If you're an actor who lands a lead role on a TV series, you can count on a big payday. But it won't be as big as it used to be.
Network and studio executives tell TV Guide Magazine they've adopted a get-tough policy on salaries for stars of the new fall shows. While the salary for a lead has been $150,000 to $200,000 per episode in recent years, most deals for stars of new series were between $75,000 and $125,000. "No one broke the bank on anything this year," says one former studio head.
A case in point is a negotiation with a veteran film actor who for years has been coveted by several networks to do series TV. He was in discussions for a lead role in one of the new dramas that made the fall schedule. His asking price was $250,000. The network and the studio said no way. When the actor refused to go below $200,000, the network and studio moved on and hired someone else...
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Kate Walsh tells me that Private Practice's season premiere finds her scrubbing up‑but not for surgery. She'll be in a bathtub with Taye Diggs.
With all the talk about Rob Lowe's Robert McCalllister dying in Brothers & Sisters' season finale multi-car pileup, everyone seems to have forgotten ...
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Rob Lowe has played a White House aide and a United States Senator on TV, but his next gig puts him in the company of some real power brokers. The ex-Brothers and Sisters star will guest star on an episode of Cartoon Network's upcoming superhero series Young Justice as Captain Marvel, aka Shazam...
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Dancing with the Stars and Castle will kick off ABC's fall season on Monday, Sept. 20, the network announced on Thursday.
Check out our day-by-day guide to all the networks' fall schedules
Two-hour episodes of Dancing will air at 8/7c followed by Castle at 10/9c.
Tuesdays launch Sept. 21 with the freshman cop drama Detroit 1-8-7 at 10/9c. The show will be joined by new superhero family series No Ordinary Family at 8/7c and the Dancing with the Stars results show at 9/8c on Sept. 28.
ABC's Wednesday night comedy block...
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Every week, senior editors Mickey O'Connor and Adam Bryant satisfy your need for TV scoop. Please send all questions to mega_scoop@tvguide.com.
How long can House and Cuddy actually be together as a couple? It almost seems antithetical to the character and the show. — Dave T.
MICKEY: Executive producer Katie Jacobs has made it clear that Huddy is not a ratings ploy; she intends to see it through to its logical conclusion. If the snuggly promo photos are any indication, at least initially they'll be aiming for true romance. But House will still be a medical drama and Master Gregory will still be very, very cranky. So for now, wipe those Moonlighting-related thoughts from your mind.
Will Bones and Booth really be apart when Bones comes back? — Marta
MICKEY: It's looking that way, particularly now that we know that Booth will...
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