# Star Trek: Career Oblivion? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2007, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-career-oblivion/386649 "2007-01-04T04:59:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [January 5, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-career-oblivion/386649/41 "2007-01-05T01:32:59Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] I think inventors get royalties. Actors get residuals. I was always amused by Jonathon Frakes’ _Futurama_ appearance - three words. [/QUOTE] TOS was made in the 60s when residuals for TV shows were limited to only about 6 repeats. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-career-oblivion/386649/42 "2007-01-05T01:44:19Z")
[QUOTE=John DiFool] Could David Boreanaz be a top leading action hero? [/QUOTE] No. But could he do comedies? Yes. He’s turned into a pretty good comedic actor. I wouldn’t have guessed he had it in him when he started on Buffy. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-career-oblivion/386649/43 "2007-01-05T02:59:11Z")
[QUOTE=JThunder] Well, according to old Bones, that’s because [he didn’t actively seek a lot of roles](http://www.klhalliday.com/DeKelley/VirtualCon/Acting.htm). I always thought he was one of the better TOS actors. I suspect that he could have had a more vibrant career if he had so chosen. [/QUOTE] He was the worst of the three. Watch any of the old westerns in which he appeared. Oh, man, talk about stiff. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-career-oblivion/386649/44 "2007-01-05T03:03:39Z")
[QUOTE=CJJ\*] Kelsey Grammar is NOT good actor (watch “Down Periscope” or “15 minutes” if you disbelieve this), [/QUOTE] Hey, I LIKED “Down Periscope.” ---
**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:** [January 5, 2007, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-career-oblivion/386649/45 "2007-01-05T03:58:48Z")
[QUOTE=brianjedi] Hey, I LIKED “Down Periscope.” [/QUOTE] I heard _somebody_ did. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-career-oblivion/386649/46 "2007-01-05T04:20:11Z")
That fellow who played that redshirt in engineering on ENT, [Ensign Rivers,](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0572174/) is doing fairly well for himself. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-career-oblivion/386649/47 "2007-01-05T16:03:30Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] I think inventors get royalties. Actors get residuals. [/QUOTE] There is a distinction between royalties and residuals, but it’s not exactly this. Royalties are paid to someone who owns intellectual property, whether patent, copyright, or trademark. An actor doesn’t own IP rights his or her performance – actors’ compensation is an employment issue and is decided through a contractual arrangement. “Residual” is just a term for one side of the compensation (You get “X” now and “Plus Y” for each of Z reruns. After that you get nothing.) . It’s not really equivalent to royalties. > [@Sir Rhosis](#): > > I don’t know about the TV salaries, but back in the 80s, Doohan, Koenig, Takei and Nichols all received salaries of 200K each per Trek movie. Nimoy and Shatner topped out at around six mil for the last couple films, while De Kelley topped out around 2 mil. There’s no basis for comparison here. For the television show, they were ordinary TV actors who probably got paid according to the union scale, which I believe doesn’t guarantee much in the way of residuals for non-starring cast. Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley’s compensation structure would have been far different from that of Doohan, Koenig, Takei, etc. By movie time, Doohan and the rest had the clout to negotiate much better deals – they didn’t have to settle for union scale. > [@;evdrakon](#): > > I always figured if I managed to get a role on a show like that which went on for five, or six or seven seasons then afterward I’d be tempted to sit back, collect my royalty checks and tend to my home & garden. At least until a really interesting role came along. Very few actors, even those who appeared as regulars on a hit TV series, could effectively retire on their salary and residuals. A very select few gets to negotiate sweet deals like that. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-career-oblivion/386649/48 "2007-01-05T17:42:50Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] Very few actors, even those who appeared as regulars on a hit TV series, could effectively retire on their salary and residuals. A very select few gets to negotiate sweet deals like that. [/QUOTE] I think Audrey Meadows could (or nearly so). In fact, she made out like a bandit after her lawyer brothers (nether of whom specialized in contract or entertainment law) put a residuals clause in her contract which the _Honeymooners_ producers readily agreed to since the idea of serious profits from rerunning an episode was unheard of. Or so the legend goes. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-career-oblivion/386649/49 "2007-01-05T18:30:46Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] I think Audrey Meadows could (or nearly so). In fact, she made out like a bandit after her lawyer brothers (nether of whom specialized in contract or entertainment law) put a residuals clause in her contract which the _Honeymooners_ producers readily agreed to since the idea of serious profits from rerunning an episode was unheard of. Or so the legend goes. [/QUOTE] I heard that too. I’m not sure how true it is. She wasn’t hurting for money as her[Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Meadows) entry shows: > [@](#): > > On August 24, 1961, Meadows was married in Honolulu to Robert F. Six, President of Continental Airlines. She served as Director of the First National Bank of Denver for eleven years and was an Advisory Director of Continental Airlines. The couple resided in Beverly Hills until their deaths (Six died in 1986), traveling extensively on airline business, public relations, and to their ranch home near Montrose, Colorado. In October 1994, Meadows published her memiors, entitled, “Love, Alice”. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-career-oblivion/386649/50 "2007-01-05T18:42:18Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] Very few actors, even those who appeared as regulars on a hit TV series, could effectively retire on their salary and residuals. A very select few gets to negotiate sweet deals like that. [/QUOTE] Sweet deals like what? Kelsey Grammar? Yeah, I know. But I’ve heard $100K/episode isn’t unheard of for a popular show. If you’re on a seven-year Star Trek run, that’s 168 episodes and $1.68 million dollars. Plus residuals, rentals, DVD sales. I’m not saying you’d be filthy rich. But if you handled your money somewhat conservatively, you wouldn’t necessarily be struggling to get by month to month. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-career-oblivion/386649/51 "2007-01-05T18:47:20Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] But I’ve heard $100K/episode isn’t unheard of for a popular show. If you’re on a seven-year Star Trek run, that’s 168 episodes and $1.68 million dollars. Plus residuals, rentals, DVD sales. [/QUOTE] Well, agents take 10%, taxes a lot more. The real cash cow in being a former Trek actor is personal appearances, if you’re willing to subject yourself to weekends of geeks (or geek-ends, as I call them). If you can stomach being subjected to the same nerdly questions over and over, you can do pretty well. The key is not to get a reputation as being “difficult.” ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-career-oblivion/386649/52 "2007-01-05T18:49:53Z")
Oops. That’s $16.8 million, isn’t it? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-career-oblivion/386649/53 "2007-01-05T23:35:37Z")
Speaking of conventions, Doohan was by far the king of the circuit in the 80s and 90s. For a few years he was doing 45-50 weekends per year (depending if there was a Trek film underway, or if he had other film/TV work). I always figured he probably got air fare, lodging, meals and a couple thousand dollar fee each, maybe more for the HUGE cons. So, maybe 80K per year and free food to talk to/sign autographs for fans. Not bad, really. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-career-oblivion/386649/54 "2007-01-06T00:14:30Z")
[QUOTE=Sir Rhosis] So, maybe 80K per year and free food to talk to/sign autographs for fans. Not bad, really. [/QUOTE] Not bad? You do realize that you are talking about Star Trek fans don’t you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-career-oblivion/386649.md?page=2)