Do you guys ever get the feeling that Chandler and those guys
just don't get that we don't make as much money as they do?
[MUSIC PLAYING]
This is Friends, and it's arguably,
one of the most popular sitcoms of all time.
Audiences would tune in week after week
to watch the antics of Chandler and Joey,
the eccentric behaviors of Phoebe,
the ambitious career undertakings of Monica,
and the "Will they, won't they?" relationship
drama between Ross and Rachel.
This all nearly came to a screeching halt
when contract negotiations became increasingly hostile
during the show's later seasons.
Some of the cast came dangerously
close to losing their roles on the show and Friends
as a whole was nearly canceled entirely.
It's like they're always saying, "Let's go here."
"Let's go there."
Like we can afford to go here and there.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Before we get started, don't forget
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if you haven't done so already.
Friends was seemingly, an overnight success.
If you grew up in the '90s, you're
well aware that it's legitimately
difficult to remember a time when this show did not exist.
Welcome to the real world!
It sucks.
You're going to love it.
[LAUGHING]
The pilot episode aired on September 22, 1994
to a crowd of about 20 million viewers.
And those numbers remained consistent
until the show's final episode, which
aired 10 years later in 2004 to a crowd of over 50
million people.
The success of Friends can really
be chalked up to the inimitable chemistry
in the way the performers interact with one another.
And chemistry can be an extremely powerful bargaining
chip when it comes time to get new contracts signed.
I guess, I just never think of money as an issue.
That's because you have it.
That's a good point.
[LAUGHING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
For the first season of Friends, each cast member
was paid a modest $22,500 per episode.
This seems like a fairly reasonable price
for a cast of relatively unknown performers
venturing into the proverbial dice roll that is a television
show's first season.
This started to take some turns toward the inequitable
in the show's second season.
By the start of season two, it was well
established that David Schwimmer's Ross and Jennifer
Aniston's Rachel were going to be the primary focal point
of the show.
The leads, if you will.
This led to the two of them getting
a significantly larger pay bump than the rest of the cast.
How about we'll each-- we'll each just pay for what we had,
OK?
It's no big deal.
For you.
[LAUGHING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Schwimmer and Aniston were each paid
$40,000 for their performances in Friends' second season.
Also included in this pay rate was
Courteney Cox who had a Fonzie deal built
into her contract, which basically
stated that nobody on the show could make more than her.
Hey.
[LAUGHING]
However, the rest of the cast's salary
remained stagnant at the previous rate.
We don't have as much money as you.
OK?
I hear you.
We can talk about that.
Well, then, let's.
Due to the popularity of Friends and the frenzied obsession
over the relationship between Ross and Rachel,
movie offers began pouring in for both Jennifer Aniston
and David Schwimmer.
Their respective agents thought that by Ross and Rachel
emerging as the leads of the show,
it made sense that they should be asking
for more money in order to remain on the show
and not pursue these other opportunities.
According to statements made by both Jennifer Aniston
and Courteney Cox, this didn't feel
fair to the rest of the cast.
We all felt 100%, we're all doing the exact same amount
of work.
We all felt that way.
It was actually David Schwimmer who
developed the idea for the cast to band together
to negotiate their new salaries in an equitable manner.
This is known as collective bargaining, which
can be defined as negotiation of wages
and other conditions of employment
by an organized body of employees.
The idea being that a stronger negotiation
could be made together rather than on an individual basis.
The agreement made with the network
was that every member of the principal cast
would be paid $75,000 per episode
regardless of story importance or screen time
as Friends entered its third season.
We just have to really, really, really not let stuff
like this about money get, like--
is that a hickey?
[LAUGHING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The cast also discovered that their negotiations
could be strengthened by beginning them
toward the tail end of the season.
Waiting until that time meant that writers would be operating
under the intense pressure of having to scrap together
a lackluster ending to the series
should negotiations go sour.
And there was no way NBC was going to break their audience's
trust in that way.
They felt that since they were doing
all the same amount of work, they should all
be getting paid the same.
Courteney Cox has stated in interviews
that literally, the entire cast felt that way.
And not one of them would budge.
I thought it was the most important thing,
as we all did, that we all were equal in every single way.
There were no men, no women, no leads,
no supporting performers.
Just six people who wanted six equal salaries.
By the time negotiations for the fourth season rolled around,
things began to get a little ugly between the studio
and the cast.
The cast was demanding $100,000 per person per episode,
and the studio was attempting to put their foot down.
The cast had two things going for them at the time.
One was that they had all banded together
so they were negotiating as a united front.
Two, as a sort of ethically gray tactic,
the cast began speaking about contract negotiations
in the press, which put public opinion on the line, as well.
This didn't really sit well with the studio executives
and lawyers who were sitting in the room at the time.
NBC's vice president of Business Affairs
labeled the negotiation as "completely insane."
He was using the restroom in a restaurant when
he got a phone call that the contract negotiations were
starting at 10:00 PM.
This is a hardball negotiation tactic
that borders on psychological warfare.
Starting negotiations so late means
that people get tired and frustrated
and are more likely to bend just to get things over with.
The negotiations didn't end until 3:00 AM.
And after that, the studio had two promos made.
One for a season finale and one for a series finale.
The studio was weighing the option of whether or not
to cancel the entire show.
However, numbers don't lie.
And despite the underlying frustrations
of contract negotiations, there was still
a lot of money to be made by keeping Friends running.
How much do you think I can get for my kidney?
[LAUGHING]
From that point on, the cast was able to effectively
negotiate increasingly lucrative salaries every time
the conversation came up.
And then came the massive paydays.
The cast was paid $750,000 per episode for seasons seven
and eight and a walloping sum of $1 million per episode
for the show's ninth and tenth season.
On top of all that, Schwimmer's decision to bargain as a unit
also led to an extremely lucrative deal for royalties
through syndication, which to this day
nets each member of the cast about $20 million
per year for work they did over a decade ago.
There would be a conversation to be
had about knowing your worth.
However, Matt LeBlanc sees the situation
in a little different light.
"If you're in a position in any job,
no matter what the job is-- if you're driving a milk truck
or installing TVs or an upholsterer for a couch--
if you're in a position to get a raise and you don't get it,
you're stupid."
Tongue in cheek comments aside, the sentiment holds true.
When opportunity presents itself to a group of performers,
they should, by all means, leap at the opportunity
to put themselves in the most financially
advantageous position possible.
After all, it's called show business, not show Friends.
Look, I don't know what to say.
I'm sorry that we make more money than you,
but we're not going to feel guilty about it.
We work really hard for it.
Oh.
And you feel like we hold you back.
Yes.
[GASP]
No.
[LAUGHING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Negotiations can be a tricky thing,
especially when you put millions and millions of dollars
on the line.
David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston's pay
was separating them from that of their co-stars.
And instead of taking the "screw you, I've got mine"
approach to working together, Schwimmer
opted to bring the cast together and negotiate
as a cohesive unit.
In Matthew Perry's new memoir, he jokingly writes--
"David had certainly been in a position to go for the most
money, and he didn't.
But his decision served to make us take care of each other.
I owe you about $30 million, David."
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The result was the cast getting compensated exorbitantly
and Friends persevered for nearly a decade.
So in the end, everyone won.
And that's it for this one, folks.
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