Friends Cast Members Still Making Millions from Reruns Decades Later
Friends (1994-2004), created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman became one of the most popular sitcoms – and TV series in general – ever.
It ran for 10 seasons and 236 episodes, won numerous awards, had huge influence on sitcoms which followed it, and notable impact on popular culture in general. And, of course, it also was very much commercially successful.
In fact, thanks to regular re-runs – Friends remains one of the most watched sitcoms to this day – it still is.
It is estimated that just from its original run and syndication deals, not counting DVD sales, Friends generated a revenue of $6.2 billion for Warner Bros, which completely overshadows any big-profile blockbuster!
And this is a conservative estimate. Some sources state that up to this day Friends earns as much as $1 billion per year.
The cast of Friends, primarily the six actors in the main roles, got a handsome cut of these profits. Their salaries started at the modest amount of $22,500 per episode for the first season, and rose to the unprecedented $1 million per episode for the final two years.
It is estimated that out of the show's revenues, the share of its main stars amounted to nearly $816 million before taxes, or approximately $136 million for each.
Right now their combined income from Friends still may amount to as high $20 million a year, meaning about $3.3 million for each of the six stars.
Of course, securing this massive amount of money took some effort, and not only on the set. As we have covered before, getting those record salaries took some serious struggle against the studio.
Luckily for themselves, the main cast took a cue from the scripts of their own show, which – uncommonly at the time, before other shows started copying Friends – treated all six main characters equally, instead of concentrating on just one pair, and decided to negotiate with the studio together, demanding equal pay for all six actors.
And while negotiations were not easy, eventually they've succeeded, when it became obvious that Warner Bros. has to agree to their demands or sink the show.
Now, almost two decades after the final episode of Friends, the actors are still reaping rich rewards for their success both as actors and as negotiators.