Just last night, a fan named Kevin sent me this query...
"What actor/actress has received the most money for a sitcom syndication deal?"
Well, the short answer is Jerry Seinfeld. The long answer has all the details.
With a little help from my friend and fellow TV lover Tom Heald, I was able to ferret out the exact numbers.
Jerry Seinfeld made $6 million an episode for the syndicated episodes of Seinfeld, which amounts to around $2 billion. This beats the previous record set by Bill Cosby, who made $600 million for The Cosby Show.
Now keep in mind this money includes what they are paid for acting as well as for being owners of the show. Other actors, like Charlie Sheen and Zach Braff have made more money per episode but because they aren't producers of their shows, their syndication money is nowhere near as impressive.
Now for this week's question...
Name two NBC sitcoms on which Jerry Seinfeld played himself (Seinfeld doesn't count).
Congratulations Andy for being the first one with the correct answer! Jerry didn't appear on Mad About You although Michael Richards did.
Why we need a Veronica Mars movie
Contest reminder: So You Think You Can Dance trip giveaway
It's finale time again! No, really.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-25-2008 @ 8:12AM
Robert said...
30 Rock, NewsRadio, Mad About You. Sorry that was 3.
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2-25-2008 @ 8:14AM
Gordy said...
30 Rock & Mad About You.
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2-25-2008 @ 8:49AM
Mandy said...
Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Larry Sanders Show.
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2-25-2008 @ 9:50AM
Andy Grey said...
30 Rock and Newsradio
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2-25-2008 @ 10:11AM
dna said...
Not NBC :-(
Altho it does beg the question, anyone know how much Larry David has made off Seinfeld? Oh to be his kid!
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2-25-2008 @ 11:22AM
Chris Shifty said...
Jerry did appear on Mad About You as himself. I remember this episode because it was the first fall without Seinfeld and Paul had taken a Viagra, had an erection on the streets and freaked out Seinfeld. Even checkout IMDb, which is something you should have done. A lot of articles forgot to mention his MAY appearance when he was on 30 Rock. Richards did appear but as Kramer. And George and Susan watched an episode of MAY in bed.
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2-25-2008 @ 12:03PM
Robert said...
So if that is correct about Mad About You, that makes me the winner! If not, I fail at life.
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2-25-2008 @ 2:14PM
Gary said...
robert is right-- http://imdb.com/title/tt0638925/
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2-25-2008 @ 7:44PM
Bash said...
So he made 6 Million per Episode. 2 billion = 2000 million.
180 episodes... 1080 million.
So he made another 6 million an episode for owning the production company and writing credits?
Talk about overpaying someone. How much was an episode then in the end with Larry David and the other three actors? 50 Million an episode?
How on earth could that been brought in via advertising? So syndication was the real deal and I guess he did not get 6 million until the show made the 100 mark...
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2-25-2008 @ 11:17PM
aphoward said...
I'd question the accuracy of these numbers, seeing as how a simple Google search turned up this info:
"However, in a widely
publicized mega-deal some years back, Larry David sold his share of
the syndication rights to “Seinfeld” for $200 million.
In 1999 the BBC reported the story of the sale this way:
“Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is the world's top earning entertainer,
according to US business magazine Forbes.
Seinfeld and his collaborator Larry David beat film-maker Steven Spielberg into third position thanks to the proceeds from the sale of syndication rights to Seinfeld, which ended in the US in May 1998.
The duo earned $267m and $242m respectively from the $1.7bn sale, although they may not see the bulk of their money for some years to come…"
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2-25-2008 @ 11:48PM
Beresford said...
Nightly News and Countdown with Keith Olbermann
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2-26-2008 @ 2:00AM
Ben Reich said...
Does the Seinfeld Chronicles also count?
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2-26-2008 @ 5:05AM
Will said...
I remember reading, when Seinfeld made the syndication deal, a igure of around $400 million. Though, if the Cosby figure is correct, Seinfeld must have been more. I think, during the last season, he was getting a million per episode (and the 3 co-stars were getting $750,000 per show, but they didn't get much from the syndication). Then, a couple years ago, Jerry was on either Letterman or Oprah, I forget which, but he confirmed that he was offered $5 million per episode to do one more season and turned it down. Hard to say, really, when there are differing quotes from multiple sources. I do question the $2 billion figure, unless that's counting money from way in the future. But, he also made $60 million in the last year or so, from dvd sales, according to Forbes. Whatever the actual number are, the bottom line is: he's doing quite ok.
As an aside, during the last season of Everybody loves Raymond, Romano was getting a whopping $1.8 million PER SHOW! It boggles the mind. That is the record for a per-show salary, I believe. And I imagine he made a good amount from syndication, since he wrote a lot of material. Ray's success in syndication also adds to Dave Letterman's net income each year, as it was produced by his Worldwide Pants production company. It's easy to understand why so many comics slave for years sometimes trying to make it. Relatively few do, but man, the money at the top is unbelieveable.
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