Streaming has completely trashed one of my favorite parts of watching movies

It’s no secret that every streaming service wants you to spend as much time as possible either watching something or searching for something to watch. There is more than enough content on Netflix alone to keep eager consumers busy for a lifetime; it’s not all going to be good, but there is plenty that can occupy all your free time. That’s why Netflix and others keep churning out things to watch. They want you to just keep watching forever.

Netflix and Disney+ and every single other top streamer want viewers to keep scrolling and streaming; and in the case of Amazon, also buying and renting things as well. While that effort comes with some convenient features, such as a setting that automatically plays the next show or some sort of Watch List, it also means some concerning issues. In order to get you watching something as soon as possible after whatever you have on wraps on, streamers have endeavored a frustrating and mildly offensive ploy: skipping credits.

Credits showcase work and satisfy curiosity

There is still entertainment to be enjoyed

Firstly, credits represent a lot of people’s hard work, and really shouldn’t be so easily disregarded. There’s also a fair amount of compelling information held within, and there are more than a few viewers who are interested in seeing names, characters, music, and filming locations of a given show or movie. Most streaming services will throw credits into a small box on the screen and continue to play the end of the title while it suggests to you something else to watch right away on a much bigger portion of the screen.

All credits matter, but there are plenty that are creative and engaging in their own right, with music and artwork that makes staying around until the very end just as worthwhile as everything that came before. That still doesn’t seem to be enough for every service to stick around and just let the credit roll; even if it’s not white text scrolling on a black background, streamers are eager to get you on to the next title, artistry and creativity be damned.

The ability to skip the opening title credits is also egregious; there is a lot of effort that goes into creating a compelling sequences that set the tone of a show. Game of Thrones championed this and many other dramas followed suit. These should not be passed over.

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Credits allow a chance to react

Let the story sink in and take time to process

There are plenty of movies and shows that pack a punch when they end. Whether it’s a prestige drama or a chilling horror, some writers and directors make you feel a lot of feel right at the very end. Whether it’s a stunning reveal or a simple line, there are shocking endings all over the place. So when the screen fades to black and the credits and music start playing, I don’t want to be distracted by a giant banner for some big-budget, inane action movie that Prime or Netflix just added to its catalog. I also don’t want to hurriedly grab the remote to prevent a trailer from starting to play. I want to sit with what I’ve seen and end the remnants of the story.

Pushing another title so quickly is an affront to viewers who are engrossed in what they’re watching and who want to actually process what has just happened (it’s also a gross insult to the creatives of the story). Thinking over the end of a story is part of the viewing process for many, and I shouldn’t have to be taken out of that moment because Prime wants me to just keep watching a new show; I certainly shouldn’t have to make an effort to click out of the ad and back to what I just watched. Just please let me sit in my own thoughts for at least a minute.

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Some services are worse than others

Amazon Prime is eager to move on

Some streamers are more egregious than others in this regard. Amazon Prime, perhaps the most money-hungry, soul-sucking, algorithm-pushing of all the streamers, is so desperate to keep you glued to its screen that it will start playing a new title shortly after the credits start rolling. If you have just finished a movie or a series, it will start playing something completely unrelated and random just so it can get something on the screen. Disney+, meanwhile, will let you skip the credits of a Marvel movie in order to get to the post-credits scene, instead of having to sit and exercise just a bit of patience.

Canadian streamers will know that Crave (the Canadian home for Max content) is particularly awful too. It’s so eager to get you to watch something else that it will throw what you’re watching in that small credits box even before the credits start playing. It’s happened on more than one occasion that it thinks a title is over before it’s actually over, and the last few seconds of what you’re watching will end up in a small box in the corner as it suggests to you something else to watch.

Netflix is annoying in its own way. It wants you to tell you what it thinks about what you saw while also considering other titles (also unrelated). And if you don’t act quickly enough, it will act for you.

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Combating aggressive streamers

Search settings for assistance

Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot that can be done to stop these intense pushes. While most services have some options in their settings menu that let you adjust what happens when a title ends, you really can’t control how quickly a streamer will start pushing what to what next. Some may allow you to stop automatically playing a trailer, or disable the continue watching feature. You’ll want to check the settings of each app on your TV as well as your web browser, as some options are only available via your computer. Still, you’ll be hard-pressed to find the ability to simply let credits be.

Short of complaining to the streaming services about their cold disregard for letting you watch the entirety of a movie or show, your best bet is to have your remote on hand. Be ready to click back on the credits or to stop another title or preview from playing. And do everything you can to prevent the streamer from gathering data, promoting new content, or automatically playing trailers or videos at any point. Make sure they know you are at least exercising what little control is afforded to you.

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