History BillingDisplacement / LiveActionTV

* TV movie ''In Search of America'' has many releases on Public Domain [=DVDs=], all trumpeting ''Creator/Jeff Bridges'' as the star of the movie, although he's billed below Carl Betz and Vera Miles in the credits.

* ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'' is yet another show that is today best known as barely a footnote in a future music superstar's career: Aubrey "Music/{{Drake}}" Graham.

* Ditto with ''Series/BarneyAndFriends.'' Aside from being massively popular in the '90s and having a huge PeripheryHatedom, the only thing most people remember about the show is that Music/SelenaGomez and Music/DemiLovato appeared on a number of episodes from 2002 to 2004. Never mind the fact that there were a few other members of the cast who would find future success, like Trevor Morgan, Madison Pettis, and Creator/KylaPratt, but good luck finding people who know who they are, let alone that they were on ''Barney;" because when people bring up the show's alumni, it will be Gomez, Lovato, and no one else.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' is pretty all over the place when it comes to whom they bill in the opening titles. Creator/PeterDinklage was the AndStarring credit for the first season but has received top billing for all the others, despite really just being part of the ensemble (even if he is a huge favorite). Despite playing very prominent characters, Creator/MaisieWilliams (Arya), Creator/SophieTurner (Sansa), Creator/AlfieAllen (Theon), Creator/JackGleeson (Joffrey) and John Bradley (Sam) have only ever been listed among the secondary cast members (the sixth season rectified this for Turner, while the seventh did for Williams), while Creator/LiamCunningham (Davos), Creator/StephenDillane (Stannis), Creator/CariceVanHouten (Melisandre) and Creator/NatalieDormer (Margaery), who play supporting roles that often don't even appear for half of a given season, are billed among the main cast. Creator/JasonMomoa, who played Khal Drogo, one of the more major characters of the first season, was billed in the closing credits, ''after'' the guest stars, as "also starring". From the second season onward, it seems that screen time or number of episodes you appear in has nothing to do with whether or not you get billed in the opening titles. Creator/JamesCosmo (Lord Commander Mormont), Creator/ConlethHill (Varys) and Creator/JeromeFlynn (Bronn) have each been billed in the opening sequence since the second season, and yet have less screen time of late than they did in the first season, when they were mere guest stars. Most of the names billed in the fourth season appeared less frequently than Creator/PedroPascal (Prince Oberyn), who was billed as a guest star. And finally, there's the amusing fact that Dinklage, Creator/NikolajCosterWaldau (Jaime) and Creator/LenaHeadey (Cersei), despite having the leading credits by the final season, were always nominated for Best Supporting Actor Emmys; the only actors with Best Lead nominations, Creator/KitHarington (Jon Snow) and Creator/EmiliaClarke (Daenerys), never got higher than fourth and fifth billing.

* With the departure of Grissom in ''Series/{{CSI}}'', the top billing went to Creator/LaurenceFishburne, who plays newcomer Dr Ray Langstrom. While several cast members outrank him both in rank, importance and time on the show, Creator/LaurenceFishburne gets the top billing, being the most well known star on the bill.

* Series/Hawkeye2021'' has a justified case in Creator/FlorencePugh, who as soon as she first appears in episode four gets billed just below the two protagonists, but Yelena just had [[Film/BlackWidow2021 a movie]] to introduce her as a major player and her role is important plot-wise. But a straighter one is [[spoiler: Creator/VincentDOnofrio]] credited before Creator/AlaquaCox in the last two episodes, even if Maya is only absent from the season opener while [[spoiler: Comicbook/TheKingpin]] only appears in the flesh in the closer ([[spoiler:in Episode 5, he only appears in a photo]]).

* ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett'':
** Creator/TemueraMorrison always has top billing, even though sometimes Boba Fett goes a whole episode without appearing and/or speaking.
** Creator/MingNaWen has second billing, despite being the only cast member to make speaking appearances in every Season 1 episode.
** Creator/PedroPascal has third billing for Chapters 5-7, which is either too high for a guest star, or too low for the leader of the SpotlightStealingSquad.

** Creator/PedroPascal has third billing for Chapters 5-7, which is either too high for a guest star, or too low for someone whose character's own issues often receive a stronger focus than the season's main plot.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' is pretty all over the place when it comes to whom they bill in the opening titles. Creator/PeterDinklage was the AndStarring credit for the first season but has received top billing for all the others, despite really just being part of the ensemble (even if he is a huge favorite). Despite playing very prominent characters, Creator/MaisieWilliams (Arya), Creator/SophieTurner (Sansa), Creator/AlfieAllen (Theon), Creator/JackGleeson (Joffrey) and John Bradley (Sam) have only ever been listed among the secondary cast members (the sixth season rectified this for Turner, while the seventh did for Williams), while Creator/LiamCunningham (Davos), Creator/StephenDillane (Stannis), Creator/CariceVanHouten (Melisandre) and Creator/NatalieDormer (Margaery), who play supporting roles that often don't even appear for half of a given season, are billed among the main cast. Creator/JasonMomoa, who played Khal Drogo, one of the more major characters of the first season, was billed in the closing credits, ''after'' the guest stars, as "also starring". From the second season onward, it seems that screen time or number of episodes you appear in has nothing to do with whether or not you get billed in the opening titles. Creator/JamesCosmo (Lord Commander Mormont), Creator/ConlethHill (Varys) and Creator/JeromeFlynn (Bronn) have each been billed in the opening sequence since the second season, and yet have less screen time of late than they did in the first season, when they were mere guest stars. Most of the names billed in the fourth season appeared less frequently than Creator/PedroPascal (Prince Oberyn), who was billed as a guest star.

** The season two credits listed Na'Toth, played by Mary Kay Adams, as a main character, but she only appeared in two episodes that whole season and vanished from the series after that (a guest appearance in season 5 notwithstanding).

** ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' and ''Series/{{Eastwick}}'' list the regulars in alphabetical order (which is why some episodes of the latter carry the credit "starring [[Creator/AshleyBenson ashley benson]]" and others "starring jon bernthal" (the typeface for the credits is all lowercase), although this makes an exception of Paul Gross, who always has "[[AndStarring And]]" status), and only list regulars if they actually appear in an episode in original (i.e. not stock) footage. (That said, Creator/SantiagoCabrera did get credited for an episode where he only appeared in stock footage.)

e* The VHS release of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' Season 3 Part 2 has Spike and Drusilla on the spine. Drusilla doesn't appear at all in Season 3 and Spike is in one episode. On Part 1.

* ''Series/StrangerThings'' gives Creator/WinonaRyder lead billing, as she was the best-known name at the time the show premiered. Three seasons in, and the first actor that comes to mind is almost always going to be Creator/MillieBobbyBrown. Additionally, Creator/Cara Buono is credited as a main character in every season (albeit usually the last one listed), despite never having a major role in the overall plot.

* The VHS release of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' Season 3 Part 2 has Spike and Drusilla on the spine. Drusilla doesn't appear at all in Season 3 and Spike is in one episode. On Part 1.

* TV movie ''In Search of America'' has many releases on Public Domain DVDs, all trumpeting ''Creator/Jeff Bridges'' as the star of the movie, although he's billed below Carl Betz and Vera Miles in the credits.

* ''Series/StrangerThings'' gives Creator/WinonaRyder lead billing, as she was the best-known name at the time the show premiered. Three seasons in, and the first actor that comes to mind is almost always going to be Creator/MillieBobbyBrown.

* The Creator/DisneyChannel Original Movie ''How To Build A Better Boy'' gives Music/ChinaAnneMcClain top billing above Kelli Berglund (the two play best friends), but Berglund's character is ultimately the focus of the story. This is justified, as [=McClain=] is the better-known actress of the two, as ''Series/ANTFarm'' is a much better-known show than ''Series/LabRats'' (being on a higher-rated network and all), plus the movie aired on her home network.

* Many Tweenie-Bopper Jonas Brothers Fans were thoroughly disappointed to find that the Jonas Brothers didn't star in ''Film/CampRock'', only Music/JoeJonas did. Disney Channel had announced many times in the trailers for ''Camp Rock'' that it starred the Jonas Brothers, failing to mention the fact that two of them were only minor characters and appeared very briefly.

** The DVD set for Season 6 lists Roger Cross as a member of the main cast again, even though he's only a guest star this time around and he gets killed early on. It doesn't credit Carlo Rota, Eric Balfour, or Marisol Nichols, even though all three are members of the main cast and two of them appear throughout the entire season while the third appears in the majority of the season before also getting killed off.

* TV.com's cast list for ''Series/TheNoddyShop'' shows Teryl Rothery and Harry Andersen first before listing the show's actual stars. These two are not main characters, but rather minor roles: Harry Andersen played the CharacterOfTheDay Jack Fable, while Teryl Rothery played Mrs. Skittles in the ''WesternAnimation/NoddysToylandAdventures'' segments. This was likely done because these actors happen to be more well-known than the rest of the cast.

* In the opening credits for ''Series/TheOfficeUS'', the only people ever listed were Creator/SteveCarell (Michael), Creator/JohnKrasinski (Jim), Creator/RainnWilson (Dwight), Jenna Fischer (Pam) and B.J. Novak (Ryan) until season 6, when Creator/EdHelms (Andy) was PromotedToOpeningCredits and in season 7, Creator/JamesSpader (Robert California) was also promoted (then left the show after that season). While that may seem like a lot of characters, ''The Office'' had a relatively large ensemble cast. B.J. Novak was an especially blatant example, because as the seasons went on, he had less screentime than some of the actors who weren't in the opening credits.

** ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'': Russell Lawrence and Melody Perkins were always at the end of the credits with the rotating cast, instead of being credited as heroes. And because of legal reasons, Valerie Vernon was never removed from the credits for the period of time in which her character was gone from the show.

** Despite being a cast member since Season 2, Music/IceT was billed below several cast members who joined in later, specifically Creator/DianeNeal (Seasons 5-9), Creator/MichaelaMcManus (Season 10), Creator/DannyPino (Seasons 13-16), and Creator/KelliGiddish (since Season 13).
** Likewise, both Creator/BDWong and Creator/TamaraTunie were part of the cast since Season 2. Though they only got their PromotionToOpeningTitles in later seasons (Season 4 for Wong, Season 7 for Tunie), they were still billed below cast members who joined in later, specifically Diane Neal, Creator/AdamBeach (Season 9), and Michaela [=McManus=].
*** It even applies to both Wong and Tunnie themselves. Wong is billed and {{promot|ionToOpeningTitles}}ed before Tunnie despite the latter debuting much earlier and having more screen time.

* ''Series/{{Smash}}'': Creator/DebraMessing gets top billing, but Creator/KatharineMcPhee and Megan Hilty are the real stars.

** Seasons 2 and 3 have Chris Wood getting AndStarring credit along with Creator/DavidHarewood over the likes of the aforementioned Leigh and Brooks, as well as Jeremy Jordan, despite the latter three having more recognition and seniority as actors.
** Despite playing [[Series/{{Smallville}} the previous live-action]] ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}, Creator/LauraVandervoort never got the "[[AndStarring Special Guest Star]]" citation in her guest appearances unlike guest stars who are previous prominent DC actors.

** Michael Socha has been cast as a regular in the fourth season when his character from the spinoff was transplanted. Yet he's barely a secondary character.

** In the first season, Creator/RaphaelSbarge is credited as a regular despite only appearing in 10 episodes (season one has 23), one of which was only as a voice actor. By comparison, Meghan Ory is in 18, despite being a recurring cast member. (In season two, Sbarge was demoted to recurring and Ory [[PromotedToOpeningTitles promoted to regular]]... although the latter wound up appearing in less episodes than she did in season one before leaving.)

** Lea DeLaria is fairly prominent, ''especially'' in the third season, but is not expected to be promoted until the fourth.

** Creator/ArthurDarvill plays TheLeader of the EnsembleCast and the character who kick-started the series. Does he get top billing? Nope. He's billed third behind Creator/VictorGarber (who plays the TeamDad) and Creator/BrandonRouth (who plays the resident GadgeteerGenius) respectively. [[spoiler: Once Darvill's character starts CommutingOnABus beginning the second season, the leadership role was given to the character played by ''fourth'' (third if Darvill's absent) billed Creator/CaityLotz.]]

** ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' and ''Series/{{Eastwick}}'' list the regulars in alphabetical order (which is why some episodes of the latter carry the credit "starring ashley benson" and others "starring jon bernthal" (the typeface for the credits is all lowercase), although this makes an exception of Paul Gross, who always has "[[AndStarring And]]" status), and only list regulars if they actually appear in an episode in original (i.e. not stock) footage. (That said, Creator/SantiagoCabrera did get credited for an episode where he only appeared in stock footage.)

* TV.com's cast list for ''Series/TheNoddyShop'' shows Teryl Rothery and Harry Andersen first before listing the show's actual stars. These two are not main characters, but rather minor roles: Harry Andersen played the CharacterOfTheDay Jack Fable, while Teryl Rothery played Mrs. Skittles in the ''Series/NoddysToylandAdventures'' segments. This was likely done because these actors happen to be more well-known than the rest of the cast.