The Salaries Of TV’s Top Talent Have Been Revealed And Holy Sh*t Judge Judy Gets PAID

Just a quick question before we get started: do people actually watch The Big Bang Theory? I know CBS face fucks us with the ads during football games, but are people really sitting down and watching a network show about quantum physics or are we all just tuning in for Kaley Cuoco? The latter I can understand, but I cannot articulate my thoughts on the #1 show on television better than this dude…

Only reason I ask is because Variety released a list of the top earning TV actors for several genres, and the top THREE earning actors for the comedy genre are from the Big Bang Theory.

Per Variety,

Variety conducted a wide survey of actors, executives, attorneys, agents, managers, and other representatives in an effort to offer a snapshot of the earnings power of talent at all levels in primetime, late-night, daytime, and news. The figures presented here are estimates based on extensive research to determine talent paydays in the most current seasons of specific series.

I’ve condensed each list to the Top 5 earners for each genre, but you can check out the full list HERE.

COMEDY (per episode)

  1. Jim Parsons — The Big Bang Theory — $1 million
  2. Kaley Cuoco — The Big Bang Theory — $1 million
  3. Johnny Galecki — The Big Bang Theory — $1 million
  4. Dwayne Johnson — Ballers — $400,000
  5. Drew Barrymore — Santa Clarita Diet — $350 million

DRAMA (per episode)

  1. Lauren Graham — Gilmore Girls — $750,000
  2. Alexis Biedel — Gilmore Girls — $750,000
  3. Mark Harmon — NCIS — $525,000
  4. Kevin Spacey — House of Cards — $500,000
  5. Peter Dinklage — Game of Thrones — $500,000

REALITY/HOST/NEWS (Annual Salary)

  1. Judge Judy — $47 million
  2. Matt Lauer — Today Show — $22-$25 million
  3. Ellen DeGeneres — Ellen — $20 million
  4. Bill O’Reilly — The O’Reilly Factor — $18-$20 million
  5. Kelly Ripa — Live With Kelly — $16-$20 million

Judge Judy deserves every penny of that $47 million. No joke, if she entered the presidential race today, I’d vote for her. #I’m With Her.

Matt Keohan Avatar
Matt’s love of writing was born during a sixth grade assembly when it was announced that his essay titled “Why Drugs Are Bad” had taken first prize in D.A.R.E.’s grade-wide contest. The anti-drug people gave him a $50 savings bond for his brave contribution to crime-fighting, and upon the bond’s maturity 10 years later, he used it to buy his very first bag of marijuana.