Non-Alphabetical Opening Credits?

[KayLloyd]

How do you think the cast would have been placed if the opening credits if they were not in alphabetical order? My placement orderfor years 83-87 :

• Larry Hagman
• Patrick Duffy
• Linda Gray
• Victoria Principal
• Ken Kercheval
• Steve Kanaly
• Susan Howard
• Charlene Tilton
• Howard Keel
• Priscilla Presley
• And Barbara Bel Geddes (Donna Reed) as Miss El

But the spin-off issue probably impacted the decision. And the billing issues probably would have been worked out by Lorimar (as opposed to Jacobs).

And it worked out well for DALLAS (and the fact that the senior cast members, BBG and Jim Davis, came first alphabetically, was a nice fortuitous element). So they used it for KNOTS.

Also, DALLAS was about, primarily, a nuclear family. Eldest first just sits better. KNOTS was about a community, and familial status didn't seem to matter.

And, obviously, it keeps the agents at bay. Over on Lorimar-less DYNASTY, Catherine Oxenberg's reps were asking for all sorts of nutsy stuff which wasn't realistic, leading to her expulsion in 1986.

Could be, but regardless of the reason, they made the right call to do alphabetical credits on both Dallas and KL.