To which income class do various or sitcom characters belong? How much do they earn?

[george ho]

I read the Vulture article about how much money characters made and how their salaries would be made today.

Link: https://www.vulture.com/2018/01/famo...e-in-2018.html

I've been thinking about which classes do characters belong to. For starters, I think that the Ricardos from I Love Lucy would be either a lower-middle class or a working class. Unsure whether to consider them a blue-collar class. Probably not; Ricky is the band leader, while Lucy is a housewife. The Mertzes, former vaudevillians, are landlords, earning profits from rents. That would make them lower-middle class.

Bewitched's character Darren works for an advertising agency, and the beloved witch Samantha is a housewife. He makes a lot of money, and they can afford a nice house and one daughter. That would make them middle or upper-middle class.

Income of taxi drivers from Taxi would make them working-class, but must not forget that one or a few characters have also their own second occupations. One is an actor, for example. A mechanic (eccentric perhaps?) would belong to the working-class or blue-collar class.

Bartenders and waitress from Cheers wouldn't make much money then and now, so they belong to blue-collar class. Postal carriers would earn wages as part of living; blue-collar it is. How can semi-unemployed accountants earn a living without finding a decent job? And how much do house painters and interior decorators earn, especially without finding enough clients?

Radio personalities from Frasier would belong to either middle-class or upper middle class, depending on how they live. Psychologists would also belong to either class, depending on how they charge their clients.

Elderly women from The Golden Girls aren't retired; they still work. Dorothy is a high school teacher... I don't know or remember much about what other characters do. I know that Rose is either a receptionist or a therapist... maybe I'm wrong. Did anyone forget that Dorothy's mom Sophia works as a hospital volunteer... or a nurse or something? Can't exactly remember what Blanche does; if she did nothing, then how can she afford the mortgage of the house?

Characters from Friends have various jobs, though their early jobs haven't earn them much as later jobs. Rachel worked as a waitress but then becomes an assistant buyer. Ross worked for a museum but then becomes a university professor (maybe a bad one?). Monica was an early assistant cooker but then becomes a waitress but then becomes a head chef. Joey has been an actor... and lived with Chandler, then a female roommate (to me almost forgettable name, unfortunately), and then Rachel. Chandler worked to analyze numbers but then works for an advertising agency (maybe?) because he specializes in advertising.

(EDIT)
Almost forgot. Joey is more of a middle or lower-middle class because his acting career hasn't be stable. I forgot Phoebe... well, she works as a coffeehouse singer and a masseuse in early one place and then a van (maybe?), so that would make her middle or lower middle class. Well, she inherited an apartment from her late grandmother, yet she had Rachel (and then Denise, who exists... or doesn't exist?) as her roommate. But then how else can she afford the apartment? Monica and Ross belong to middle or upper-middle class; so does Chandler. Maybe I'm not exactly accurate.
(END EDIT)

Incomes don't have to be exact and don't need numbers, but please feel free to be approximate and to estimate.

[stevea]

Raymond Barone and family from Everybody Loves... are probably upper middle class.

Mike Heck from The Middle and family are probably lower middle class.

Charlie Harper and his scrimping, sponging chiropractor brother from Two and A Half Men are upper class. Charlie doesn't do much jingle writing but what he does pulls in big bucks, it seems.

George Baxter from Hazel, and Steve Douglas from My Three Sons--the first being a lawyer and the second being an aeronautical engineer--pull in big bucks and keep their families in upper class luxury (Steve a little more toward upper middle class, a bit higher in the California years.)

The Seinfeld gang seems to do well, despite certain people such as George and Cosmo, who seem not to do much, particularly Cosmo Kramer. George works very hard at doing very little. Elaine has a couple of good jobs, and Jerry's gigs seem to work out well. They all seem to have a comfortable middle class life. And somehow Kramer is able to keep that apartment!

From the 50s Jim Anderson and Ward Cleaver--Father Knows Best and Leave It To Beaver, respectively, keep their families in middle class happiness--Jim as an insurance salesman and Ward as some sort of marketing person, exact job unknown.

[Steve_uk]

Originally Posted by george ho

I read the Vulture article about how much money characters made and how their salaries would be made today.

Link: https://www.vulture.com/2018/01/famo...e-in-2018.html

I've been thinking about which classes do characters belong to. For starters, I think that the Ricardos from I Love Lucy would be either a lower-middle class or a working class. Unsure whether to consider them a blue-collar class. Probably not; Ricky is the band leader, while Lucy is a housewife. The Mertzes, former vaudevillians, are landlords, earning profits from rents. That would make them lower-middle class.

Bewitched's character Darren works for an advertising agency, and the beloved witch Samantha is a housewife. He makes a lot of money, and they can afford a nice house and one daughter. That would make them middle or upper-middle class.

Income of taxi drivers from Taxi would make them working-class, but must not forget that one or a few characters have also their own second occupations. One is an actor, for example. A mechanic (eccentric perhaps?) would belong to the working-class or blue-collar class.

Bartenders and waitress from Cheers wouldn't make much money then and now, so they belong to blue-collar class. Postal carriers would earn wages as part of living; blue-collar it is. How can semi-unemployed accountants earn a living without finding a decent job? And how much do house painters and interior decorators earn, especially without finding enough clients?

Radio personalities from Frasier would belong to either middle-class or upper middle class, depending on how they live. Psychologists would also belong to either class, depending on how they charge their clients.

Elderly women from The Golden Girls aren't retired; they still work. Dorothy is a high school teacher... I don't know or remember much about what other characters do. I know that Rose is either a receptionist or a therapist... maybe I'm wrong. Did anyone forget that Dorothy's mom Sophia works as a hospital volunteer... or a nurse or something? Can't exactly remember what Blanche does; if she did nothing, then how can she afford the mortgage of the house?

Characters from Friends have various jobs, though their early jobs haven't earn them much as later jobs. Rachel worked as a waitress but then becomes an assistant buyer. Ross worked for a museum but then becomes a university professor (maybe a bad one?). Monica was an early assistant cooker but then becomes a waitress but then becomes a head chef. Joey has been an actor... and lived with Chandler, then a female roommate (to me almost forgettable name, unfortunately), and then Rachel. Chandler worked to analyze numbers but then works for an advertising agency (maybe?) because he specializes in advertising.

(EDIT)
Almost forgot. Joey is more of a middle or lower-middle class because his acting career hasn't be stable. I forgot Phoebe... well, she works as a coffeehouse singer and a masseuse in early one place and then a van (maybe?), so that would make her middle or lower middle class. Well, she inherited an apartment from her late grandmother, yet she had Rachel (and then Denise, who exists... or doesn't exist?) as her roommate. But then how else can she afford the apartment? Monica and Ross belong to middle or upper-middle class; so does Chandler. Maybe I'm not exactly accurate.
(END EDIT)

Incomes don't have to be exact and don't need numbers, but please feel free to be approximate and to estimate.

Re: Golden Girls


Dorothy was a substitute teacher. Rose was a grief counsellor. Blanche worked in a museum.

[favoriteshow]

Originally Posted by george ho

Characters from Friends have various jobs, though their early jobs haven't earn them much as later jobs. Rachel worked as a waitress but then becomes an assistant buyer. Ross worked for a museum but then becomes a university professor (maybe a bad one?). Monica was an early assistant cooker but then becomes a waitress but then becomes a head chef. Joey has been an actor... and lived with Chandler, then a female roommate (to me almost forgettable name, unfortunately), and then Rachel. Chandler worked to analyze numbers but then works for an advertising agency (maybe?) because he specializes in advertising.

(EDIT)
Almost forgot. Joey is more of a middle or lower-middle class because his acting career hasn't be stable. I forgot Phoebe... well, she works as a coffeehouse singer and a masseuse in early one place and then a van (maybe?), so that would make her middle or lower middle class. Well, she inherited an apartment from her late grandmother, yet she had Rachel (and then Denise, who exists... or doesn't exist?) as her roommate. But then how else can she afford the apartment? Monica and Ross belong to middle or upper-middle class; so does Chandler. Maybe I'm not exactly accurate.
(END EDIT)

Incomes don't have to be exact and don't need numbers, but please feel free to be approximate and to estimate.

Friends was probably most unrealistic in that regards on where the friends lived to their jobs and likely incomes. I've heard some explanations that maybe they (Rachel and Monica particularly) were in a rent controlled place. But probably more unrealistic was when Rachel became a mom, how much of mom she wasn't really playing on the show. But hey, I still enjoyed the show.