Copyright Screen Rant
The biggest names in Hollywood get a major payday for their roles in some of TV's most popular series. While some mainstream names go from project to project, others stick with a series for longevity. The longer they're part of a series, the higher the odds of getting paid more. Getting the lead in a top-earning cable show or Top 10 streaming series often equates to a big payoff. Considering the normalcy of an actor earning a couple of thousand dollars to film an episode for a TV series, learning that some earn millions per episode is mind-blowing. This also raises the question of whether ensemble casts are paid equally. From HBO to ABC, these actors are the best to ever do their craft, and they're cashing out. Sarah Jessica Parker: Sex And The City Franchise $3.2 Million - Sex And The City, $1 Million - And Just Like That Sarah Jessica Parker is beloved for her time on HBO's Sex and the City, and her paycheck as the shoe-obsessed Carrie Bradshaw makes her TV's highest-paid actress. Cosmopolitan broke down Parker's massive payday during her time on SATC, and the pay increase as the series progressed is astronomical. For SATC's first three seasons, Parker made a sum of $50 million. However, once season 4 started, Parker started making $3.2 million per episode, as she also became a producer. This salary continued from season 4 through to Sex and the City's sixth and final season, earning Parker $147 million between seasons 4 and 6. For the Sex and the City movies, Parker was reportedly paid $15 million for the first and $20 million for the second. Parker returned to the small screen as Carrie for the polarizing SATC sequel series, And Just Like That, where she made a reported $1 million per episode. Reese Witherspoon & Jennifer Aniston: The Morning Show $2 Million Apple TV's The Morning Show stars two of TV's highest-paid actresses, Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston. According to US Weekly, Witherspoon and Aniston, who both star as co-anchors of the titular show and serve as executive producers, each make a whopping $2 million per episode from the jump. The drama has four seasons, with 10 episodes attached to each (totaling around $20 million per season). Charlie Sheen: Two And A Half Men $1.8 Million Charlie Sheen is, at times, known for his antics outside of his career rather than his career itself, but when he played womanizing jingle writer Charlie Harper on Chuck Lorre's smash-hit sitcom, Two and a Half Men, he became TV's highest-paid male actor, earning $1.8 million per episode (via Uproxx). However, Sheen was dismissed from Two and a Half Men in season 8 following his reported demands for a raise to $3 million per episode and disparaging remarks he made about Lorre. Ray Romano: Everybody Loves Raymond $1.8 Million As a TV star, Ray Romano is one of the greats. The actor and comedian became famous for the popular sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond, in which he played sports writer Ray Barone, who lives in Long Island with his loud and intrusive family. According to The LA Times, Romano earned $1.8 million per episode as of season 8. The sitcom ran for nine seasons and had between 16–26 episodes per season. Kelsey Grammer: Frasier $1.6 Million Actor Kelsey Grammer became the highest-paid TV actor at the time he earned his salary for playing Frasier Crane in the hit Cheers spin-off, Frasier. Grammer began earning a reported salary of $1.6 million per episode for the last two seasons (via Parade). To add to the massive amount, Grammer also reportedly earns around $13 million every year on royalties alone. Chris Pratt: The Terminal List $1.4 Million Chris Pratt is known for his movie franchises, like the MCU and Jurassic Park franchise, but he also became a big TV star with his Prime Video series, The Terminal List, in which he plays US Navy SEAL Lieutenant Commander James Reece. According to Variety, Pratt earned $1.4 million per episode. With eight episodes in season 1, Pratt walked away with more than $11 million. The Terminal List was renewed for a second season, which is projected to be released in 2026. Tim Allen: Home Improvement $1.25 Million The show that made Tim Allen a star, Home Improvement was one of the most-watched shows in the '90s, earning Allen $1.25 million per episode in the final season (via Uproxx). ABC greenlit Home Improvement for a ninth season, which would have seen Allen get a hefty raise to $2 million per episode. However, Home Improvement season 9 never occurred because of salary disputes amongst the cast. Jerry Seinfeld: Seinfeld $1 Million With Jerry Seinfeld at its center, Seinfeld was one of the most groundbreaking sitcoms of the 1990s. Seinfeld was paid around $20,000 per episode at the start, before increasing to $500,000 per episode for seasons 7 and 8. The comedian then got a massive bump to $1 million per episode in season 9 (via Men's Journal). If $1 million per episode wasn't enough, the comedian reportely earned $465 million (via Business Insider) in syndication deals. Helen Hunt & Paul Reiser: Mad About You $1 Million Mad About You is an underappreciated sitcom that went on to make stars Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser million-dollar actors. The sitcom went on for eight seasons and earned Hunt and Reiser $1 million per episode in the final season. With 12 episodes, the pair walked away with $12 million for the season, which was nearly double what they were making before the raise. Additionally, Hunt and Reiser received additional compensation as executive producers. In 2019, Mad About You got a one season reboot, where Hunt and Reiser were paid $350,000 per episode, which included executive producer fees (via Go Banking Rates). The Cast Of Friends $1 Million Starring Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc, the cast of Friends was one of the first ensembles to earn $1 million per episode for the final season of the series. In the earlier seasons, the cast was paid between $22,500 to $40,000 per episode before jumping to $75,000 per episode in season 3.
