With the high probability that Hollywood (SAG, WGA, and DGA) will be on strike in July 2008 all of the studios are rushing to get filming started and/or completed before the strike date so they have a stockpile of films and tv shows to last through the strike. If filming hasn't begun on Season 5 yet, it's very unlikely that they will have anything to show during the course of the strike, if it happens of course.

More info on the strike here: Hollywood Strike 2008

With the amount of money these people make, they want to go on strike to get more money?

I think I would want to know how much someone like Amy Berg makes for being one of several writers on a cable television show before I made statements like this. Sure, one could argue that the six stars of Friends were grossly overpaid and had no right to complain about anything, but just how much do you think Joel gets paid to play Tom? I have absolutely no clue, but if forced to guess I would guess about $5k per episode (which is $65k per year). I am not going to try to live in L.A. on that. Tom is one of the main stars. How much does the guy who plays Marco get? How much does the boom operator get? Do people still think that they should take less money to show some sort of loyalty to the show as was suggested in another thread recently?

It's easy to criticize $20 million movie deals for actors or even $100,000 per episode deals for sitcom stars. However, the vast majority of people responsible for those shows are not making gobs of money.

Even if Joel makes 100k per epi (which I doubt) that is 1,300,000. Living expenses are huge in LA not to mention he has a family and bills.

Apparently the issues is that they aren't getting a large enough cut of the new medias such as DVD and Internet releases. I live right down the street from Warner Bros/ABC/NBC/Universal and I know they aren't hurting for money. They just need to renew the contracts and get on with it.

I doubt a lead actor in a TV series is only making $65,000 a year. With the unions, the guy who hooks up the cables from the lighting to the power source is probably making that much. I heard Janitors working for General Motors are making 65k because of unions.

Power in numbers!

Bahmo, I understand what you're saying-I just think that some people are vastly overpaid at the expense of more important jobs. Cops and firefighters don't make enough money-teachers certainly don't make a living wage. I've been with my school for eight years and I don't make a living wage, plus I never know if I will have a summer assignment, so I have to split ten months of pay over a whole year. I can't help feeling that non-famous people doing important jobs should be paid a little more, even if it means blow-dried movie stars get a little less. Just call me sour grapes.

Hollywood as well as sport/athletes get paid alot simply because of the revenue they drive. Personally I don't think they're worth it but the people who make movies/tv shows or own major league teams apparently do think so, since they're willing to pay the enormous salaries that are paid.


Yes they were, but it's all relative. The money NBC made from the advertising during that show (plus the money made from the shows that followed, since so many people would stick with NBC for "must see" Thurs TV) more than paid the salaries for the 6 stars and the crew of the show. Plus NBC made a ton of money from Friends when it when into syndication.

The same for sports stars - paying one or two super stars enormous salaries is done simply to bring people to the game or to watch the game when it's televised. It's been proven that the team(s) and league(s) make money due to the big name sport stars.

Actors/sports stars strike while the iron is hot, because they know the next show/movie or sport season could be a dud. Take the stars of Friends - they really aren't doing all that much now that Friends is over. They might have jobs but nothing with the impact of Friends. They grabbed all they could when they could, can't blame them for that.

Still, even though I understand the economics of it, I will be plenty PO'd if some kind of strike makes it likely that there will be no Season 5 of The 4400.

In the case of the 4400 and a few other shows. Yes they make some hefty paychecks sometimes, but they don't know if they are going back. Imagine going to work and you don't know if you are suppose to go back to work the next week until the day before? So you have a few days off stressing out? That can't be easy or fair. This is why a lot of them get other projects they can't afford to wait. I know I couldn't I have bills to pay and 3 huge dogs to feed...o and a kid LOL

It is as EasyMac mentioned, it is basic economics 101....supply and demand. Because we as the market are willing to spend the dollars, whether it is through advertising products or simply going to the movies to see the big named actors, the almighty dollar drives it. I wonder if we as a majority were willing to stay away or not tune in would the costs to produce the movies or tv shows drop?????? We can sit back and blame the stations or the movie makers all we wish but we demand by buying or paying for their productions.

What would our society be like if we went back to the golden ages of reading books or sitting on the front porch in the evenings visiting with neighbors?

We must remember they chose to become actors and if they didn't realize the risks of the entertainment industry, they have learned the risks by now. Still, they are like the rest of us, looking to pay the bills, put their kids in college and have a roof over their heads.

They do other projects for the money, but also for the exposure and oppty they get.

For example, Summer Glau has a new TV show on FOX. She has a bigger role in it (compared to The 4400) and more episodes (she'll likely be in every episode). This is a huge oppty for her - tons of exposure on a larger network, more work (working week to week vs occasional appearances), and no doubt a bigger paycheck. Any of us would probably take a job that paid more, gave us more regular hours and a longer job life. Yes her show can get cancelled if the ratings aren't good, but she's likely got a clause in her contract that pays her some minimum even if the show is cancelled.

I love to read...I read at least 3 books a week ---up to 7 when I have time. Now the neighbors? I can live w/o them. I"ve lived here for 3.5 years and I just found out my boss in one of my neighbors...I remember growing up in Louisiana all of us (my family, all my aunt's, uncles and cousins sometimes there would be 40 of us) would go to one relatives house for the weekend. We would literally be sleeping on beds, sofas and floors. We'd all cook and "visit" the whole time. We'd get there friday night and leave sunday afternoon. It was fun. On the weekends we didn't go, we'd go to our cabin out on the water. Our summer and christmas vactations were spent there....two weeks with no, water, electric, tv, nada. We would bathe in the bayou using Ivory soap, because it float LOL. We'd go to the "landing" and buy ice and supplies every coupld of days. We lived off the fish, frogs, ducks, rabbits, whatever we caught or killed. I can't imagine my kids doing that for 2 weeks.