I was just on The West Wing group and someone posted the following article. Note the reference to friends and that it's only FIVE actors... And, there is no self correction by mentioning Lisa Kudrow.... Weird, hey???
Purrrz,
Sue --- NY POST...PAGE 6
A JOB action by four money-hungry cast members has thrown the third season of "The West Wing" into doubt. John Spencer, Allison Janney, Richard Schiff and Bradley Whitford, who all play White House aides, were no-shows on Monday when NBC's hit drama was scheduled to start production.
Series stars Martin Sheen, who plays President Josiah "Jed" Bartlett, and Rob Lowe, his speechwriter, were on the set Monday morning with supporting cast members Janel Moloney and Dule Hill and 50 crew members. But they were all told to go home and "take the rest of the week off," while the producers try to renegotiate contracts.
Insiders say the quartet had hired a lawyer and vowed not to work until they get more money. But the actors are under contract and face firing if they don't show up to shoot the first episode next week. The four, who earn about $100,000 per episode each, "want something like $50,000 more an episode," said an insider.
"They are pulling a ‘Friends' act - they think if they act as one, they can get more money, but it could backfire," the source said.
David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox Arquette, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry threatened to quit top-ranked "Friends" last year until the producers raised their pay to $750,000 an episode. The big difference is that "Friends" is an ensemble show with five equal stars, while "West Wing" highlights Sheen and Lowe. The others are in smaller roles.
"They are only supporting actors and they are contractually obliged to show up," our source said. "They broke the contract and if they break it again, Warner Bros. could very well fire them."
The Warner spin in Army Archerd's column in Variety yesterday was that Spencer and Schiff had "legit outings in New York and at Vassar." But they had been notified weeks ago that their first day of work was on Monday.
"Warner Bros. is telling everyone the delay has nothing to do with the actors," said our source.
"The West Wing" has been plagued by a variety of problems this year. Sheen threatened to quit when the show's creator/writer Aaron Sorkin was arrested for drug possession, and another writer, Laurence O'Donnell, left the series.
Meanwhile, other writers have complained that co-producer and lead writer John Wells didn't give them credit for the Emmy Award the show won last year.
Wells' spokesman denied there was any threat the striking actors would be fired.