I was wondering why they had the and Nancy McKeon as Jo credit with her stage name listed. They did the same thing with Tom Bosley on Happy Days. I believe this started around season 5. I had previously thought they did this when Andy and George were added but it was actually earlier. Was this done to emphasize more importance of her charachter. Kind of interesting how in season 1 all the girls had their charachter names listed as well.

Usually the "and...so and so as so and so" credit in shows is often given either to a popular cast member or the the most well known cast member. Like for instance with Tom Bosley. I think it's usually thought to be a spot of prestige.

With opening credits, more often than not it's really a matter of what is negotiated in the actors contracts. That is something that comes up quite often and you'd be surprised how often actors make a big stink over credit placement. Not saying that's the case here, but in general.

In FOL's case, Nancy was always the last credit which originally was just a factor of her coming in after the other girls. My guess is since she already had the end credit by default, at some point her agent or management when renegotiating her contract slipped that negotiation in for the "as Jo" credit. Maybe this was part of the deal of her infamous contract renegotiation that kept her out of a few episodes.

The producers probably didn't much argue since it didn't change placement and it is generally acknowledged that Nancy was the most popular or well known of the girls at the time. She got the most fanmail, appeared regularly in the teen mags, did other projects, etc.

Another thing that probably helped her cause is that there is this "Q Rating" thing whichs ranks tv actors based on how the public likes them/likability factor. I don't really know how it is determined or what goes into it, but for some reason Nancy appeared regularly at the top of these lists in the 1980's only behind the likes of the Cosby and Tom Selleck themselves, which was seen as a pretty big deal at the time.

So yeah, it was more likely something negotiated between her management and the producers.

Suffice to say, whatever the reason for the screen credit suddenly appearing as "Nancy Mckeon as Jo," it certainly didn't happen by accident. Nothing happens by accident in Hollywood!

I wonder if, timeline-wise, the revised screen credit coincided with Nancy's holding out for more money in 1984. I suspect there is a connection there, somewhere.

I wonder if, timeline-wise, the revised screen credit coincided with Nancy's holding out for more money in 1984. I suspect there is a connection there, somewhere.

That's what I think too. It's probably not something that anybody would have had a seperate negotiation over. It would have been done when they were doing a new contract negotiation.

And like I said, considering it didn't effect their placement in the slightest, I doubt the producers cared much.

Interesting...