# Do people on shows like "little people, big world" get paid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 30, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-on-shows-like-little-people-big-world-get-paid/475061 "2008-11-30T16:09:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-on-shows-like-little-people-big-world-get-paid/475061/21 "2008-12-02T03:10:15Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > I swear that John is going to eat a .45 live on camera one of these days, and purposefully get his brain bits and skull matter on her carpets. But not much hair. Unless he gets more plugs for free. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-on-shows-like-little-people-big-world-get-paid/475061/22 "2008-12-02T21:54:39Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > As far as I’m concerned, she’s an angel compared to that freak Michelle Duggar. Michelle will end up dying in childbirth with cameras filming everything. On their new one episode featured a family even stranger than the Duggers (picture the compound women from Big Love only in brighter colors). I know Discovery has to edit everything to present the Dugger’s in the most favourable light possible, or else they’d stop doing specials (or do them for another network). There’s got to be alot of raw footage that makes them look crazier and dysfunctional. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-on-shows-like-little-people-big-world-get-paid/475061/23 "2008-12-02T22:17:24Z")
Not that this applies to the show in question, but there’s actually quite a bit of non-union production in both TV and film. Even if the production company is a SAG/AFTRA signatory, it does not have to pay guaranteed union minimums to “non-performers.” Most game show contestants are not paid, apart from prize money, for instance. The subjects of a reality show who are filmed going about the daily lives _could_ be considered “non-performers,” but those one a performance-based show such as “Last Coming Standing” are not. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-on-shows-like-little-people-big-world-get-paid/475061/24 "2008-12-02T22:39:53Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > I admit I am not an expert on the situation (unions in general confuse me) - though I have several friends in SAG and I recently made the last round of callbacks on a project that would have made me SAG eligible had I gotten the part\* - it is my understanding that SAG’s sister union (not competitor), AFTRA, handles most or all of the tv end of the business. I could be somewhat mistaken and I am 100% sure there are exceptions, but generally SAG = film and AFTRA = television. Both unions predate television as a popular medium. Originally, SAG was a motion-picture actors union, and AFTRA grew out of a radio performers’ union. Both laid claim to jurisdiction of television. AFTRA ended up with videotape production and SAG with film. Over the years, more dramas and comedies have been shot on film, giving SAG jurisdiction over most prime time network shows, while AFTRA remained strong in talk shows, game shows, and soaps. The advent of digital video threatened to shake things up, but SAG maintained most of its jurisdiction. The recent blurring of lines separating film, TV, and Internet have prompted new tensions over jurisdiction as boundaries are redrawn and new territory comes up for grabs. > [@](#): > > Err, rather, required me to join IIRC. Generally a non-union actor becomes _eligible_ to join SAG upon working as a principal (which basically means any speaking part) for a SAG-signatory production, but is not _required_ to do so until after the third time, at which time the shit-or-get-off-the-pot clause kicks in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-on-shows-like-little-people-big-world-get-paid/475061.md?page=1)