all this salary stuff...

[Mcfly]

I've been having to defend the cast all over the internet because of this 1 million a week thing. I tell them look, just cuz you're rich, doesn't mean you're greedy. The cast is living a certain lifestyle, and in order to maintain it, they're going to need a lot of $$$. They've had the oppurtunity to be put there, by paying their dues as actors, and then on this show, as their salaries gradually increased. I don't fault them for wanting more, that's where their lives are economically now, so they're trying to maintain that kind of living. We do the same thing, we try and maintain our lifestyle, except on a much lower paycheck.

Then there's the longrun issue. The cast has to know that this is it for their careers. None of them have hit it big in film, so this will be the big $$ they make in their lives. And they're gonna need big paychecks now to support this extravegant living the rest of their lives. Unless they want to be limited to failed sitcoms, washed up guest appearances, or playing somebody's mom or day on a hit show years from now.

[cas]

I actually don't agree with what you say. They don't need that kind of money to keep up with their lifestyles, they were doing fine before.

I don't even think they asked for the one million this time. I understand that the last time they all got raises they had asked for them and they took a lot of heat for that. But who wouldn't ask for the money, they were bringing it in so they should have it. But this time, I think they were all ready to leave but were OFFERED the money to stay, I'd say yes too.

I don't think they took the money in order to keep up with a certain lifestyle. No one NEEDS that kind of money to live, but anyone who it was offered to would certainly take it.

I also wouldn't say that this is the last thing we will see these actors in. They are all young and I am looking forward to seeing them all in more movies, shows, whatever they want to do in the future.

[Mcfly]

Yeah, no one needs that kind of money, but when you live a life full of million dollar homes, $100,000 dollar sports cars, $10,000 trips to France, you need that kind of money to maintain it. That's the level they are at, trying to keep up that life of spoiled riches.

I'm trying to keep up with a car payment, insurance, AOL, pay back a loan from my mom, etc. So I wanna keep making the kind of money that I am, and want even more. That's where the Friends are, except in a higher realm and pricier things.

[TJL]

You could spend all day discussing whether the cast of "Friends" deserves this kind of money.
Does Harrison Ford or Arnold Shwarzenegger deserve 20 million a picture? Do some baseball players deserve 100 million dollar contracts?

Look at it this way, when the show was in it's infancy, and really began to take off, the cast was making about a tenth of what they earn now, while the network was raking in the advertising and merchandising money.
The studio and creators who own the show made a killing when the show went into syndication all over the world.
NBS still makes about a half a million dollars per 30 second commercial during a "Friends" episode, and with the show going into it's last season, will make even more.
All of these folks have gotten rich because of six talented people that the world tunes in to watch every week, and they will continue to get rich as the show runs on forever in syndication.
Why shouldn't the cast of "Friends" share in the wealth?
Frankly, it looks like these guys will never work in TV again, because they will forever be typecast, and none of their fledgling movie careers show any signs of taking off.
Think of the money they're making next season as their retirement plan.
A very comfortable retirement plan.

[SitcomChick]

I like Friends, especially the early seasons, but I think the cast are being paid far too much. Yes, the Friends cast are good at what they do, but demanding that much money is just being greedy. If anyone deserves to be paid that much, it's the people who truly deserve it, like doctors, teachers, fire fighters, police officers, etc. Not a bunch of actors who earn more than enough already.

[Central Perk]

They don't need 1 million an episode but they were offered it and since it was so much money thats why they probably are doing they show. A lot of people don't even make 100,000 dollars a year. I've heard that the cast isn't enthusiastic with the fans either.

[winkwilliams]

The cast members are worth every penny they get. I love how the salaries of the cast are publicized but the profit margins of the show are not.
Here are the facts:

NBC charges $500,000-$600,000 per 30 second ad for each first run episode. That's, kaching, a minimum of $8,000,000 in ad revenue for each first run episode. At a licening fee of $1-2 million per episode for seasons 1-6, that leaves them with at least a $6,000,000 haul per first run episode. NBC's profit per year: $144,000,000. Plus, they get a rerun for each episode. (two now.)

WB then licenses the show as follows:

Foreign distribution-Did you know that the show is a smash in Canada, Australia, The United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Japan and lots of other places? Kaching, they are hauling in around $2-3 million for each episode here. More than the production cost of each episode. (seasons 1-6)

Video/DVD-Several episodes are on video here in the United States and overseas. I bet the haul is minimal, somewhere around $250,000 per episode.

Licensing-T-Shirts, mugs, pencils, board games, electronic games, cd's, etc... Often licensing of a hit show generates a huge bundle. Sometimes it is more than any other source.

Syndication-This is the big payday for the distributor and producers and this is one of the biggest hauls in the history of syndication. The attractive demos and shortage of hits allowed them to fetch an initial licensing fee of $4,000,000 for each episode when it was launched a mere year after being on the air. It continues to air in syndication and concurrently now on TBS where they paid, kaching, about $1,000,000 per.

So lets add it up:

NBC: $7,000,000 profit per episode (1st run and rerun)
International: $2,000,000
DVD/Video: $250,000
Syndication+cable: $5,000,000
Licensing: $2,000,000

$16,2500,000 revenue generated per episode

Production cost $2,000,000 (seasons 1-6)

$6,000,000 (seasons 7+8)

$8,000,000 (season 9)


Are they worth $1,000,000 per episode? You bet they are or they wouldn't be getting it.

Why are the actors salaries publicized and not the network profit or producers gross? They make a lot more than any actor. The actors get it because: 1) they are the public faces of the show and the press loves to condemn those "spoiled brats." (Kara at K-Mart shakes her head in disgust as she checks out customers for $5.50 an hour.) 2) Who runs the media? Let's see, Warner Brothers is an AOL-Time Warner company and not about to say, put "Time-Warner-AOL makes $100,000,0000 a year on Friends" in People or on the AOL log in page. Instead it will have, "Actors on Friends demand a million per." It also helps them to keep the pressure on the actors. The public turns easily against "greedy" stars. (think Suzanne Somers)

Oh, what did NBC offer Jerry Seinfeld (and then leaked it to the press,) for a tenth season? $5,000,000, which he turned down. They wouldn't have offered it if they didn't think he was worth it.

So if you are Carl for Clevelend and work for a living, these salaries may look outragous. But compared to the revenue and profits generated, the actors total haul is minimal.


*Most of the revenue totals are guestimates. The syndication sales totals were publicized by Warner Brothers, via the trades, when they launched the show in 1995 and NBC's ad revenue is well know as all the ad agencies publicly know the going rate.


Oh, and what do the actors owe fans? A good performance and nothing else. This idea that they "owe me" because you like them (made them?) is B.S. These are not bronze statues but human beings who are going to have all the various emotions and behaviors. Some, like Tom Cruise, tend to be incredibly patient and kind to fans. Others, less so. Remember that fan derives from the word fanatic.

Hoping to get a series to syndication deal someday.

http://winkwilliams.blogspot.com/

[flagler]

The cast does deserve the money, Friends is NBC's saving grace once Seinfeld finished it basically set its whole network around that show, Friends makes NBC Millions of dollers a week, why shouldn't the cast get in on it. Besides NBC and Warner seem more then happy with the deal, which means the cast probably could have gotten more money.

It's like the taxes, the government doesn't bust your door down in an effort to make sure the money you deserve gets to you, neither do tv networks, would you like it if your company could give you a pay rise and didn't because they felt you didn't need the money and decided to keep it for themselves for no good reason, these networks aren't exactly in the poor house.

Let's face it if the actors that we see on the show didn't get the parts it wouldn't be the same and the show may never have been a hit, NBC should thank there lucky stars they signed on again giving NBC another year to carve out a hit show to replace Friends when they finish.

[Superbatboy]

Friends does basically save NBC. When Friends leaves the air, they'll probably have to put Frasier in it's place, just like they did when Seinfeld went off the air.

[Central Perk]

Friends does basically save NBC. When Friends leaves the air, they'll probably have to put Frasier in it's place, just like they did when Seinfeld went off the air.

Yeah probably but Frasier is not in the top 20 anymore so I dunno.....

[TJL]

I don't think they'll move "Frasier" to Thursday. The show has been doing very well where it is. NBC better develop some new programming to replace "Friends" or else their Thursday night dominance will be over...