25 Million here,25 Million there,and pretty soon you are talking about real money!

[sneakypete]

Just read a piece about the old sit-com Tool Time. Seems after years on the air the producers thought there were big bucks to be made in another season,so they offered Tim Taylor 50 MILLION bucks to play the tool time guy for one more season,and the woman who played the role of his wife was offered "only" 25 million dollars for just ONE more season,which in reality is only a couple of months of work.

She was offended at only being offered half of what the star was offered,so she refused. The article implied Tim refused also in an effort to get her 50 million also. The final season never happened,and he lost 50 MILLION dollars for a few months of work,and she lost 25 MILLION dollars for a few months of work.

I don't know about you,but I don't EVER want to hear either of them whining about starving children in the 3rd World,and how we should all contribute money to feed them.

Just how detached from reality to you have to be to get insulted and quit a job because you are "ONLY" offered 25 million bucks for a few months of play-acting?

[Applewood]

@sneakypete

You're talking about "Home Improvement," right?   I suppose that Tim Allen, who played Tim Taylor, would have been paid more than his co-star, Patricia Richardson, because Allen was far more involved in the show than just lead actor.  Allen was a standup comedian and the show was based on elements of his act.  I can't say for certain, but Allen may have contributed something to the show's writing.  Plus he may have had a better agent who knew how to strike the best possible deal for his client, whereas Richardson did not.

I wasn't a huge fan of the show, but I did watch it from time to time and some episodes were rather good.    I have yet to see Allen's latest show, Last Man Standing.

By the way, Tim Allen is a Republican, so I doubt he's going to be one of those whiny celebrities pretending to care about the supposed downtrodden.

[GtHawk]

Who could have stomached one more year of Home Improvement? As the show morphed/evolved into a social engineering platform it left me behind seasons before it ended.

[sneakypete]

@sneakypete

You're talking about "Home Improvement," right?   I suppose that Tim Allen, who played Tim Taylor, would have been paid more than his co-star, Patricia Richardson, because Allen was far more involved in the show than just lead actor.  Allen was a standup comedian and the show was based on elements of his act.  I can't say for certain, but Allen may have contributed something to the show's writing.  Plus he may have had a better agent who knew how to strike the best possible deal for his client, whereas Richardson did not.

I wasn't a huge fan of the show, but I did watch it from time to time and some episodes were rather good.    I have yet to see Allen's latest show, Last Man Standing.

By the way, Tim Allen is a Republican, so I doubt he's going to be one of those whiny celebrities pretending to care about the supposed downtrodden.

@Applewood

The article I read claimed he developed the show,helped write it,and promoted it.

IMHO,while supporting your cast mates is a good thing to do in general,what kind of fool passes up 50 MILLION for one more season of doing what he has been doing for years,just because the dingbat he worked with thought she was being discriminated against for "only" being offered 25 MILLION for one season of doing nothing more than parroting lines other people wrote for her,and setting up Tim for the jokes?

Keep in mind that the actual work involved in creating a season of sit com episodes is most likely less than 6 months.

I seriously doubt Tim earned 50 million in all 8 seasons he had already worked it,or that she had earned 25 million for the entire 7 seasons she worked. They are both fools for turning that down. It was practically a gift,and I am betting neither one has earned that much money in all the years since the show has gone off the air.

BTW,I didn't really watch tv back then. I might have seen a half-dozen of their episodes over the entire run,and that was when visiting someone that happened to be watching it. What I saw wasn't bad,but it damn sure wasn't anything I would go out of my way to view.

[Applewood]

@sneakypete

I thought you might be interested in this since it's sorta related:

Disney Avoids Trial by Settling Long-Running 'Home Improvement' Profits Lawsuit

Disney has struck a settlement with the creators of Home Improvement to put an end to a six-year-old lawsuit that resulted in a consequential appellate ruling and was within weeks of going to trial.

Back in 2013, Wind Dancer Production Group and writer-producers Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra, Tam O'Shanter and David McFadzean filed suit with the allegation that they had been cheated from a show starring Tim Allen that had generated $1.5 billion for Disney. The creative team targeted syndication money and alleged that Disney had charged massive distribution fees as well as sold the hit comedy into the New York market for no money, undercutting the pot of net profits, upon which they asserted a 75 percent stake.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/disney-avoids-trial-by-settling-long-running-home-improvement-profits-lawsuit-1226571

[sneakypete]

@sneakypete

I thought you might be interested in this since it's sorta related:

Disney Avoids Trial by Settling Long-Running 'Home Improvement' Profits Lawsuit

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/disney-avoids-trial-by-settling-long-running-home-improvement-profits-lawsuit-1226571

@Applewood

Interesting! I had never even considered the money the stars get for re-runs. I guess if you are lucky enough to be a co-star on some tv show that lasts a couple of years,you can retire if you want to.

Thanks!

[Applewood]

@sneakypete

There is a lot more than salary available, particularly if a show or a movie is a major hit.  For a number of  Disney productions, there are all revenues from merchandising.  For example, Disney just remade The Lion King.  I expect along with it, there are Lion T shits, stuffed Lions and other memorabilia. Disney makes a tidy sum from licensing the Lion likeness to manufacturers of these products and possibly gets a goodly share of the sales revenue for these products.  Then there are various foreign distribution  deals for the movie and eventually, DVDs and streaming deals with Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.  And these are just the revenue streams I can think of off the top of my head.  There are probably many more.

As to the salaries, I've come to the conclusion  that most performers and athletes think they are worth far more than they are and that's why they demand such huge salaries.  And when they don't get the money they want, they walk.  Walking away from a successful tv show is a huge risk.  For some actors, the strategy works and they end up more successful.  But for others, it fails miserably and some end up flipping burgers at McDonalds. 

Maybe you remember a show called NYPD Blue.  One of the stars, David Caruso, walked away after only the first season or two because he thought he was worth more than he was paid.  When he left the show, Caruso said he was going to become a movie star.  Well, he did make a couple of flicks that didn't do so well and had some supporting roles in  a few successful films, but he did not make it as a movie star,.   He finally starred in CSI Miami, which ran for several seasons.  But I don't think his hissy fit over his salary on Hill Street Blues worked out as well as he thought it would.

In any event I don't get all excited when some star, who thinks his [expletive] doesn't stink, walks away from a lucrative salary on a tv show.  I think the vast majority are overpaid and underworked, but if they want to throw a temper tantrum and walk away from a more than decent salary, it's their decision and good luck with that.  If the strategy fails miserably and he ends up out of work, don't look at me to contribute to his GoFundMe page.  I have myself to take care of.

[sneakypete]

@sneakypete

 
In any event I don't get all excited when some star, who thinks his [expletive] doesn't stink, walks away from a lucrative salary on a tv show.  I think the vast majority are overpaid and underworked, but if they want to throw a temper tantrum and walk away from a more than decent salary, it's their decision and good luck with that.  If the strategy fails miserably and he ends up out of work, don't look at me to contribute to his GoFundMe page.  I have myself to take care of.

@Applewood

I think you misunderstand me. I don't care if you are Bill Gates,25 million or 50 million is STILL a lot of money. Especially when you consider it is for just a few months of doing the work you want to do anyhow.

Even if you don't need the money,you could work for a few months and give that money to your favorite charities to help them,as well as reduce your tax liability.

After all,it's now like you would be getting paid minimum wage to break rocks in the sun with a sledgehammer.

[goatprairie]

@sneakypete

There is a lot more than salary available, particularly if a show or a movie is a major hit.  For a number of  Disney productions, there are all revenues from merchandising.  For example, Disney just remade The Lion King.  I expect along with it, there are Lion T shits, stuffed Lions and other memorabilia. Disney makes a tidy sum from licensing the Lion likeness to manufacturers of these products and possibly gets a goodly share of the sales revenue for these products.  Then there are various foreign distribution  deals for the movie and eventually, DVDs and streaming deals with Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.  And these are just the revenue streams I can think of off the top of my head.  There are probably many more.

As to the salaries, I've come to the conclusion  that most performers and athletes think they are worth far more than they are and that's why they demand such huge salaries.  And when they don't get the money they want, they walk.  Walking away from a successful tv show is a huge risk.  For some actors, the strategy works and they end up more successful.  But for others, it fails miserably and some end up flipping burgers at McDonalds. 

Maybe you remember a show called NYPD Blue.  One of the stars, David Caruso, walked away after only the first season or two because he thought he was worth more than he was paid.  When he left the show, Caruso said he was going to become a movie star.  Well, he did make a couple of flicks that didn't do so well and had some supporting roles in  a few successful films, but he did not make it as a movie star,.   He finally starred in CSI Miami, which ran for several seasons.  But I don't think his hissy fit over his salary on Hill Street Blues worked out as well as he thought it would.

In any event I don't get all excited when some star, who thinks his [expletive] doesn't stink, walks away from a lucrative salary on a tv show.  I think the vast majority are overpaid and underworked, but if they want to throw a temper tantrum and walk away from a more than decent salary, it's their decision and good luck with that.  If the strategy fails miserably and he ends up out of work, don't look at me to contribute to his GoFundMe page.  I have myself to take care of.

Wasn't Caruso's signature move on CSI taking off his sunglasses and putting them on again? I seem to remember him doing that a number of times in the few episodes of his show that I watched.  He appeared to be just a little too self-conscious an actor.

[Applewood]

Wasn't Caruso's signature move on CSI taking off his sunglasses and putting them on again? I seem to remember him doing that a number of times in the few episodes of his show that I watched.  He appeared to be just a little too self-conscious an actor.

Wasn't  much of a fan of CSI-Miami, so I didn't see it often. But if I remember right -- Caruso's character did the thing with the sunglasses at the beginning of each episode.  The glasses would come off while Caruso was looking over the crime scene, then he would put them back on just as the show's theme (Won't Get Fooled Again by the Who) would start and the introductory credits would roll.

I don't know about Caruso being self-conscious.  I just think he might not have been as good an actor as he thought he was.  Too bad because before NYPD Blue, he had a recurring role on another cop show, Hill Street Blues.  I thought back then, even if Caruso wasn't that good of an actor, he was kinda cute.  Now it looks like age hasn't been too kind to him, so he doesn't even have that cuteness factor anymore.