houstonmacbro Posted April 7, 2007 Share Posted April 7, 2007 I've always wondered what minor stars make on residuals of once very popular tv shows such as: Friends, Seifeld, The Jeffersons, All in the Family, etc.Do the major and minor stars make 'bank' or do they get a few hundred bucks each time an episode is aired? What are the ballpark averages (or guesses)?Reason being, I just saw David Faustino in a McDonalds commmercial and just wondered why he would stoop to that commercial (not that 'Married With Children' was Emmy worthy either). I see lots of stars doing things like that.Do they NEED to work? Or do they just want to remain relevant when no other work is still coming their way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJones Posted April 7, 2007 Share Posted April 7, 2007 I've always wondered what minor stars make on residuals of once very popular tv shows such as: Friends, Seifeld, The Jeffersons, All in the Family, etc.Do the major and minor stars make 'bank' or do they get a few hundred bucks each time an episode is aired? What are the ballpark averages (or guesses)?Reason being, I just saw David Faustino in a McDonalds commmercial and just wondered why he would stoop to that commercial (not that 'Married With Children' was Emmy worthy either). I see lots of stars doing things like that.Do they NEED to work? Or do they just want to remain relevant when no other work is still coming their way?You have answered your own question about actors needing and getting work. As far as residuals, once a show goes to syndication, I believe they get a few dollars everytime the show airs, commercials work the same way, they get like $.85 everytime the commercial airs. My friend Spike, who you can see on a few "Fingers" commercials explained it to me once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonmacbro Posted April 7, 2007 Author Share Posted April 7, 2007 You have answered your own question about actors needing and getting work. As far as residuals, once a show goes to syndication, I believe they get a few dollars everytime the show airs, commercials work the same way, they get like $.85 everytime the commercial airs. My friend Spike, who you can see on a few "Fingers" commercials explained it to me once.I'd sure hope that I'd get more than eight-five cents and episode if I spent 10 years as a star on Married With Children and now my show is on syndication on TV Land (or wherever) 3 times a day all over the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted April 7, 2007 Share Posted April 7, 2007 To a large extent it depends on how good their agent/lawyer was in negotiating their contract.But broadly speaking, most actors get at least a little "something" when things air in re-runs. As shows get older and less popular and are aired on more and more marginal outlets with less frequency the checks get smaller.I won't speculate about how much people get in modern times. Again, I think it has a lot to do with their contract. But as recently as the 1990's, part of my mother's job when she was at RKO General (formerly RKO Radio Pictures) was to send checks a couple of times a year to people involved in King Kong when it would air on a TV station here or there around the country. I don't know how much the checks were for, but I suspect not much more than walking around money.The same is true for the music business, but on a smaller scale. Some composers get a check every six months from some clearinghouse or rights agency for a dollar or two because they wrote a song 30 years ago that still occasionally sees airplay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonmacbro Posted April 7, 2007 Author Share Posted April 7, 2007 No wonder many stars opt to go into movies with a guaranteed upfront in the millions. Unless you are on a stellar television show (like a Friends where they all banned together and demanded $100,000 each per episode) you really better be saving your money while the show is on the air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJones Posted April 7, 2007 Share Posted April 7, 2007 I'd sure hope that I'd get more than eight-five cents and episode if I spent 10 years as a star on Married With Children and now my show is on syndication on TV Land (or wherever) 3 times a day all over the world.Well, try crunching the numbers a little bit. If they show the Fingers commercial say 100 times in a month, that is $85 extra in your pocket. I am sure you get a few dollars for a syndicated show. Now figure 2 times a day on 30 different TV markets in the U.S. alone 30 days a month, then figure Global and in many different languages just once a day. It adds up pretty fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonmacbro Posted April 7, 2007 Author Share Posted April 7, 2007 Someone on another thread I asked this question of sent me this document. Pretty interesting pay rates and structures.http://www.sag.org/sagWebApp/Content/Publi...eatrical-tv.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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