Walking dead main cast vs guest

Is Ethan Embry (and thus those after him) listed specifically as Guest Star?

I remember adding episode 1 myself following AMC's intro credits and according them, everyone behind Lennie James and Sonequa was listed as guest stars in my opinion. They might have been a special guest star, but they are definitely not main as they are not included with the intro.

ThomasNL wrote:
I remember adding episode 1 myself following AMC's intro credits and according them, everyone behind Lennie James and Sonequa was listed as guest stars in my opinion. They might have been a special guest star, but they are definitely not main as they are not included with the intro.

I agree with that and we do not divide between recurring guest and guest stars, all are entered as guest stars, unless they are on screen as special guest star or co-guest star.

cheers
Juan

The question is, what is the definition of "Cast"? As far as I'm aware of, TVMaze doesn't define it. And the labels (Cast (Cast Appearances) and Guest Stars) are a bit confusing.

Gadfly wrote:
The question is, what is the definition of "Cast"? As far as I'm aware of, TVMaze doesn't define it. And the labels (Cast (Cast Appearances) and Guest Stars) are a bit confusing.

Cast on the main show page = main cast

Cast appearance = Appearance of the main cast in an episode

Guest stars = Guest Star appearances (not main cast) in an episode

cheers
Juan

Which brings us back to the original question... what is main cast? :)

House had the same thing. There were the "main" main cast, and then the "also starring" main cast." The "Also Starring" actors are listed on TVMaze as Main Cast. (Kal Penn, Peter Jacobson, Thirteen). So... they're not, and should be removed there and re-added as guest stars?

JuanArango wrote:

I agree with that and we do not divide between recurring guest and guest stars, all are entered as guest stars, unless they are on screen as special guest star or co-guest star.
cheers
Juan

They're not recurring. They're regulars. They're listed as "also starring" the text is on the screen. And there's an obvious divide after Tovah. That's the first time i actuallly really saw it. I couldn't see it before hand, it was always about what the PR said.

In Hawaii 5-0 chi mcbride and Lauren german, were not part of the main opening credits but fell under "also starring" and then on screen there was "guest-stars" and then the names. Same for Brian Dietzen for ages on NCIS. They were regulars.

Walking Dead has been very difficult to discern because some are considered by the production as regulars ie Andrew West (even if for 3 episodes) and others are plain guest. Serrantos, Masterson, McDermitt, Gililiam are for me regulars and they are considered like that by the production. But listed here as guest, i'm not criticizing, i'm just saying, on that episode, you could see really the divide between guest and regulars.

For 95% of the shows it's very clear which actors are intended as Main Cast, and which as Guest Cast.

When the show credits don't clearly specify it, we'll just have to make a decision on a case-by-case basis. If there's a listing you disagree with, open a thread to discuss and we'll note the resulting consensus on the show editor wiki. :)

Gadfly wrote:
Is Ethan Embry (and thus those after him) listed specifically as Guest Star?

The term guest star is not on screen, you just have "And tovah Feldshuh", maybe a ten seconds gap and then Ethan Embry. And the names beforehand are not in alphabetical order, so you can't say that they're using a system to differentiate.

This is the credits order after opening main credits : "Also starring Josh McDermitt, Christian Serratos, Alana Matserson, Seth Gilliam, alexandra breckerindge, ross marquand, austin nichols and Tovah Feldshush". Then a pause and then "Ethan embry, Corey hawkins, jason douglas, austin abrams, major dodson".

It would be simplier if they wrote on screen guest stars as opposed to the "also starring" before mcdermitt, but that looked like a real divide to me. I can be in the wrong. However, i know the production consider Josh McDermitt, Christian Serratos, Alanna Matserson, Seth Gilliam as regulars for sure. The others being newer are more of a question and i don't have s5 anymore to know how alexandra breckerindge, ross marquand, austin nichols and Tovah Feldshush were listed before... And how they're considered now.

Gadfly wrote:
Which brings us back to the original question... what is main cast? :)
House had the same thing. There were the "main" main cast, and then the "also starring" main cast." The "Also Starring" actors are listed on TVMaze as Main Cast. (Kal Penn, Peter Jacobson, Thirteen). So... they're not, and should be removed there and re-added as guest stars?

If "also starring" goes as "main cast", then they should be added as main cast.

but who defines if "also starring" is "main cast" in the tv industry ?

It is a very hard to answer question, usually the offcial home page has listed the main cast of the show, But i know that is not always the case.

i got no easy answer for this...

cheers
Juan

david wrote:
For 95% of the shows it's very clear which actors are intended as Main Cast, and which as Guest Cast.
When the show credits don't clearly specify it, we'll just have to make a decision on a case-by-case basis. If there's a listing you disagree with, open a thread to discuss and we'll note the resulting consensus on the show editor wiki. :)

"Also Starring" should be clear specification, one way or another, as it's a relatively common usage. So just a suggestion: you might want to give a general ruling on that one, and then leave the ones where it isn't used for case-by-case decision.

Tonks wrote:
They're not recurring. They're regulars. They're listed as "also starring" the text is on the screen. And there's an obvious divide after Tovah. That's the first time i actuallly really saw it. I couldn't see it before hand, it was always about what the PR said.
In Hawaii 5-0 chi mcbride and Lauren german, were not part of the main opening credits but fell under "also starring" and then on screen there was "guest-stars" and then the names. Same for Brian Dietzen for ages on NCIS. They were regulars.
Walking Dead has been very difficult to discern because some are considered by the production as regulars ie Andrew West (even if for 3 episodes) and others are plain guest. Serrantos, Masterson, McDermitt, Gililiam are for me regulars and they are considered like that by the production. But listed here as guest, i'm not criticizing, i'm just saying, on that episode, you could see really the divide between guest and regulars.

Yes , there was a "divide", you are correct on this, but are "regulars" = "main cast" or are only people in the main credits = "main cast" ?

very, very hard to answer....

cheers
Juan

david wrote:
For 95% of the shows it's very clear which actors are intended as Main Cast, and which as Guest Cast.
When the show credits don't clearly specify it, we'll just have to make a decision on a case-by-case basis. If there's a listing you disagree with, open a thread to discuss and we'll note the resulting consensus on the show editor wiki. :)

yes, most of the time its easy to distinguish but for the hard ones we can open threads :)

cheers
juan

david wrote:
For 95% of the shows it's very clear which actors are intended as Main Cast, and which as Guest Cast.
When the show credits don't clearly specify it, we'll just have to make a decision on a case-by-case basis. If there's a listing you disagree with, open a thread to discuss and we'll note the resulting consensus on the show editor wiki. :)

Isn't it what i did ? And what's the link with wikipedia ?

AMC considers them as Main Cast http://www.amc.com/shows/the-walking-dead/cast-cre... So i guess i got my answer. I should have checked as well beforehand, my bad. At least i know what we'll do for our website.

Gadfly wrote:
"Also Starring" should be clear specification, one way or another, as it's a relatively common usage. So just a suggestion: you might want to give a general ruling on that one, and then leave the ones where it isn't used for case-by-case decision.

What do you say? I thought "Also Starring" usually indicates main cast (regulars), but I'll take your opinion over mine here ;-)

FYI: Wikipedia notes the following regarding TWD: "Note: Actors or actresses labeled as "Also starring" are actors that are not featured in the opening credits, but instead are credited as "also starring". They are still considered to be series regulars by AMC".

Tonks wrote:

Isn't it what i did ? And what's the link with wikipedia ?
AMC considers them as Main Cast http://www.amc.com/shows/the-walking-dead/cast-cre... So i guess i got my answer. I should have checked as well beforehand, my bad. At least i know what we'll do for our website.

I agree, those are listed as main cast on the AMC site, i will add those if needed to walking dead too here on the site later this evening :)

cheers
Juan

Thanks. I wasn't sure at all and i'm gonna have to update our show as well, cause i entered a few as guests as well (marquand, breckenridge etc). If David hadn't mentioned wikipedia (the devil :D), i would not have thought of checking AMC.

So should a separate thread be created for House?

There's also the 60s, which were a wild and tumultuous period when it came to crediting. Most people seem to agree that Jonathan Harris was a show star on Lost in Space, although he was always billed as Special Guest Star.

But Martin Landau on Mission Impossible actually was a special guest star during the first season. I've... discussed that with a few people over the years.

Sure, I say go ahead and open a separate thread for each show where you feel like the current state might be wrong; then we can settle them once and for all.

Still curious about your opinion about "Also Starring" in general though - whether they normally should or should not be regarded main cast (show regulars).