If you're watching television these days and waiting for a show's closing credits to find out who played whom, forget it. With Ted Turner's cable channels leading the way, networks have started splitting the screens and shrinking the end credits down to a typeface even smaller than the stock quotations. Going to the theater isn't much better.
Most people regard the end titles as a signal to run for the lobby.
But they are missing the fun. Some of these encores are simple. Some are more elaborate. After the credits to Steven Spielberg's 1985 Young Sherlock Holmes comes a scene at an Alpine inn, revealing that the movie's villain was the great detective's future nemesis, Professor Moriarty. Those little bits are nice, but you also can learn a few things by reading the credits.