History Main / CreditsPushback

* The guidelines for [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]] end credits have angered arch TV cynic Creator/CharlieBrooker, as they forbid any speech during the credits (basically the precious last 60 seconds of his show's slot) so continuity announcements or trailers may be run. In response, he [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrm2dj6bIU0 ran the end credits at the start of]] [[Series/{{Screenwipe}} his show]], replete with mock pushback scuppering any opportunity for actual credits pushback. He even went as far as to show the Zeppotron[=/=]Endemol logo, run a station ID, and link into a fake show where Victoria Coren discusses the history of wall corners, before [[HostileShowTakeover invading said piece about a minute later]] to rant about this trope (providing the page quote). When the episode was over, he just dumped his viewers directly back onto the channel when he finished talking at the ''real'' end. To promote the show, he often appears ranting in the background of the general [=BBC4=] channel ident. [[{{Postmodernism}} How odd]].

* At the end of Creator/DisneyXD's official Website/YouTube [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-UtUuT8AJjQ upload]] of the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'', the credits sequence gets minimized onto a background that features the channel's logo. This is where links to other videos would appear, but they can't because of COPPA.

* Creator/{{Fox}} is terrible for this.

* Creator/ComedyCentral has become a really bad offender in general, but they treat ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' particularly badly: Not only do they credit push each episode for the episode after, but the credits cover up the next episode's opening screen CouchGag.

** Comedy Central has long been an envelope-pusher on abusing end credits. Back in the heyday of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', they had Penn Jillette talking all over the stately Love Theme of the show's end credits. Fans revolted, and the network retaliated by spending a week or two (''every day'') superimposing an extra-long, extra-belligerent rant by Penn Jillette about how doing this will harm the network, and, by extension, said fans' favorite show.
* Creator/{{E}} and its former sister network Style don't even bother with credits at the end. Within the first minute of the show they're put on the bottom of the screen on every show in see-through mice type that blurs by at a ridiculous rate, and when the show ends, the E! logo just appears and swipes into the next show without a care in the world.
** Of course, if it involves what Giulliana Rancic wears during ''E! News'' and what shoes Ryan Seacrest wears to be visible on-camera, the company plug is shown quite clearly. Because they paid the money to get their credits visible; the caterer didn't.
** Also, on E!'s reality shows (as well as their reruns of ''Series/{{Supernanny}}''), if they have Vanity Plates, they are shown coming out of the last commercial break. The lone exception to this is ''The Girls Next Door'', which [[SmashCut (jarringly) cuts]] right to the plates at the end of the show, without credits.
* Creator/{{TBS}} is a horrible offender, during their late-afternoon block of syndicated programming. They won't even play a commercial. The show will end, you'll see exactly one frame of the credits (ie: Executive Producers - Alice and Bob), then the credits will be pushed back and the next show will begin immediately, alongside the credits. TBS's sibling, TNT, does the same thing with its off-network reruns. They tend to avert this whenever they show holiday specials like ''Elf Pets: Santa's Saint Bernards Save Christmas'' on the channel.

** Discovery Communications (and Fox's National Geographic Channel, which still reportedly does this unfortunately) even tried a few years back to kill credits entirely after a show's first airing, replacing it with a quick 'check the website for the credits' note. Way to pay respect to the creators... thankfully, the unions and the Television Academy behind the Emmys quickly killed Discovery's plans to do this.

* On the other hand, a good majority of other American digital broadcast networks (like Creator/MeTV and Creator/ThisTV) have received rounds of applause for openly [[DefiedTrope defying and eschewing this practice]], showing full-screen closing credits at the end of every show. "End credits at the end of the show... that's the way it's supposed to be!"

* Disappointingly, even Creator/{{PBS}} embraces this practice. With shows such as ''Series/{{NOVA}}'', they will squash the end credits so that they can also hawk products such as "an official video transcript of the show you just watched". In shows such as ''Series/{{Masterpiece}}'', the hosting segments with the likes of Alastair Cook are long gone. Now you just have squashed credits with bumpers with the same blurb (which amounts to no more than four words: "Next time on ''Masterpiece''") by spokespersons such as Creator/AlanCumming and more recently, Creator/DavidTennant. Given that they are still commercial free, however, we are subjected to those overly cinematic excessively glitzy "Be More PBS" idents that look like they cost more than the shows they broadcast. And they seem to be getting longer.
** This was also done with PBS Kids as well, during the ''Series/PBSKidsPreschoolBlock''. Thankfully, this was dropped in 2013 after PBS Kids merged the aforementioned block with PBS Kids Go! and did away with this practice. It then returned in 2016, where the credits were squeezed as a small animation discussing the educational theme of the show that was just broadcast featuring Dot and Dash plays. For example, a small animation that plays during the credits of ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' might talk about space or science. Like the Nick Jr example, this only happens on the block on PBS, since the Creator/PBSKids 24/7 channel keeps the credits for every single show intact. [[note]] except for ''WesternAnimation/CliffordTheBigRedDog'', where they squeeze them so they could make time for the library and website promos.[[/note]]

** The most absurd example of Credits Pushback may have been when Creator/{{NBC}} aired ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' for the first time and still had to squash it into 4 hours because of an insane amount of advertising. The stars and bigwigs still got their time...everyone else that worked on the massive epic got a nano-second as 250 screens of credits in 3 point Helvetica flashed by in 45 seconds on half the screen.

** The Creator/DisneyChannel has also been doing this with theatrical movies, plus ''[[Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody The Suite Life]] [[TheMovie Movie]]'', ''Film/LetItShine'', and recently, ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbTheMovieAcrossThe2ndDimension''. Thankfully, most of the other Original Movies are spared this; at least, [[BadExportForYou in you live in the States]]... Southeast Asia, for one, has it especially bad, since it's random; it varies per film featured.
*** Disney Channel US now does this trope randomly if they ''want to'', and out of nowhere, but they fully abuse it during a NoHoperRepeat. Example: to give way for the two-parter series finale of ''Series/AustinAndAlly'', they did this trope on an airing of ''Film/{{Descendants}}'', where before it didn't happen, and kept doing it whenever they use the movie as a NoHoperRepeat for anything else the channel would use against.

* Even worse than pushing back the credits: in the days when the networks showed credits on the side instead of the bottom of the screen, local stations would cut them off sometimes to get to the news faster. Some stations even made unnecessary modifications to the display, such as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7IgmtiPDOk KYW in Philadelphia]] (made odder by the fact that it is owned by [[Creator/{{CBS}} the network]]; you'd think they wouldn't allow it).
** Two more atrocious display examples, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZD9pecq2tE#t=37s both]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIA99EWpFWg from]] [[Creator/TheWB ex-WB]] stations.

*** Worst of all is when they ''edit'' the credits (as no trope exists specifically for this, it may as well be mentioned here). There are way too many examples to mention...
*** Coming in a very, ''very'', '''very''' close second: when cartoons made with individual credits for each episode are shown with one episode's credits stuck onto each one (two British examples: ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' screening on Creator/{{ITV}} with the credits for "Her Wacky Highness", and the Pop channels's airings of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' having the credits for "The Crystal Empire, Part 1" - and being shrunk to boot!).

* Cartoons on Creator/DisneyChannel and Creator/CartoonNetwork use TheStinger during the credits to get extra gags in, a practice that unfortunately screws the gags over big time. While Disney XD used to keep credits intact on their shows, now they usually only keep the credits intact during the initial airings of new shows or reruns of very old shows. Luckily, sometimes the credits slip by the editing or the promo isn't long enough to run for the entire credits.

** Cartoon Network is also doing this with ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow''. Since the show tends to pay homage to classic ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'', one of the characters takes their place behind the [=WB=] shield and waves to the audience as part of a closing CouchGag. Is Porky just saying "ThatsAllFolks" or making one last joke for the audience? You'll only find out if you get the [=DVDs=], digital downloads, streaming, on demand, because the network has drowned him out and shoved them to the side so they can get in yet another plug for ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' or ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', as if you're somehow unaware of those shows' existence.

** The day has finally come - as of October 18, 2021, Adult Swim has started using credits pushback. Thankfully, it's the split screen variant (which is identical to Cartoon Network) and is only used for FOX's shows. As of May 2023, it's now expanded to Adult Swim's originals (except for shows with post-credits scenes).

** Sadly, the same can be said for all new animated series airing on Disney Channel starting in 2018 - both Disney made and non-Disney made ones. ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'' is affected the most by this, due to having a great ending song that is only partially heard at the very end of the credits due to this trope.

** The Hub's airings of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' (and its sequel, listed below) not only use this trope excruciatingly, but also butcher the end credits so they run for the same amount of time as it normally would in the show [[note]]omitting Human Derpy as well[[/note]], and also replace the closing song "A Friend for Life" as well.

* Creator/{{Freeform}} (formerly ABC Family) is a huge offender when they air shows that aren't made for the channel. If your name's not ''[[Series/TheSecretLifeOfTheAmericanTeenager Secret Life]]'', ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars'', ''Series/MakeItOrBreakIt'', or any other ABC Family original show, all you'd get is a VanityPlate first, then this. It didn't take long for the trope to also apply to original programming as well.

* Creator/{{MTV}}'s getting into this "fad" as well. Not only that, the logos are replaced with copyright notices instead of the actual logos! Sometimes, they'll place the logos before the show's final act.
** MTV doesn't even bother doing the pushback in some areas--placing the adverts ''on top of the broadcast''.

* Particularly annoying with any show by Chuck Lorre. His post-1997 {{Vanity Plate}} is very unique, as they feature a long and funny ramble on it, differing per show episode. Credits pushback makes the small text illegible, even if a [=TiVo=] or similar is used to pause the footage long enough to read the plates. Thankfully, he and fans of his shows have archived his many essays online. Lorre has even released part of his essays in a special coffee-table book entitled ''What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us Bitter''.

** For a period around season 16, the producers started putting deleted scenes (or other miscellany such as animator David Silverman showing how to draw Bart) over the credits to avoid them getting cut.

** Another disconcerting version of this is used in the Creator/CartoonNetwork airings of some of the later ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' movies, which show the credits during an epilogue scene. Not only is the screen squished and the audio muted, but the credits are sped up for time, ''making the entire epilogue scene go in fast-forward.''

* Most anime aired on Western television have their credits pushed off to the side. In addition to this, and along with the earlier ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' movie example:

** The early English ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' episodes didn't have their own credits, but they at least featured the intro repeated alongside the end credits. Eventually, even the animation sequence was scrapped and there was just a black screen with credits. When the anime made the ChannelHop from Creator/CartoonNetwork to Creator/DisneyXD, [=TPCI=] began airing full endings similar to ''Anime/YokaiWatch'', except the said ending credit sequence gets booted off to the bottom like in the ''Star vs. the Forces Of Evil'' (example above).

** The day has finally come - as of October 18, 2021, Adult Swim has started using credits pushback. Thankfully, it's the split screen variant (which is identical to Cartoon Network) and is only used during 9pm-11pm.

** [[WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}} "You don't know what you're missing..." "..If you aren't in the kitchen!"]] Or if you live in the States or if you don't have Creator/{{Hulu}} or Creator/HBOMax, apparently.

* The guidelines for BBC end credits have angered arch TV cynic Creator/CharlieBrooker, as they forbid any speech during the credits (basically the precious last 60 seconds of his show's slot) so continuity announcements or trailers may be run. In response, he [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrm2dj6bIU0 ran the end credits at the start of]] [[Series/{{Screenwipe}} his show]], replete with mock pushback scuppering any opportunity for actual credits pushback. He even went as far as to show the Zeppotron[=/=]Endemol logo, run a station ID, and link into a fake show where Victoria Coren discusses the history of wall corners, before [[HostileShowTakeover invading said piece about a minute later]] to rant about this trope (providing the page quote). When the episode was over, he just dumped his viewers directly back onto the channel when he finished talking at the ''real'' end. To promote the show, he often appears ranting in the background of the general [[=BBC4=]] channel ident. [[{{Postmodernism}} How odd]].

** James May of ''Series/TopGear'' once put together a version of the show's end credits composed entirely of the notes of different cars' exhausts. They played this composition over the end credits... at which point the continuity announcer started his spiel with "[[LampshadeHanging Sorry to talk over that]], but right now on Creator/{{BBC}}1..." Oh, there were complaints.

* [=CBBC=] (at least when it aired on [=BBC=] One) almost always got its credits squashed - often into an area as small as 1/4 by 1/4 of the screen (seriously) - just so that the broadcasters could give an extra 20 seconds for the in-vision linking announcer to ramble on uselessly during. (When this first started, they used said time to air competitions for the audience. It continued on after the competitions were stopped during 2006) This got so bad at one point that even the children who watched these programs began to write in to complain about not being able to see the credits (which was rude to both the actors ''and'' the film crews, who never got their due credit). [=CBBC=]'s response to this? [[{{Irony}} They squeezed the credits of even more programs, so that the continuity announcer could read out the letters from the children who were complaining about the practice of credit squeezing.]] [[KickTheDog And then the announcer actually started mocking the kids for wanting to see the credits.]]

* When Creator/{{Teletoon}} airs movies, they usually show a few promos during the credits. Usually, the credits are unaltered. However, ''Film/NightAtTheMuseumBattleOfTheSmithsonian'' is an exception, since the scene that plays during the credits ends up with the sped-up visuals playing before the normal audio. It's also worth noting that, in early 2012, they aired "Cartoon Network [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPJVbDaBUOU sneak]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhI1tlIHVGg peeks]]" during movie credits.

* When Creator/{{Teletoon}} airs movies, they usually show a few promos during the credits. Usually, the credits are unaltered. However, ''Film/NightAtTheMuseumBattleOfTheSmithsonian'' is an exception, since the scene that plays during the credits ends up with the sped-up visuals playing before the normal audio.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheLifeAndTimesOfJuniperLee'' and ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' had a few stingers as well, but CN advertising of course ruined the last minute jokes.

*** YTV seems to do this to a lot of shows.. sometimes they'll not do it to a show until an ''episode with a new credits sequence or an over-credits plot element occurs'' and ''then'' push the credits back.

* When Creator/{{Teletoon}} airs movies, they usually show a few promos during the credits. Usually, the credits are unaltered. However, ''Film/NightAtTheMuseumBattleOfTheSmithsonian'' is an exeption, since the scene that plays during the credits ends up with the sped-up visuals playing before the normal audio.

** The ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "The Simpsons Guy" also aired with its credits intact. So did "Carny Knowledge", due to featuring images behind the credits. However, the premiere of the later episode still had a voiceover over the closing logos, which is what usually happens before the split-screen credits.

** When Adult Swim aired Adventure Time for a couple weeks in February 2019, it sadly suffered from credits pushback. You were excepting "Island Song" to play at the end, but nope, they have to show the credits as an episode is about to finish.

** The ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "The Simpsons Guy" also aired with its credits intact.

** ''Series/MediaWatch'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJHvuOTwKRg called them on this once,]] when the long CreditsGag of the Mick Molloy flick ''Crackerjack'' was pushed back in favor of very loud ''Australian Idol'' promos. They interviewed Molloy, who was understandably annoyed with the situation. He then pushed back the credits of ''Media Watch'', cheerfully pointing out that what he was doing was annoying, useless and disrespectful to the people working on the show.

** ''Series/DoctorWho'' is basically EXEMPT from this nowadays because of one big happening with a Graham Norton cartoon trailer over the end of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E4TheTimeOfAngels "The Time of Angels"]]. It was so bad that even Graham Norton [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded it]] on his [[TakeThatMe own show]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnpZS_54uoA See here]].

** An exception to this is ''Series/The700Club'' which still shows the standard full credits because the contract with Pat Robertson (who founded the network as CBN Cable) requires the program to be shown with absolutely no editing whatsoever.

* In Japan, programming will sometimes be squeezed into a smaller box so emergency news information can be broadcast in a similar manner to the squeezing that happens for credits promos. [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=mp03j3opK9c Here's an example]] from a rerun of ''Anime/HeidiGirlOfTheAlps''.

* If a movie that ends with TheStinger airs on commercial television, televised broadcasts of the film will usually air said stinger before the credits, or, in some cases, remove it entirely. [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=Fgltjn9WbM4 Here's an example]] from when ''WesternAnimation/TheRugratsMovie'' first aired on CBS.

** This was also done with PBS Kids as well, during the morning Miss Rosa and Hooper block. Thankfully, this was dropped in 2013 after PBS Kids merged the aforementioned block with PBS Kids Go! and did away with this practice. It then returned in 2016, where the credits were squeezed as a small animation discussing the educational theme of the show that was just broadcast featuring Dot and Dash plays. For example, a small animation that plays during the credits of ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' might talk about space or science. Like the Nick Jr example, this only happens on the block on PBS, since the Creator/PBSKids 24/7 channel keeps the credits for every single show intact. [[note]] except for ''WesternAnimation/CliffordTheBigRedDog'', where they squeeze them so they could make time for the library and website promos.[[/note]]

The ad shown on the rest of the screen is ''always'' a promo for the station or a particular program on the station, often with innuendo and double-entendre humor (i.e., never "stay tuned for (name of show)," sometimes with a mundane-by-comparison-but-still-perhaps-humorous plot that was common in the old days), and never for something that would actually give the station money. An interesting thing, however, is that on networks that do this, this is generally the ''only'' advertisement shown between one show and the next; once the pushed credits are over, the next show immediately starts, greatly reducing the amount of time a viewer isn't "attached" to a show and likely to turn the station. On those that don't do this, the very same advertisement appears a few seconds later. On some networks, the credits are pushed back for the start of the next program, to prevent channel switching (this is particularly common if the next program happens to be another episode of the program just ending). A variation of this happen if a channel happens to air movies (like FX, TNT or Freeform): the beginning of the next movie/TV show plays while the movie's end credits are pushed back.

Very popular in the late 1990s and most of the 2000s, it seems to have lessened recently with new programs, due to the fact that modern end-credits have been reduced to basically a VanityPlate, perhaps in response to this trend. Channels which mostly show repeats of older shows, however, have this in spades. It's vaguely rude to the creators of the show whose names are obscured, though in the Internet age if anyone is interested in finding out who the Second Assistant Director was or who played "Pretty Older Women" these days, the feeling is they can just look it up on Website/{{IMDb}}.

** The most absurd example of Credits Pushback may have been when Creator/{{NBC}} aired ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' for the first time and still had to squash it into 4 hours because of an insane amount of advertising. The stars and bigwigs still got their time...everyone else that worked on the massive epic got a nano-second as 250 screens of credits in 3 point Helvetica flashed by in 45 seconds on half the screen while the local news anchor teased the amazing things they found during their investigation of Uzbekistani Days down at the fairgrounds.

This is especially annoying if a show tends to do TheStinger during the CreditsRoll, and is squished so you can't see it. What, you have the vision and resolution necessary to get a good view anyway? Oh, screw you, we'll just make the original audio inaudible. I bet you miss that credits music now!

* When Creator/{{NBC}} began doing this in 1994, they used a strategy called "Promotainment". Rather than playing promos for upcoming shows, they showed trivia facts, interviews with the stars, and clips from classic NBC shows. This was dropped in favor of standard promos by 1996.

* [[Creator/{{GSN}} Game Show Network]] began squeezing the credits in 2000, squishing them to the point of illegibility. At first, they showed a brief promo before returning to the credits. Upon the switch to GSN in 2004, they began cutting off the rest of the credits and the {{Vanity Plate}}s on most shows, which continues to this day. Most of the time, this also nullifies the fee plugs read by TheAnnouncer (though those, strangely, are still closed-captioned). They were at least smart enough not to do this on ''Series/LetsMakeADeal'', because Monty Hall kept the show running during the credits. To GSN's credit, they didn't squeeze or in any way interrupt the credits of shows shown in the ''Black And White Overnite'' or ''Lovers Lounge'' programming blocks. At least at first. They did eventually start doing it, much to the chagrin of those maintaining the guide for the show at the site TV.com.

** Sadly, the same can be said for all new animated series airing on Disney Channel starting in 2018 - both Disney made and non-Disney made ones - NO EXCEPTIONS. ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'' is affected the most by this, due to having a great ending song that is only partially heard at the very end of the credits due to this trope.

* Creator/{{GSN}} does this very annoyingly, squishing them to the point of illegibility and even cutting off the {{Vanity Plate}}s on most shows. Most of the time, this also nullifies the fee plugs read by TheAnnouncer (though those, strangely, are still closed-captioned). They were at least smart enough not to do this on ''Series/LetsMakeADeal'', because Monty Hall kept the show running during the credits. To GSN's credit, they didn't squeeze or in any way interrupt the credits of shows shown in the ''Black And White Overnite'' or ''Lovers Lounge'' programming blocks. At least at first. They did eventually start doing it, much to the chagrin of those maintaining the guide for the show at the site TV.com.

** Comedy Central has long been an envelope-pusher on abusing end credits. Back in the heyday of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', they had Penn Jillette (whose annoying bellow was then unavoidable on the channel if watching for more than 15 minutes of any show) talking all over the stately Love Theme of the show's end credits (admittedly, even by then a widespread practice, but still loathsome). Fans revolted, and the network retaliated by spending a week or two (''every day'') superimposing an extra-long, extra-belligerent rant by Penn Jillette about how doing this will harm the network, and, by extension, said fans' favorite show.

* Creator/{{TBS}} is a horrible offender, during their late-afternoon block of syndicated programming. They won't even play a commercial. The show will end, you'll see exactly one frame of the credits (ie: Executive Producers - Alice and Bob), then the credits will be pushed back and the next show will begin immediately, alongside the credits. And half the time, it's the ''same freakin' show''!
** TBS's sibling, TNT, does the same thing with its off-network reruns.
** They tend to avert this whenever they show holiday specials like ''Elf Pets: Santa's Saint Bernards Save Christmas'' on the channel.