why is it in tv show intros when they list the cast the last person listed always says the character too?

After a cursory search I found a wiki that describes this; apparently, it’s a carryover from film credits, known as last billing:

”...An actor may receive “last billing”, which usually designates a smaller role played by a famous name. They are usually credited after the rest of the lead cast, prefixed with “and” (or also “with” if there is more than one, as Samuel L. Jackson was in the latter two Star Wars prequels). In some cases, the name is followed by “as” and then the name of the character…”

The wiki link goes into depth about all of the credits and is really quite interesting btw

thank you for putting to rest that long unanswered question of mine.