so $6 million for a 24 episode season, a grand total of $144 million?
I somehow think they'd have to fire all of the backstage hands from all their other shows too if they wanted economise and possibly the backstage hands from all their rival production companies too
This sounds a tad smelly to me. Mad About You gave their leads a million per episode each in the last year, but:
There were only two of them
Paul Raiser was a producer of the show.
Helen Hunt had just won an Oscar.
I don't think even the Seinfeld cast (aside from Jerry) got that much per show in their last year.
I think the Mirror is supposed to be a sensationalist rag, isn't it? (It's been years since I was in the UK.)
I have always been an advocate of this cast getting comparable wages to the casts of other successful shows; having them match the salaries of the Frasier cast does not seem far-fetched. They were underpaid for quite some time. One million each an episode? No, I'm sorry, even I agree that they aren't each worth that much. They just don't have enough scenes, and lately, half the cast has been woefully underused or misused on a regular basis. Their big award winner, Lisa, is not important enough to the plots to command that high a sum, and if she doesn't get it, the others certainly should not.
If I were on the production staff, I might suggest these measures:
Give each actor just enough to have them tie for the highest salaried *supporting* cast members on TV. My guess is that they would tie with David Hyde Pierce of Frasier, but I could be wrong.
Give a little extra to Lisa. She has an Emmy.
TOW the Last Night was one of the best episodes of the season. Offer David more money if he directs a couple of episodes next year. This might encourage the two holdouts to play ball a little longer.
Listen to Lisa Kudrow, for crying out loud, and let these characters grow a bit.
RESOLVE THE ROSS AND RACHEL STORYLINE!!!!!!!!!!
Ask Kauffman and Crane to write five episodes this year, pretty please with sugar on top, cmon, let's end this baby right for a change.
True, but their ratings were definetely not at the same level as Friends'.
I agree, a million might be asking too much for the quality of the show now a days. I think they should instead invest money on better writers. No matter what, though, none of them should get more than any of the others, it's an ensemble.
I don't think that would be fair. It's not their fault they don't get recognized, I think along the course of the first five years (no comment on this one), all of them have had their moments worthy of recognition. And I know many agree in here that Matt is the consistent funny one.
I don't agree with paying Lisa more, but if David directs, sure, why not.
As i've said before, if the writers don't listen to the fans, at least listen to the cast itself!!!
Sigh..
All great suggestions Claire. Now how many do you think have even the slightest possibility of coming true?
Adriana Ross: I don't know if anything is ever going to happen with us again, ever, but I don't want to know that it never could. So I stopped it, and she got mad and broke my projector. -TOW Chandler Can't Cry