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EXCLUSIVE: I have learned that hit comedy Modern Family has scheduled a new table read for tomorrow at 10:30 AM. The move comes after the show’s first table read for next season yesterday was cancelled at the last minute when only Ed O’Neill of the adult cast showed up — followed by a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox TV filed by his five co-stars. I hear that the cast is expected to show up for the rescheduled table read in what is considered a good-will gesture on both sides with intent to resolve the salary dispute that escalated into a legal action on actors’ part that surprised and upset studio brass. I also hear that despite the lawsuit, the actors do not want to hurt the show that made them household names, thus their decision to go to work while the issues are being resolved. I hear there has been no progress in the negotiations between actors and studio since the filing of the complaint yesterday, but no one believes Modern Family won’t come back in the fall.
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Do these actors forget that there are plenty of other actors willing to work for a heck of a lot less than what this cast is making? I read about Rob Lowe and Ed O’Neill complaining that they were ONLY going to get paid $40,000 for six weeks of work on a particular show. I work all year and don’t even clear that and they complain about having to work for six weeks for that pay. Give me a break. There are plenty of hungry actors out there, something which they need to remember.
You of all people then should know that each job could be your last in this business. When you have your shot, you try not to leave money on the table. It’s not necessarily greed, it’s making sure that you’re never hungry again, and never find yourself on deadline complaining about how much someone else is making.
Okay throw those other “hungry” actors into Modern Family and see how the show does. You clearly don’t understand this business at all if you think the cast isn’t right here. They have so much leverage to earn a higher paycheck. I commend them for doing it. You say you don’t clear 40,000 in a year. If you could make a hell of a lot more like these guys, wouldn’t you push for it? The answer is yes you would. You wouldn’t be the “think about the hungry actors out there” kind of guy you are right now.
I totally agree with you. Knowing your worth is so important in this industry. Just ask the “The Three Stooges” , those guys totally got robbed. Their studio made a killing off of their talents and didn’t compensate them fairly. That’s why its good that the option to re-negotiate is fair especially when your show is a hit.
Sure, their are a lot of ‘hungy actors’ out there – and many out ‘out there’ because they aren’t talented enough (or fortunate enough) to be elsewhere. The bottom line is that these are the people that are needed to do this particular show, these people are getting shafted by the execs compared to standard practice, and the execs are making a vast lions share of the money (despite doing almost nothing of the work). If you’ve got the nerve to bark at people getting paid what the market will bear, then bark at the right people – the skeezy moneysucking, no-nothing execs that make avarice a way of life.
Not the first great show to be done in by Greed and hubris!
When you factor in all the moola that producers of Modern Family will be banking in syndication, it only makes sense that the stars of the show take advantage and get their deserved raises. Unlike most professions, an actor sometimes only has the ‘window’ of opportunity on their current hit. Once a show is canceled, that actor may not find steady work ever again.
Calm down, M. Daly. You’re obviously reacting from a personal, emotional standpoint rather than from a professional one.
There are so many factors here that have been discussed to death on previous boards.
It’s a business decision. Yes, there are roughly 1m other actors who’d do the job for $100 per day.
The problem is:
1. They’d probably be bad.
2. No one would watch them.
3. They’d never have the same chemistry this team of actors has.
They’ve gone the pro route by showing good faith and showing back up tomorrow.
Relax a little.
Bottom line: they’re worth it. The network and the studio are making money hand over fist. There’s no reason the principal cast members should be denied a pay raise. They’re not aiming for “Friends” cast $1 Million/episode figures. Going from reported $65K to $100-$150K per episode is reasonable and still allows the net and studios to make killer bank.
$150K x 22 episodes = $3.3 Million per star, per season
Meanwhile the Phillies just gave Cole Hamels $24 Million per year for 6 years.
And that’s not figuring in that out of that 3.3 million, 10% will go to agents, 5% to managers and 5% to lawyers.
Still a lot of money, but you better believe a hell of a lot of work, today and for all the years to get them to this point. They are worth every penny.
@M. Daly – Are you saying that 20th Century Fox & ABC should get the windfall? That the actors shouldn’t?
NOTICE: Ed O’Neill, who is the oldest, knows NOT to buck the hand that feeds him. Younger ones could learn from him.
You realize that Ed O’Neill has a much bigger paycheck than they do, right?
Ed O’Neill is already making more than the others.
The reason Ed showed up and isn’t ‘bucking the hand’ is because he’s got a different, much better deal than the others.
So the Doctor who treats you when you are ill should only be paid minimum wage because you chose not to better yourself to a point in which people found you to be moderately valuable?
Same with anyone else including actors and athletes. No one shows up to your house and pays to watch you do they.
So you’re saying one’s value is measured by the size of their paycheck. You probably don’t think much of teachers. This board is riddled with common logical fallacies as the first commenter apparently set off a panic.
I am a Teacher. I am well paid.
Then you’re insane. No actual teacher would say that.
I live in a state that pays teachers well. I didn’t get into it for the money and have never complained about my pay. If I felt I wanted a career where I would have made more money, I would have chosen a different major, such as engineering. I would not sit and complain about what someone else makes. No one forced me to be a Teacher.
Name the state or it’s not true, K.
exactly.
I think you’re all being a little rough on M. Daly… His point is that the five cast members are being a little extreme with the show that made them household names. Sure they should get more money, but be professional… like Ed O’Neil.
K:
It has nothing to do that I “chose not to better myself to a point in which people found you to be moderately valuable?” For the profession that I’m in, I’m paid well considering the economy, something which possibly slips your consideration (a failing economy, you know about that don’t you?). I also have problems with athletes being overpaid as well. It’s hard for someone not “in the business, be it acting or athletics” to feel sorry for someone griping about being paid what to the rest of us in the “real world” would be consider an obscene amount of money.
Have to say I agree with: “Not the first great show to be done in by Greed and hubris!” Jerry Kupcinet
And yes, some points have been made that the chemistry might not be a good with other actors, point well taken. And in no way, shape or form should networks get the windfall. Guess the point I was trying to make is for the actors not to expect sympathy from those of us who are struggling to make in one year what they may make in a month or a week.
You do not sue your employer unless you have been fired or something to that extreme. This cast is lucky to have landed the jobs they have.
The entire cast should be told that instead of getting a raise they are going to be held to their original seven year contracts. Take it or leave it. They will go on strike and then you replace all of them.
Or you just keep Sofia she’s the only one who’s valuable if you look at this cast objectively. Keep Sofia and the kids and fire everyone else. The ratings would go way up. New viewers would tune in to see the new cast.
This show can work with any actors and actresses and the fun would be seeing a new cast starting in January. FOX has to teach these people a lesson. This is the perfect opportunity. They should have replaced all of the Simpsons voice actors long ago but they were afraid to do that. Nothing would have happened the ratings would have stayed the same.
thankfully you’re not in charge.
People saying these actors are greedy for wanting more money are insane.
We all sit here and b**** and moan about how actors and athletes make too much money boo hoo I can barely get by each year. It’s time to take a good look at reality and realize there are a million people that can do your job and very few who can do theirs. If you want to tell me there are hundreds of starving actors out there who would kill at an opportunity, go ahead. But start listing some names that could fill the shoes of the people on Modern Family rather than just throwing out some generic statement like that.
This isn’t an industry built around teaching lessons. It’s about making money. Studios want it, producers want it, actors want it, agents want it, and so forth and so on. If you don’t like the fact that everyone wants a piece of the pie, move on to a different industry that cares about feelings and making everyone happy.
The cast could easily be replaced with very capable actors who have worked on other shows but are currently out of work. Modern Family is obnoxious but it’s popular and its popularity would actually increase with a new cast. FOX and ABC will make more money but they won’t do this they don’t have the guts to do this. They will cough up the money and it will be business as usual.
I don’t know how you can possibly think a new cast can come in and still carry this show. You think people will honestly stay interested when five or six new people play these roles? The thing about TV is we see these people as the characters they play on TV. Ty Burrell is Phil Dunphey when we see him. Julie Bowen is Claire. That would never work.
Business will carry on as usual because Hollywood is business, nothing more.
How do you come to the conclusion that Modern Family would be more popular with a new cast? People tune in to see the characters they’ve fallen in love with: Cameron and Mitchell, Gloria and Jay, Phil and Claire, etc… It’s very likely that a new family would never have the same chemistry and would ultimately be rejected by the audience. The network shouldn’t risk it just to avoid giving a modest and much deserved raise for the cast.
Sofia Vergara could carry the show all by herself. Terminate every other adult cast member keep the kids they’re great and explain in the season opener that all the other adults including Ed O’Neill died in a helicopter crash and Sofia is left with all the kids all on her own. Presto, a new hit show that would get the same ratings and possibly higher ratings. The fun would be seeing Sofia dating new men and trying to find the perfect man to marry. FOX should do this and ABC would realize it’s a brilliant way to reinvent the show. It would work perfectly.
you are just so brilliant, “friendly neighborhood exec”….let me guess: NBC?
I think the cast has great chemistry and deserve a raise. I also think that the kids are great and their parents should be fighting to get them a raise too!!
Overall, seize the opportunity to make as much money as you can because once the show is cancelled that’s it! What they should be negotiating for is back-end participation money, such as syndication money, DVD sales money, Netflix money, HULU money, and anytime you use my likeness to promote this show money!! (if this is an actual category)
He gets more money and a backend deal because unlike anyone else in the show he was known well before the show came out. Many people only started watching the show because they saw he was a part of it, something that can’t be said about any other cast member. Even after this dispute is done he should still get more than any other cast member and the other cast members should thank him for being a part of the show in the first place.
I guess I missed the part where the actors were forced at gunpoint to sign their contracts. Yes, the people that took all the financial risk are making a lot of money. That’s the way it’s supposed to work.
The cast members took no risk. They would still have gotten paid if the show bombed and the producers lost money. But instead of being thrilled to be working on a hit show, they think they’re entitled to a larger slice of the pie.
They seem to have forgotten what it’s like to be looking for work. Maybe they need reminding.
These discussions revolve around the value of work. It will be one of the eternal debates, but any real discussion includes the element of risk in the job performed. As mentioned, actors have no guarantee they will ever work again, they do not get benefits and do not have job security so the money they make may seem over the top to some but it may have to last them for years. An athelete’s career can be over in moments. Also, to be one of the big money atheletes you have to have dedicated your life to reach the elite level in your chosen sport. I, like many, chose a much safer route. I spent my teen years enjoying myself not getting up at 4 am to push my body to excellence on the remote chance I may get to be one of the best. I worked hard, was educated well and enjoy a very well paying job with excellent benefits. I chose the low risk route and do well but in no way would I begrudge those who risk it all and beat the odds by rising to the top of their professions.