Do Re Mi

Some interesting lists in Variety telling us how much top-line entertainers make on TV.

To go over some of the highlights:

The top per episode fee in a drama is $775,000 for Robert De Niro in an upcoming project for Amazon.  Not surprising, since he's such a big name (and in recent years quite mercenary), so luring him into a series would take serious cash.  Even if people don't watch, or the show isn't good, people will take notice.

The next highest is Mark Harmon on NCIS, at $525,000  I've never watched an episode, but this is to be expected--the star of a long-running, top-rated title.

The next biggest are the five main leads of Game Of Thrones (Dany, Jaime, Tyrion, Cersei, Jon) at $500,000.  It makes sense, in that they're the mainstay of maybe the world's biggest hit.  Still, they only do ten episodes a year, or less for seasons seven and eight. (And yet, in some episodes, they barely appear.) Don't know what the rest of the gigantic cast receive, though those who have been around since the start must be doing okay.  Still, if they compare themselves to movie stars (and GOT people hope to have movie careers) it's probably less money per day of work.

Kevin Costner also makes half a million per episode for his upcoming project.  Movie stars don't come cheap.  And Kevin Spacey makes as much for House Of Cards--a fairly big name in a long-running show.

And so on down the list (though The Walking Dead isn't included--I wonder how much they make.  In that case, except for lead Andrew Lincoln, they can kill off any character which would keep salary demands down.) Claire Danes and Ellen Pompeo at 450 (gonna drop the dollar sign and the last three digits), Anthony Hopkins and James Spader at 300, Elisabeth Moss at 200, Bob Odenkirk at 150, Jonathan Banks at 100.

Then we get to stars on a new hit. This Is Us, the biggest thing of last year, features Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia at 85, Sterling K. Brown at 75, and Justin Hartley and Chrissy Metz at 40.  I don't know how long their contracts are for, but the show will probably last and they will renegotiate for significantly more.

Comedy is ruled by The Big Bang Theory, the biggest hit comedy, and the longest-running.  Its five leads now all get 900 per episode.  And note this is for a full season, not six or ten or thirteen episodes.  Actually, the five were getting a cool million each week, but agreed to take 100 less so their costars Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch could make 500.

A bit below, but still doing well, are the adult leads of Modern Family, the other long-running huge comedy hit.  There are six of them and they all get half a million per episode.

In between is major movie star Dwayne Johnson getting 650 for Ballers.  It's a bit of a drop to Jeffrey Tambor in Transparent at 275.  The show has done reasonably well, and Tambor is a TV veteran who's won an Emmy for his role.

After that, there are some interesting comebacks.  Roseanne Barr and John Goodman are both getting 250 for the Roseanne revival.  I'm sure when the show originally aired, Roseanne got a lot more money.  But since then, she's done little in show biz while Goodman has become everyone's favorite character actor.  And the four leads are getting the same 250 in the Will & Grace revival.

Who else makes 250?  TV veterans Patricia Heaton and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.  They've both been starring in their shows (The Middle and Veep) for quite a while, Louis-Dreyfus has won numerous Emmys, while The Middle, on a broadcast network, probably gets considerably more viewers. (With so many platforms it's harder to count viewers than it used to be.)

Meanwhile, old TV stars returning to network TV, Kevin James and Matt LeBlanc (who also stars for an unknown sum on Showtime's Episodes) make 200.  If they can have long runs, they may get close to what they used to make.

And TV stars trying something new--Craig Robinson, Adam Scott and Sela Ward--are making 125.

But the big money is in hosting a reality, news or game show.  Of course, you're doing four or five new shows a week all year 'round, so it makes sense.  And if it's syndicated and you own a piece, the sky's the limit. Thus, Ellen DeGeneres makes 50 million a year.  Judge Judy 47 million.  Those are two stars who have proven themselves over the years.  A big drop, but still a nice neighborhood, is 25 million for Matt Lauer, as well as Katy Perry on American Idol.

Kelly Ripa gets 22 million, which I can understand. Megyn Kelly gets 18 million, and I'm sure the bidding war helped.

On late night, the big three are Jimmy Fallon at 16 million and Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel at 15 million.  Fallon wins easily in the demos, so I'm a bit surprised he isn't paid more (relatively speaking).  Maybe Lorne Michaels controls the salaries at NBC.

Some other numbers: George Stephanopoulos at 15 million.  There's a lot of money in politics, I guess.  Anderson Cooper gets 12 million.  David Letterman just promised to do six shows for Netlifx, I think, and he's getting 12 million.  They must have money to spare.

Poor Conan O'Brien, only 12 million for his talk show.  Three big names who have agreed to host game shows are each getting 3 million for the season--Alec Baldwin, Jamie Foxx and (in disguise) Mike Myers.

Of course, these are the gross amounts.  The government gets about half and various agents, managers, etc. can be getting 20%.  Though these people might also get more income in other ways--for instance, living expenses, or relatives on the payroll.  And some may own a piece of their show.  In any case, no one is worried about them making ends meet.  It's the guest stars who are living hand to mouth.