I would think the actors really rolling in residual bucks are those that nabbed producer credits as well.
The folks from Gilligan’s Island (those poor people) apparently had contracts that didn’t compensate them for reruns, and the Brady kids got only compensation for the first 10 rerunnings of their episodes.
Richard Belzer: 447 regular appearances – split between two shows – as John Munch.
Apparently there used to be a bar in LA where you could trade a residuals check worth less than $1 for a drink.
I was thinking about Boreanaz, too.
I also considered Scott Bakula, who had the lead role in Quantum Leap, Star Trek: Voyager, and NCIS: New Orleans. But, I’m not sure how often Quantum Leap or Enterprise are shown in re-runs these days (though I suspect that Enterprise may be available streaming from Paramount).
For voice actors---- Billy West has to be up there:
with Futurama, Ren &Stimpy, Doug, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, and The Powerpuff Girls among others.
SAG has some kind of central office that coordinates residuals for their members, and the residuals go to your agent who takes a cut and then sends the rest to you.
As mikecurtis said, it’s been in the standard SAG contract since the early 90s at least, and you don’t have to be a big name to get it. (Big names might negotiate bigger residuals.) If you work non-union jobs it might be a different story.
Residual amounts decline with the number of showings, and depend on the market the show runs in. And commercial work pays residuals also, and is often better since commercials run a lot more frequently than shows.
SAG is really good at this. My daughter was a SAG extra on a soap once, and got a check of two cents when it ran in Italy.
Enterprise is broadcast six nights a week on the Heroes and Icons channel as part of their Star Trek bloc.
Now that you mention that, I do recall seeing it on there not too long ago. I had looked on IMDB, and they indicated no upcoming broadcasts of the show (but I now suspect that they don’t list shows on H&I).
Geoffrey Ownes was Alvin on the Cosby Show. The residuals he got for that show, which was constantly in reruns, kept him solvent while he continued to pursue acting gigs.
After Bill Cosby was exposed as a monster, the show was pulled and Owens residuals dropped to zero. It hurt him massively, making him another person hurt by Bill Cosby. He took a job at Trader Joe’s to make ends meet between acting gigs, which were hard to come by.
Landing a recurring role on a show is massive for actors.
Even Malcolm Jamal Warner commented at one point how financially painful it was to have the Cosby show totally removed from TV.
AFAIK, it’s returned to TV on some Afrocentric channel. I’ve seen it in the cable guide recently.
Quantum Leap is shown pretty regularly (on the SyFy channel, I think)
Yes, I’ve seen it in the listings within the last few weeks.
My cousin was an actor in the Civil War movie Gods and Generals and he still occasionally gets checks for five cents.
Emo Phillips shows his residual checks for UHF sometimes. They are $1 or so sometimes. He was barely in it.
TV has changed a LOT in the last 50 years. Shatner would make Star Trek money from conventions and possibly merchandise, but I would be extremely surprised if he makes any money from the show itself.
Likely so. He might well make more off of residuals from the films.
Huh, I was expecting some mention of Bob Newhart, who had three series (The Bob Newhart Show, Newhart, and the short-lived Bob). Tim Allen had lengthy runs with a couple of shows.
People only remember the Friends gang from their first show, but Kudrow, Cox and LeBlanc have all had successful series since.
According to various Star Trek histories, Shatner actually owned a piece of the show, so he didn’t have to worry about residuals. I do recall some sort or reunion with the cast of Gilligan’s Island where they made it clear their residuals had ended years earlier.
Ted Danson Still makes about $5 million per year from Cheers reruns. Plus Becker (6 seasons), The Good Place, and CSI.