# Fictional television characters living way above or below their means **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 6, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705 "2009-02-06T15:11:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/61 "2009-02-07T14:34:15Z")
Eccentric people living below their income level is hardly unreasonable. House either likes the way he lives or assumes living better won’t make his life any better. It’s the people with low level jobs that live in great apartments, have fabulous wardropes, and are always taking expensive vacations that are unreal. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/62 "2009-02-07T15:49:31Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > Poirot was already retired as a high-ranking police officer, IIRC. As for Holmes, I believe there were several times when it was stated or implied that he had no qualms about accepting money and gifts from wealthy clients and could, therefore, afford to do some pro bono work here and there. This, except he would have generally refused to call it “pro bono” work as he’d have more likely taken the case because he wanted to figure out the puzzle. Holmes’ economic situation steadily improves through the stories. In A Study in Scarlet he’s living like a student and needs a roommate; eventually he’s discreetly helping Watson out financially so that Watson will have the leisure to assist him. I’m not convinced he does so because he likes Watson stroking his ego, either; he genuinely finds that he can think better if he has someone to talk to, and it’s useful to him to have a confederate he can trust utterly. He has to go out of his way to remove Watson from the scene when he thinks he’s about to fight Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls, presumably because he knows that Watson will never agree to let him to go to his death alone. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/63 "2009-02-07T15:49:57Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > Poirot was already retired as a high-ranking police officer, IIRC. As for Holmes, I believe there were several times when it was stated or implied that he had no qualms about accepting money and gifts from wealthy clients and could, therefore, afford to do some pro bono work here and there. Holmes charges one of his clients three thousand pounds (in, I believe The Adventure of the Priory School). This was in an era where a hundred pounds a year was a comfortable income. And occasional mention is made of a jeweled ring and a silver snuff box clients have given him, so presumably he charged some pretty substantial fees in addition to those in the cases documented. Sam Spade is another detective with no qualms about getting as much money as he can out of his clients. In the book _The Maltese Falcon_, he splits a $200 fee from Brigid O’Shaughnessy with his partner, and later takes another $750 from her. Joel Cairo pays him $100 as a retainer, and another case is mentioned (a theater owner worried about embezzlement) where he gets a retainer. This is in San Francisco in the 1920s. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/64 "2009-02-07T15:52:10Z")
I thought Carol Brady was a divorcee? Maybe she got child support/alimony? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/65 "2009-02-07T15:54:17Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I thought Carol Brady was a divorcee? Maybe she got child support/alimony? Silly girl! Everybody knows the Bradys lived off the income from [Roy Hinkley’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Professor_(Gilligan%27s_Island))many patents. Mike only worked to keep up appearances. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/66 "2009-02-07T15:55:44Z")
Andrew Vachss’s Burke is always running scams, busting child pornographers and pedophiles and taking their cash and possessions, making tons of cash, yet he lives in his office and later in a flea bag hotel. ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/67 "2009-02-07T16:14:12Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I thought Carol Brady was a divorcee? Maybe she got child support/alimony? It was never really touched on in the show. Schwartz wanted Carol to be a divorcee, but the network wouldn’t have it, so they left it pretty ambiguous. In the movies (groan…), they decided to make her a widow–except, aha!, he’s not really dead. Oh wait, yes he is. I’ve got to give a pass to Mike Brady, too… he designed and built the house they live in, which probably cut costs quite a bit. And being an architect himself, he probably got pretty sweet deals on contracting, etc. Not to mention potential life insurance from his deceased beloved… I seem to recall an episode (but I could be thinking of another series) where the Bradys hit some kind of financial trouble, and Alice mentions how she could never leave the family… etc. I never thought they paid her that much to begin with; she lives there as basically part of the family, has no social life to speak of… I can’t imagine she’d be gripping them by the balls for cash. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/68 "2009-02-07T16:15:43Z")
> [@atomicbadgerrace](#): > > I seem to recall an episode (but I could be thinking of another series) where the Bradys hit some kind of financial trouble, and Alice mentions how she could never leave the family… etc. I never thought they paid her that much to begin with; she lives there as basically part of the family, has no social life to speak of… I can’t imagine she’d be gripping them by the balls for cash. She stopped gripping Mike’s balls for cash when he married the cute blonde. ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/69 "2009-02-07T16:17:23Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > She stopped gripping Mike’s balls for cash when he married the cute blonde. Then she died, and Mike married Carol? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/70 "2009-02-07T16:50:32Z")
The cast of Seinfeld…well except Jerry the Stand Up Comic. They never keep a job very long… How they hell do they rate their incomes for the apartments and perpetual unemployment?..they don’t get laid off they get FIRED! I hate every sitcom with 20 somethings making way too much money for what they do. Where the hell are those jobs at IRL? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/71 "2009-02-07T17:16:39Z")
> [@Jamicat](#): > > The cast of Seinfeld…well except Jerry the Stand Up Comic. > > They never keep a job very long… > How they hell do they rate their incomes for the apartments and perpetual unemployment?..they don’t get laid off they get FIRED! Eh, Both Elaine and George seem moderately successful, Kramer presumably makes money off his various schemes. Elaines important enough in the catalog company to meet with Peterman fairly regularly, and George similarily meets with the head of the Yankees at least occasionally, so he’s not some low-level temp. ---
**Author:** ![Albrecht\_Durer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ccd318/32.png) [@Albrecht\_Durer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albrecht_Durer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/72 "2009-02-07T17:20:15Z")
> [@Jamicat](#): > > The cast of Seinfeld…well except Jerry the Stand Up Comic. > > They never keep a job very long… > How they hell do they rate their incomes for the apartments and perpetual unemployment?..they don’t get laid off they get FIRED! It’s explained in the show… George moves in with his parents, then when he gets a job with the Yankees, he moves into his bachelor paradise (complete with a big block of cheese). When he was unemployed, he lied his ass off to keep getting benefits (he was almost a latex salesman at Vandaley Industries, remember). Elaine was some high muckety-muck in publishing, especially at the J. Peterman catalog (where for awhile she was acting president). I don’t know how much that would pay, but she always seemed employed so she probably kept moving up in income. Kramer…he has sex without dating, and falls ass-backwards into money. He gambles and he had that coffee table that allowed him to quit the rat race and retire. Plus he’s also quite litigious. We only see the loser cases, but he may have had winners out there. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/73 "2009-02-07T18:01:09Z")
> [@Albrecht\_Durer](#): > > Kramer…he has sex without dating, and falls ass-backwards into money. He gambles and he had that coffee table that allowed him to quit the rat race and retire. Plus he’s also quite litigious. We only see the loser cases, but he may have had winners out there. What, you don’t consider free coffee for life a win? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/74 "2009-02-07T18:10:25Z")
Friends mentioned something about the rent control thing in the final episode: Paraphrasing Chandler he said something to the effect of “This was a great place to live, and because of a loophole in rent control it was a frigging steal” I laughed a good 10 minutes from what **Morbo** said about Spongebob, it is SO true. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/75 "2009-02-07T18:17:12Z")
None of the Seinfeld apartments was very luxious. I always thought that the crampness of them was the most realistic part of the show. Elaine had a roommate in the first season. As she moved up the ladder, she apparently could afford the place all by herself. Jerry had lived in his place for years, and Kramer even longer–he had a sublet from Paul Buchman,when the latter moved in with Jamie Stempleton. George lived with his parents, and later worked for the Yankees in middle management. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/76 "2009-02-07T19:13:24Z")
Full House–Danny Tanner supported three children, his best friend the struggling comic and his brother-in-law the struggling musician on a sportscaster’s salary. He must have gotten one helluva settlement from the drunk driver that killed his wife. ---
**Author:** ![Albrecht\_Durer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ccd318/32.png) [@Albrecht\_Durer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albrecht_Durer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/77 "2009-02-07T20:50:20Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > What, you don’t consider free coffee for life a win? Jackie Chiles certainly didn’t. Weren’t they going to offer him the coffee AND a nice settlement? Like $50,000? Oh, and he did “win” the tobacco lawsuit, with him as the latest “Marlboro” man. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/78 "2009-02-07T21:03:21Z")
> [@Albrecht\_Durer](#): > > Elaine was some high muckety-muck in publishing, especially at the J. Peterman catalog (where for awhile she was acting president). I don’t know how much that would pay, but she always seemed employed so she probably kept moving up in income. Elaine’s dad was a Pretty Important Dude too, right? (remember the episode where Jerry and George met him, and Jerry had the new suede coat that he had to turn inside-out?) Perhaps she had some family money. > [@Krokodil](#): > > Ugly Betty. Betty had to give up her apartment in Manhattan (Hope Amanda can keep up the payments, though a wacky new roommate seems inevitable). But even with her salary, her papi’s and her sister’s, how do they afford the place in Queens? None of them makes more than $12/hour! Does Betty only really make only $12/hour? I was more wondering about her stupid “crush” across the hall, Jesse, who apparently does nothing but play in a mediocre band and sing at the local coffee house. How can he afford an apartment in the same building as Betty - who has a real job and is barely able to squeak by? Also I wonder why when people are broke on tv and/or setting up their first apartment that they always manage to have the place fully furnished, decorated and stuffed to the gills with tcotchkies within the first few minutes of unpacking their boxes. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/79 "2009-02-07T22:41:57Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Elaine’s dad was a Pretty Important Dude too, right? (remember the episode where Jerry and George met him, and Jerry had the new suede coat that he had to turn inside-out?) Perhaps she had some family money. Yeah, her father was a famous writer. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705/80 "2009-02-08T03:30:42Z")
> [@atomicbadgerrace](#): > > I’ve got to give a pass to Mike Brady, too… he designed and built the house they live in, which probably cut costs quite a bit. And being an architect himself, he probably got pretty sweet deals on contracting, etc. He wasn’t much of an architect, IMO. I mean, what kind of architect builds a 3-bedroom house when he has six kids? 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-television-characters-living-way-above-or-below-their-means/484705.md?page=5)