Amazing Star Salaries

Ophrah Winfrey, Charlie Sheen, Hugh Laurie

I set out to find out the salary of contestants on "Dancing With the Stars" trying to find out what attracted participants.  It was plain that nonentities like Bristol Palin were looking for a paycheck and possible linkage to a regular hook-up. Stars in the declining years of fame like Florence Henderson and David Hasselhoff probably were looking for an additional fifteen minutes of attention and maybe a renewed interest leading to regular employment.


Each DWTS contestant is paid $200,000 for the season regardless of how long they remain on the show.  First, second and third place winners are paid an additional bonus and the ultimate winner receives a bonus of $100,000 dollars. Not bad for limited talent, a little publicity, and another line on the resume.

As always when surfing the internet, one click leads to another, so let me share some of the interesting information I found.

• Oprah Winfrey gets paid $315 million-a-year for her talk show topping a list of the highest paid talk show hosts in the US, with her staggering wage more than the combined total of the next four top earners, Judge Judy Sheindlin and David Letterman, who earn $45 million and $28 million respectively, ‘Tonight Show’ star Jay Leno on $25 million and Conan O’Brien, who gets paid $10 million.
• Jennifer Lopez will rake in $12 millon per season while Ryan Seacrest paycheck will be $15 million annually, triple his salary from last season.
• Charlie Sheen of "Two and a Half Men"  is paid $1.8 million per episode while co-star Jon Cryer nets $550,000 per episode.
• Law and Order SUV stars Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay both earn $395,000 while David Caruso, CSI: Miami rakes in $375,000.
• Hugh Laurie, Dr. Gregory House earns $400,000 in season five of the award winning series.
•  Jersey Shores Snooki will earn $30,000 pr episode, up from $2,200 in season one.
• NCIS star Mark Harmon makes $325,000 while Michael Weatherly makes under $100,000.

For more detailed information, see the related articles below.

Related articles by Zemanta

• 'Judge Judy' Topples 'Oprah' From Top Daytime Spot (abcnews.go.com)
• Oprah Winfrey Tops List of the Highest Paid Talk Show Hosts (inquisitr.com)
• TV's Highest Paid Performers - 2010 List (theoriginalwinger.com)
• Hugh Laurie highest paid actor in US TV drama (telegraph.co.uk)