley) but no thanks to FX channel's closing credits you can't read/see. Had to track them down on the Internet. The same is true for movies aired on broadcast TV or cable TV.

And think about the people who work hard behind the scenes on a TV show or movie. Most of them are only in the closing credits.

I repeat, why do the various unions in the entertainment industry not make a big stink about this?

DGA, WGA, and SAGAFTRA do and there are rules at least for first run.

[harry chickpea]

The above is one of the reasons I don't watch movies on broadcast tv anymore and canceled Directv. AFAIAC they can cover the entire movie with pop-ups, pop-unders, news tickers and ads for hemorrhoid creams. I suffered through the abuse for long enough to discover that I really really didn't like watching stuff like that. DVDs, VHS, BluRay, SOME streaming (which can be as bad).

[TamaraSavannah]

I always took it that they show the credits at all is because of the Unions.

That is, IMHO, sometime in the past, the Unions said that the credits must be shown. Those who show the shows, in order to get more advertising time, compiled with the agreement but did in a way for what we have now.

After all, face it, if they didn't need to show the credits, do you think they would?

Two things. First, speeding things up is nothing new. Supposedly, when Sci Fi Channel was showing UFO
UFO (TV Series 1970
in the 90s, they ran the show at a slightly higher speed to get more time for other things in the slot. Supposedly......

Secondly, when it came to Charmed and the broadcast doing advertising in the credits, especially for Steve Harvey (nothing personal, Steve), that sort of wrecked the good feeling for having just seen the episode. With that in mind, it would probably be better for them to skip the credits entirely.

Then, one more thing. Once upon a time in the 90s, I was watching
"Mission: Impossible" The Missile (TV Episode 1971) - IMDb
on FX (I think it was around the time an MI movie was coming out).

In the thrilling climax of the episode, like the last 10 minutes, ......

....... there were so many commercial breaks! It was like a minute of the suspense then cut to commercial. A few commercials later, come back to the suspense, then cut to commercial.

It was very frustrating but you know why they did it. As a viewer, I might turn off the TV after the show was done but they arranged it to hold my attention for those last commercials.

When it comes to broadcasting and commercials, one way or the other, they will find a way for their sponsors to get their time, find a way to have the highest probability of the viewer seeing them.