AKA
08-13-2003, 08:22 PM
Not Everybody Loves "Raymond"
by Lia Haberman
E! Online
Have cast members lost that lovin' feeling for Ray Barone?
Production on the eighth season of Everybody Loves Raymond started Monday with two actors MIA from the first table read.
Patricia Heaton called in sick, according to CBS, while Brad Garrett stayed away because his character, Robert Barone, isn't scheduled to appear in the season's first episode.
But the situation is a lot stickier than it seems.
Sources say Garrett issued an ultimatum to the Eye network a few weeks ago, demanding a salary hike before he returned to work. The move came on the heels of his Emmy nomination and comments from CBS head honcho Les Moonves about a possible Robert Barone spinoff series.
CBS, in turn, has temporarily written Garrett's character--whose wedding was the focus of last season's final epiosde--out of the series.
The thesp, who's under contract through 2004, pulls in between $150,000 and $200,000 per episode, less than any of the other regular cast members.
It's unknown how much of an increase Garrett is looking for but it's expected to be a significant boost--onscreen sibling Ray Romano recently inked a deal that will pay him $50 million for the upcoming season.
In a statement, Garrett's representatives said, "CBS elected to make a one-year deal with Ray Romano making him the highest-paid sitcom actor ever. Ray deserves every penny, plus the profits he will earn. At the same time, despite our repeated attempts to dicuss Brad's salary over the past seven months, CBS has refused to talk to us.
"Brad earns less than 10 percent of Ray's salary and is the lowest paid member of a grossly underpaid supporting cast," the statement continues. "All Brad wants is compensation commensurate with what other similarly situated actors have made in the past and are making today."
As such, Garrett has retained show-biz attorney Michael Gendler, who's negotiated Tinseltown deals for the likes of David E. Kelley and Rob Marshall, to go to bat for him.
In response, the network and producers reportedly decided against including Garrett in the September 22 premiere to avoid costly delays. Garrett's camp say he won't rejoin the dysfunctional family sitcom until he settles his salary spat.
"Brad Garrett is an enormously talented actor whom we hold in the highest regard," CBS said in a statement. "It's unfortunate that he is not honoring his contract." A network source also says Garrett's contract has been renegotiated two times in the past four years.
No immediate word on whether CBS will file a breach-of-contract suit against the actor, who won an Emmy last year for his supporting work on Raymond and is nominated again this year.
Due to the absences, CBS has pushed the table read back to Wednesday and rescheduled shooting to begin Friday, a day later than originally anticipated.
It's not known if Heaton, who was also MIA Tuesday, will be back at work by the end of the week, but both her reps and CBS insist she is really ill. While Mrs. Barone isn't looking for a raise, she and costars Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle have a vested interest in seeing the series extended for a ninth season--something Romano and producer Phil Rosenthal have hinted against.
Unlike Romano and Garrett who are only under contract for the upcoming season, Heaton, Roberts and Doyle are all signed through 2006, with hefty pay hikes for that ninth season. Since they stand to lose a lot of money if the show doesn't return, the thesps are expected to pressure CBS for some sort of guarantee that they'd be compensated if a ninth season is nixed.
by Lia Haberman
E! Online
Have cast members lost that lovin' feeling for Ray Barone?
Production on the eighth season of Everybody Loves Raymond started Monday with two actors MIA from the first table read.
Patricia Heaton called in sick, according to CBS, while Brad Garrett stayed away because his character, Robert Barone, isn't scheduled to appear in the season's first episode.
But the situation is a lot stickier than it seems.
Sources say Garrett issued an ultimatum to the Eye network a few weeks ago, demanding a salary hike before he returned to work. The move came on the heels of his Emmy nomination and comments from CBS head honcho Les Moonves about a possible Robert Barone spinoff series.
CBS, in turn, has temporarily written Garrett's character--whose wedding was the focus of last season's final epiosde--out of the series.
The thesp, who's under contract through 2004, pulls in between $150,000 and $200,000 per episode, less than any of the other regular cast members.
It's unknown how much of an increase Garrett is looking for but it's expected to be a significant boost--onscreen sibling Ray Romano recently inked a deal that will pay him $50 million for the upcoming season.
In a statement, Garrett's representatives said, "CBS elected to make a one-year deal with Ray Romano making him the highest-paid sitcom actor ever. Ray deserves every penny, plus the profits he will earn. At the same time, despite our repeated attempts to dicuss Brad's salary over the past seven months, CBS has refused to talk to us.
"Brad earns less than 10 percent of Ray's salary and is the lowest paid member of a grossly underpaid supporting cast," the statement continues. "All Brad wants is compensation commensurate with what other similarly situated actors have made in the past and are making today."
As such, Garrett has retained show-biz attorney Michael Gendler, who's negotiated Tinseltown deals for the likes of David E. Kelley and Rob Marshall, to go to bat for him.
In response, the network and producers reportedly decided against including Garrett in the September 22 premiere to avoid costly delays. Garrett's camp say he won't rejoin the dysfunctional family sitcom until he settles his salary spat.
"Brad Garrett is an enormously talented actor whom we hold in the highest regard," CBS said in a statement. "It's unfortunate that he is not honoring his contract." A network source also says Garrett's contract has been renegotiated two times in the past four years.
No immediate word on whether CBS will file a breach-of-contract suit against the actor, who won an Emmy last year for his supporting work on Raymond and is nominated again this year.
Due to the absences, CBS has pushed the table read back to Wednesday and rescheduled shooting to begin Friday, a day later than originally anticipated.
It's not known if Heaton, who was also MIA Tuesday, will be back at work by the end of the week, but both her reps and CBS insist she is really ill. While Mrs. Barone isn't looking for a raise, she and costars Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle have a vested interest in seeing the series extended for a ninth season--something Romano and producer Phil Rosenthal have hinted against.
Unlike Romano and Garrett who are only under contract for the upcoming season, Heaton, Roberts and Doyle are all signed through 2006, with hefty pay hikes for that ninth season. Since they stand to lose a lot of money if the show doesn't return, the thesps are expected to pressure CBS for some sort of guarantee that they'd be compensated if a ninth season is nixed.