Friends Cast Members’ INSANE Paychecks Prove Just How Successful the Sitcom Was
September 22, 1994 is historic date for the entertainment industry – it was when the NBC sitcom Friends graced the television screens, spanning for 10 seasons and becoming an iconic hit that people talk about to this day.
There aren’t many shows that have enjoyed the same level of success as Friends has over the course of its decade-long run. There was something about the show that got the audience hooked and it left a hole in fans’ hearts after it aired its finale on May 6, 2004.
But you see, the show’s influence didn’t die when it wrapped up. On the contrary, it paved way for many more amazing sitcoms, bridging the gap between generations as fans of all ages unitedly demanded for a remake or a rerun – but more on that some other day.
Friends’ Legacy
To say that Friends was a highly successful television phenomenon is an understatement. It didn’t just prove to be one of the biggest shows ever, but the popularity of its stellar cast is a testament of how victorious it was as well.
After all, it catapulted its actors to stardom. Among the six, Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green) may arguably be the star who shone brightest. Other main cast members were Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay), Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani), Courteney Cox (Monica Geller), and David Schwimmer (Ross Geller).
While these actors were getting small gigs prior to their breakout roles in Friends, no one really knew the dynamic group until they became Friends.
There was no doubt that the actors were talented which is why they were given the roles immediately upon audition, as iconic director James Burrows recalls.
Even before they became household names, he took the six celebrities to Spago in Las Vegas for dinner, telling them that it was going to be the last time people didn’t recognize them.
Stars’ Earnings
Indeed, they became some of the biggest stars until today, some are even referred to by fans as their Friends character. Thinking about how mammoth they and the show had become, have you ever wondered how much the cast earned?
Season 1 aired 24 episodes in all and each of the stars reportedly pocketed $22,500 per episode or $540,000 for the entire first run, which is impressive, to say the least.
Perhaps after learning of how the audience reacted, the cast members’ salaries jolted to $40,000 per episode, totaling $960,000 for season 2. Now here’s what’s interesting: when their contracts were up before season 3, the thespians teamed up to negotiate, allegedly for the first time since the beginning of the show.
Negotiations
Their efforts proved to be fruitful when they were awarded $75,000 each per episode or a whopping $1.88 million for the third season.
For the fourth, fifth, and sixth runs, the stars’ paychecks were $85,000 per episode totaling $2.04 million, $100,000 or $2.5 million, and $125,000 or $3.125 million, respectively. From the last figure they received per episode, they demanded even more for the next run.
The Friends cast again negotiated for a humongous raise, which they did get. For seasons 7 and 8, the actors each went home with $750,000 per episode or $36 million for the two runs.
For the last two seasons, they earned a staggering $1 million per episode, which totaled to $24 million. If you do the math, each of the six main actors collected an eye-popping $90 million throughout, which was just the base salary. Note that that didn’t include the royalties and back-end bonuses!
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