Commentary : GO AHEAD! RUIN OUR CREDITS

Until a year or so ago, if you wondered who the artist or craftsperson was who composed the music, supervised production, applied the makeup or acted in a role, you had a chance of catching their name in the end credits--even if they scrolled by fast.

Now, with end credits electronically squeezed into a corner--so “The Tonight Shows’s” Jay Leno, “Good Morning America’s” Charles Gibson or your local news anchor fill 75% of the screen to promote their programs--forget it. By shoving aside the end-title sequence, the broadcast and cable networks and local stations make it virtually impossible for the home viewer to discover ordinary things--such as who played Murphy Brown’s secretary of the week, for instance, or to listen to the “Sisters” theme music, or learn in what right-to-work state the latest lurid docudrama was filmed.

This cluttering practice is yet another way broadcasters carve additional time out of their programs for promotional purposes. It hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Hollywood production community’s powerful guilds and unions. Glen Gumpel, executive director of the Directors Guild of America, whose members include TV and feature film directors as well as production managers and assistant directors, charges: “What the networks are doing very clearly is getting free commercials. They’re actually appropriating time that we bargained for.

“It’s not an issue that’s going to go away quietly. ... We’re having ongoing discussions with NBC and ABC.”

In instances of cable networks such as the Family Channel, certainly one of the most frequent practitioners of what we will now call “squeezing,” Gumpel replies: “You have to rely on your relationship with program suppliers,” i.e. studios and distributors.

DGA member Steve Tramz, currently serving as first assistant director on Fox’s “The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.” sounds off: “It’s very offensive. People have worked long and hard to get some recognition.” Tramz complains that “Brisco’s” credits are routinely shoved aside so Fox can pitch “The X-Files,” which follows the madcap Western.

Although most writing credits appear prominently at the beginning or end of a show, Writers Guild spokeswoman Cheryl Roden says, “The Writers Guid of America would object strenuously were we to be notified writing credits were squeezed into a portion of the screen. The provisions of our contract would prohibit that. The networks can’t ignore our licensing agreements.”

A spokeswoman for the musicians union admits its clout isn’t as strong as some of the other guilds.

Member Dennis J. Dreith, a composer-conductor whose credits include “Columbo,” said he believes squeezing “represents greed on the part of the networks and broadcasters. The technical people are totally pushed aside.

“It’s frustrating, because from a contractual point there’s very little we can do about it.”

ABC Entertainment President Ted Harbert defends the intrusion. “Yes, we really do need the additional promo time,” he says. “And we’re careful not to start the squeeze until after those credits--representing unions with which the network has specific contracts have passed.”

Actor-director Clint Eastwood was unaware that the networks and local stations were shoving aside the end titles to some of his features--”Pale Rider,” “Firefox” and the “Dirty Harry” films to name a few.

His solution carries with it a nostalgia for the way things used to be in features. “I think there are too many credits today,” he says. “I like the old days where you’d have a few names on each (title) card and then the movie would begin.”