Just another day in Mr. Decker's universe: Friends stars demand $1 mil each per episode; won't settle for $800,000

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NBC Gives an Ultimatum to Friends by Kyle Pope and Stephen Battaglio

Friday, May 12 03:52 AM ET The negotiations to bring back Friends have formally reached a deadlock, with NBC now imposing a noon Sunday deadline for a new deal to keep its top-rated comedy on the air.

According to insiders familiar with the discussions, the impasse between NBC and the show's cast has now become so serious that the network is actively planning for the possibility that it will announce a schedule on Monday that does not include Friends.

While NBC officials wouldn't discuss the talks, the network issued a prepared statement: ''We have a noon deadline on Sunday and we are prepared to announce our line-up on Monday without Friends in it.''

While the Hollywood televison community has speculated for weeks that NBC is at odds with Warner Bros., the studio that produces Friends, these insiders say that those disagreements have been resolved. The stumbling block now is simple: The six stars of Friends, who are currently getting paid $125,000 each per episode, are asking for more money than either NBC or Warner is currently prepared to pay.

Inside has learned that the cast, which is steered in the talks by veteran Hollywood manager Sandy Wernick, is insisting on $1 million per person per episode. NBC and Warner have drawn the line at $800,000.

While a $200,000 difference may seem like peanuts for NBC, Warner and their respective deep-pocketed parents, GE and Time Warner, the delta is bigger than it looks: That amount, multiplied by the six cast members, comes to $1.2 million per half hour. And with the talks now centering on a two-year deal for 22 episodes each year, the difference comes to about $53 million.

Neither NBC nor Warner would publicly discuss those numbers, but they were confirmed by people close to the talks. Wernick, the negotiator for the Friends' cast, didn't immediately return telephone calls seeking comment.

While it's hard to believe NBC would walk away from a deal if it came after the noon Sunday deadline, the ultimatum nevertheless serves a dual purpose. On the one hand, the network is clearly upping the negotiating pressure, hoping that it will force Wernick and his clients to make a move -- immediately.

On the other hand, NBC is in a serious logistical jam. The network sells millions of dollars of its most expensive ad time for next season during the hours and days following its upfront announcement. If Friends isn't on the schedule on Monday, it's possible the network could lose significant ad business, even if the show is later added to the schedule thanks to a late deal.

-- Greed is God (@ .), May 13, 2000

Answers

Greed,

Why is it bad for actors to make stupendous amounts of money? Is it bad for NBC to make stupendous amounts of money? Let the free market operate, for afterall, this is America.

-- J (Y2J@home.comm), May 13, 2000.

More gold-digging scum. When it comes to sitcoms, no real acting talents are needed, and the dumber the actors are the better. The reason these clowns are making so much money is because millions of Americans are even dumber than they are, and they prove it every night by watching this garbage.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), May 14, 2000.

Yep Hawk,you nailed it on the head.I get a serious chuckle outa this kind of story,the idiots and the idiot box.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), May 14, 2000.

There's serious money [IMO] involved in the salaries of the favorites of the viewing audience. The girl who just left ER turned down $27 million for a two-year extension. Dr. Laura makes $12 million/year doing her FOX radio show, and this is AFTER Fox paid her $72 million for the RIGHTS to the show.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), May 14, 2000.

Hawk, good analysis! Right on the money!!!

-- Observer (lots@to.observe), May 14, 2000.


Why does the title of this post include Decker? He seems to have been keeping a lower profile lately. Also, his more recent posts have been more informative that confrontational. Why be disrespectful to him?

-- Observer (lots@to.observe), May 14, 2000.

I think Decker is mentioned because of his claim that we have NOT been going downhill since 'a' was a child.

This is an interesting illustration. In the entertainment business, success has always translated into huge gobs of money. Presumably in the Good Old Days, the studios paid the actors minimum wage, kept all the money themselves, and *didn't publicize it*. Certainly this is what baseball owners did before the union. And of course it never occurred to 'a' or the rest of the Great Unwashed that just because the money didn't get mentioned, didn't mean there wasn't any.

One of the most important reasons behind the 1994 baseball strike was the owners' refusal to open their books. They claimed they were all losing money terribly with these horrible high salaries, and the mediator said OK, prove it. Let's see the numbers. The owners replied, Not A Chance! Take our WORD for it.

So what we have here is NOT a case of half a dozen people greedily trying to get rich undeservedly. Instead, we have a case of half a dozen people looking to distribute the money more equitably. And they have a serious disadvantage -- their employers can publicize how much they get paid and are asking for, while they can't even find out how much their employers are even taking in.

This is a big disadvantage because both sides are well aware of the 'a' syndrome -- that it's fine to be greedy and unfair and filthy rich *provided* it gets no publicity. Out of sight, out of mind. Or at least Out of sight, out of small minds. When the money isn't mentioned, it never occurs to small minds to wonder where it's going.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), May 14, 2000.


Oh golly, Hawk is starting to make sense to me.

If the "actors" on Friends can get a million each for producing that shit, more power to em.

Mrs D and I must be from Mars, neither of us has ever watched that show for more than the time it took to find the remote. But all of her coworkers just LOVE Friends, as does, it seems, the entire rest of the country.

Excuse me, I feel a bowel movement coming on.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), May 14, 2000.


feel sorry for cast..had to settle for $750,000 each

-- george (jones@choices.com), May 14, 2000.

What's "Friends"?

-- Lurker2 (lurking@around.somewhere), May 14, 2000.


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