Should Andy have been in the credits?

[nightshade]

Lorne was a regular character from season 2, should he have been in the credits before the middle of season 4?

 

[Yosso]

Yes! He was more than just a recurring character. The end of S2 wouldn't have been quite the same without Lorne's character and he's pretty much a fully integrated member of the Fang Gang from S3 onwards.

 

[Anya2012]

Absolutely. He should have been in the credits during season three.

 

[kittenpoker]

Definitely!! I don't know why joss puts some people's names in the credits right away and others, he waits forever. But I'm sure he has his reasons.


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[Blaze]

Oh...Josh and his credit. I would make more than just this modification if I could. But yes, Lorne should have been in the credits in s3.

 

[PassionBecoming]

Yes, he should have!! He was in most of the episodes and was involved in most plot lines during the seasons. Plus, he's awesome!!

 

[Tome]

So much Lorne's love in here! I'm glad! Yea, he should have been in the credits as early as S3 first episode. He had been a big part of the team in the final arc of S2.

 

[AnthonyCordova]

Earlier would be debatable, but he was definitely credit-worthy by the beginning of S3. And Connor got put into the credits right away beginning very early S4. And Lorne was getting at least as much screentime during S3 yet he gets no mention in the credits.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

I agree! I love Lorne. He should have been in since S3. Maybe they felt it was too crowded of credits adding Fred and the Connor. They could have got rid of Connor in the credits but oh well. Lorne does show up in the credits but not crediting Andy Hallet.

 

[thetopher]

Lorne should've been in the credits round about mid S3, when he was around a lot more. (partly because his club got blown up by Holtz, plus the baby)
I know Conner was at the very start of S4, but he was in every episode pretty much straight away so that made sense.

 

[AnthonyCordova]

mistake/technical issue.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

There may be some reluctance to put a person in the credits if his importance is expected to decline in future seasons or he is not in every episode. Lorne appears in 76 of the 111 episodes and the count is as follows:

Angel 111
Wesley 101
Cordelia 92
Gunn 91
Lorne 76
Fred/Illyria 70
Lilah 37
Connor 28
Spike 24
Darla 22
Lindsey 21

In Buffy, Buffy and Willow were in all episodes and Xander only missed "Conversations with Dead People", so a full line of credits would involve all three.

There is also the question of contractual legalities of putting someone in the credits. Does that mean they have to appear in every episode? I am not that versed in entertainment law, so maybe someone can enlighten us.

 

[Lyri]

There is also the question of contractual legalities of putting someone in the credits. Does that mean they have to appear in every episode? I am not that versed in entertainment law, so maybe someone can enlighten us.

Appearing in the credits means that you cannot accept any other acting work while the show is filming. You don't necessarily have to be in every ep (Charisma Carpenter was in the credits her whole stint on BtVS, but she didn't appear in every episode) but you need to be available for every ep, in case of sudden changes or reshooting that needs to be done.

It's for this reason that Amber Benson asked to not be in the opening credits. She wanted that flexibility. There's a link to an interview Amber did explaining this in one of the Tara/Amber threads.

Now, I don't know if Andy had any other work outside of the show (the only other things I remember him being in was that one BtVS ep where he was a background character and 'Chance'), but it could explain why he wasn't added earlier.

There's also the notion that the writers just didn't know what they were going to do with Lorne. He's not an easy character to pin down, he doesn't 'fit' with the rest of the team, has no ties to them. After the bar was destroyed, there was really nothing keeping him in LA, so it would have been easy for the writers to decide one day that he was just not needed anymore, which would explain why he wasn't in the credits until S4.

 

[The Thirst Evil]

I always thought he should have been in there sooner. It's possible Andy might not have wanted to commit that early on, and that's why he wasn't credited as a regular. He must have decided during the fourth season that he wanted to stay for the remainder of the series, and that's why he appears in the opening credits.

 

[tkts]

In general, who's in the main credits has more to do with the actor's contract status than any value judgment. (Except Amber Benson, who was always officially a guest star in terms of her contract, but who Joss put in the title credits just to mess with the audience.)