This is either a sign that the overpaid and overindulged of the world are finally getting some karmic retribution, or the global economy is one more flush away from total chaos. I know it's the second one, but we all need a little hope.
Entertainment Weekly has learned that CBS told their big stars to not even bother asking for another raise this year. The salary freezes only affect shows produced by the network, such as Numb3rs, NCIS and all of the CSIs.
It's all part of their ongoing cost-cutting to keep production budgets down as they and the rest of the known universe try to winter the economic ice age we're about to enter. The only thing we'll have to look forward to are the advent of billions of constantly hard and perky nipples. Like I said, hope.
Of course, this news may not sit well with the stars. One inside source told the magazine that those poor, rich, wealthy leading men and women will likely tell the studios to go stuff it and ask them why don't they reduce their salaries. Then some second-tier, second banana will get cut instead, and the stars and executives will meet in an exclusive bar in the Earth's crust that servers martinis with gold olives, and laugh about how great life is when you're rich.
It's all part of the negotiations mambo. Some stars have raises built into their contracts, so when the studios hold back, the stars are not happy. Of course, desperate times call for desperate measures, and if one star grunts, it won't take much for an executive to swing the axe. It's too bad in these trying and woesome times that you can't invest in cliched idioms.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-10-2009 @ 10:14AM
Dan Chichian said...
Apparently the $600K per episode savings from William Petersen leaving CSI was not enough.
I doubt they will fire a major name but if a star refuses to accept not getting their contracted raise they will fire a fan favorite and then blame the star's greed all over the press.
This is a no win for both sides if the stars balk. Once a favorite is cut and viewers read why and how much the stars make the ratings may very well drop. What these people make in one season is more than I and most people will make in a lifetime. How's that for depressing?
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2-10-2009 @ 10:18AM
Cristy said...
What these people make in one season is more than I and most people will make in a lifetime. How's that for depressing?
Not to defend actors, but they do work for it and they do draw huge ratings, ratings which mean a lot of money from advertising. Seeing as how most CBS shows kick the ass of most every other show from the remaining networks, i can't understand their logic. Effin morons.
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2-10-2009 @ 10:48AM
LC said...
True, considering that less people are going out to dinner and movies. Instead, more are staying home and watching television.
2-10-2009 @ 12:06PM
No1Dad said...
"... or the global economy is one more flush away from total chaos."
Total chaos? Where do you live? Zimbabwe? For heaven's sake, pull yourself together.
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2-10-2009 @ 2:11PM
Karen said...
"True, considering that less people are going out to dinner and movies. Instead, more are staying home and watching television."
Staying home and watching television, yes. Watching commercials, no.
Who do you know that watches TV as it is aired instead of watching something they DVR'd or TIVO'd, or maybe even recorded on a VCR? I personally have seen maybe two dozen commercials since the VCR was invented back in the stone age, and the DVR has made my fast-forwarding skills even sharper!
Its not the TELEVISION industry that has to change, its the ADVERTISING industry. Ad execs watch their TV the same way the rest of us do, and they ain't gonna shell out big bucks for utterly wasted commercial placement, so there goes TV's revenue source. Product placement doesn't work because they've trained us since childhood to never see or hear specific product names on products used on show sets (all those carefully-turned-sideways boxes of cereal, all those made-up names on anything the camera might linger on) so now when they break their own rules by trying to use the phrase "Pringles Potato Chips" in every other sentence, it's too obvious and phony to be workable.
I think we need to cut out the middleman and make every single show on every single network pay-per-view. Talk about instant ratings feedback! Then you can pay your stars a salary based on the profits you know for a fact they pulled in.
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