9 More TV Salary Disputes

The cast of “Friends”

Their theme song was “I’ll Be There For You” – and they sure were, with the six main cast members of NBC’s Gen-X sitcom banding together to negotiate as a group when their initial contracts ran out in 2001. They teamed up for a small salary bump in 1996, but this time, they aimed big: a leap from $125,000 per episode to $800,000, along with back pay for the previous season. The impasse actually progressed to the point where ... more 

The cast of “Friends”

Their theme song was “I’ll Be There For You” – and they sure were, with the six main cast members of NBC’s Gen-X sitcom banding together to negotiate as a group when their initial contracts ran out in 2001. They teamed up for a small salary bump in 1996, but this time, they aimed big: a leap from $125,000 per episode to $800,000, along with back pay for the previous season. The impasse actually progressed to the point where NBC prepared promos that advertised the May 2001 finale as the series’ final episode. But cooler heads prevailed, and all six “Friends” returned for three more seasons, eventually pulling in $1 million each per episode. That’ll buy quite a few cappuccinos at Central Perk. less