Being a TV star is a pretty sweet gig. Ok, that’s probably a pretty obvious statement. But beyond
all the money you make from each episode of your show, and beyond all the perks of being famous,
there’s the serious bank you can make from royalties. Hit shows
that end up in syndication can be a major windfall for the stars featured in them,
sometimes even more than they made in their original acting work. In this video,
we’re taking a look at the residual deals of some of the top names in TV. So stick around,
as Facts Verse presents: Today He's Living Off Reruns, the Number Will Shock You!
Jon Cryer – Two and A Half Men Two and a Half Men was a behemoth
of a sitcom that ran for 12 seasons. For most of those, it featured the trio of Jon Cryer,
Charlie Sheen, and Angus T. Jones. And as the show got more and more popular, the stars were
able to renegotiate their salaries to include some major bumps. While the amount that Jon Cryer made
per episode varied throughout the run, at the highest point he was raking in $620,000
per episode. That’s some serious dough! Eventually, Charlie Sheen left the show,
but it was able to keep running with Ashton Kutcher taking over as the co-lead. Eventually,
the show came to a close after 12 seasons. But these stars didn’t have to get another job to keep
earning money from acting. They were all getting serious money with the show in syndication. It’s
said that Jon Cryer, for example, gets a portion of the rerun money, up to $20 million. That’s not
too shabby a paycheck for work you already did years ago, and were already paid handsomely for.
Charlie Sheen – Two and A Half Men Charlie Sheen, Cryer’s costar for much
of the series, had a slightly different path to his rerun money, though he ended up with a huge
score. As many of us remember, Sheen had a very public breakdown in 2011. He was dealing with
issues of alcohol and drug abuse and was blasting the people who made the show, among other very odd
behavior. As a result, he was fired from Two and a Half Men. Despite this wild situation,
Sheen was still entitled to his share of royalties when the show was sent into syndication. He chose
a slightly different route, opting to sell his rights to the royalties. He netted $27 million
for that sale, which is another sweet payday for work he already did, especially considering
how much he badmouthed the people in charge of getting him all that money in the first place!
The Simpsons Cast The Simpsons is perhaps the most
enduring show ever on television, as it is airing its 34th season as of 2023. And its cast of voice
actors has made oodles of money over the years, as the show gained and then retained its popularity.
Originally, the main cast was raking in $30K per episode. Which is already an incredible score,
considering they only have to work a few hours every week. That number was bumped up to $50K
at one point, then $100K for the 13th and 14th seasons. It was followed by a bump to $125K for
season 15. A few seasons later, they got bumped up to between the $250 and $360K mark. Though at
that point, FOX decided that each season would have one fewer episode, so that offset some of
the bumps up. But they weren’t done. At one point they each demanded $500K per episode,
but that was negotiated down to $440K. Later on, they were told that their salary demands made it
less likely that the show would continue. So they all agreed to a slight pay cut,
back down to $300K per episode. All in all, these voice actors are rich beyond
their wildest dreams. And while they’ve made a lot more in salaries, they also negotiated
a $10 million payout for reruns too. It’s potentially the best job in Hollywood!
The Friends Cast The salaries for
the cast of the beloved sitcom, Friends, was a highly publicized topic while the show was on
the air. They all began at a measly $22,500 per episode rate. That number was slowly negotiated
up as the show became more of a hit, and as the cast members became more and more
famous. They were all equally essential to the show, and NBC knew it. So when the cast came
in with demands of $1 million per episode for the final two seasons, the network knew they
had to shell out the cash. They all made a cool million for all of those season 9 and
10 episodes. But that certainly wasn’t the end of it. Each cast member reportedly earns $20
million EVERY YEAR on reruns of Friends. This isn’t super surprising, considering
how popular it remains, and how often it’s been shown on various networks in the last 20 years.
Tim Allen – Home Improvement Tim Allen was a struggling comedian
when he was cast in Home Improvement. He’d had a rough go for the years prior, even serving jail
time when he got busted for selling cocaine. But his fortunes changed completely when he landed the
role of Tim Taylor. The show was actually based in part on his stand up comedy, so it was fair to
say the role was never going to anyone else. But he and his stellar cast helped make it a monster
hit for years. Over the course of 8 seasons, Home Improvement consistently had high ratings,
and they paid the cast accordingly. On top of his large salary – he was said to have been
bumped up to $1.25 million towards the end of the run – he has reportedly earned a nice $18 million
on rerun royalties from the show. And when you add that to the success of his other projects,
like Toy Story and Last Man Standing, Allen is sitting on more money than
he’d ever need. Certainly enough that he’ll never again have to resort to selling drugs!
Mayim Bialik -The Big Bang Theory Mayim Bialik’s career is nothing short
of amazing, having starred in multiple hit TV shows. First, she broke out as Blossom in the
show “Blossom.” It made her a star, along with costar Joey Lawrence, and it ran for 5 seasons.
No doubt by the end of it, she was making a hefty chunk of change per episode. And often,
when someone is the lead on a show that ends, they try, unsuccessfully to find another project that
will bring them back into the spotlight. But Mayim managed to join onto one of the biggest sitcoms of
all time: The Big Bang Theory. And that’s when she started raking in the Big (bang) bucks. Despite
not being one of the leads of the show, Mayim was an integral part of it, and she ended up earning
$200K per episode. This actually was partially the result of other cast members agreeing to
take a pay cut, so that Mayim’s salary could get bumped up. Since Big Bang Theory ended, she’s gone
on to do incredible things such as get a PhD in neuroscience, as well as become one of the hosts
of Jeopardy. And she takes in a nice chunk of change from Big Bang Theory reruns too, earning
approximately $10 million a year in royalties. Now that’s how you make a bank account blossom.
Bob Denver - Gilligan’s Island Gilligan’s Island star Bob Denver
might not be the first person you think of when it comes to raking in the royalties. And yet,
his work on that show paid HUGE dividends in the years after it aired. It’s also
wild when you consider the fact that the show wasn’t a particularly huge hit when it was on
the air. It finished up in 1967 after only three seasons. And yet, when it went into syndication,
it took off. It became a hit show and a touchstone of American pop culture. While
Bob wasn’t making the big bucks while the show was on the air, the intense popularity of it in
the years since ended up making him a ton of money in royalties. Bob passed away in 2005,
but until then, he reportedly made $100 million dollars in the 50 years after the show stopped
its original run. His estate still receives his royalty check from it, so whoever was the
beneficiary of his estate is certainly making a lot of cash for Bob’s work from the 1960s.
Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David – Seinfeld Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David set out to
create a project for NBC that Jerry would star in, based on Jerry’s stand up routine,
and not much else. They were able to get it made, and the show was nearly canceled in the first
season due to low ratings. Thankfully for all of us, the brass at NBC decided to give it a second
chance. And it took off like few shows ever have. Jerry started off around $20K an episode,
which was certainly more than he was making at nightclubs, doing stand-up. So he was probably
psyched. Of course, nowadays he probably won’t get out of bed for $20K. As the show started
to take off, he was able to renegotiate his salary up and up. He soon hit the $100K mark,
then the $300 and $400K mark per episode, until he finally landed on $1 million per episode in the
final season. It’s not known what Larry David was originally making per episode with the original
run, but we do know about the whopping deals he’s made since. In 1998, the show was sold
for syndication and he netter $250 million for the rights. It has since been sold a couple more
times – once to Hulu, and recently to Netflix – and those have netted Larry $155 million more.
Jerry and Larry still make a ton of money from royalties every year as well. It’s
reported that they each make a staggering $110 million every year from Seinfeld reruns alone.
Now it’s time to hear from you. Were any of these
numbers surprising to you? Let us know in the comments section below!