Big Picture
Renée Zellweger: Fashion Fun Plus, Nicole Kidman hangs out with her family and Bradley Cooper is a grizzly guy. The latest pics!
MORE PHOTOS +Most Commented
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: Vote in the Final Round! (2036)
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: This Round Is Closed, Please Stand By (972)
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: This Round Is Closed, Please Stand By (686)
- Afternoon Mail! Are Gleeks Having More Sex Than Vamps? (586)
- TV's Top Couple Tournament: And the Winner Is... (408)
- Whitney Houston Dead at 48 (394)
- Beyoncé and Jay-Z Share First Photos of Baby Blue Ivy! (389)
- Morning Mail! Is Lea Michele Ready to Walk Like an Egyptian? (286)
- Twilight Director Talks Kristen Stewart and Ex Michael Angarano: "They Were Such a Great Couple" (261)
- Life After Breaking Dawn?! Maybe, Says Studio Head! (226)
Top 10 Stories
- Whitney Houston and Other Divas Who Died Too Soon
- Chris Brown Tweets to Haters After Grammy Win
- Whitney Houston Tribute: Watch LeAnn Rimes' Emotional Performance of "I Will Always Love You"
- Oprah Twitter Scandal! Winfrey Apologizes After Soliciting Nielsen Viewers to Watch OWN
- Glee Scoop: There's a New Love Triangle Going Down!
- The Voice vs. American Idol: This Is War
- Chris Brown's Grammy Lovefest Slammed by Miranda Lambert, Jack Osbourne, Eric Stonestreet, More
- Janet Jackson Remembers Whitney Houston's "Sweet Soul," Gives Advice to Bobbi Kristina on Coping With Death
- Triplets? Twins? Jennifer Aniston Addresses Pregnancy Rumors, Gets Serenaded by Steven Tyler
- Whitney Houston's Body Arrives at Funeral Home as Burial Plans Formally Announced
Fashion Police
Angelina: Going Grey! Plus, Christina Hendricks, Vanessa Hudgens, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Michelle Williams and Kristen Wiig. Rate the highs and lows!
MORE PHOTOS +
Our Partners
Romano: CBS' $40 Million Man?!
Just days after Kelsey Grammer inked a record-setting pay raise with NBC and Drew Carey signed a lucrative new deal with ABC, CBS is looking to wrap up its franchise funnyguy in a big way.
According to Daily Variety, the network and Romano are thisclose to terms on a whopping $40 million contract extension that will keep him and his Everybody Loves Raymond on CBS for two more seasons, paying the show star-cocreator upwards of $800,000 an episode.
Representatives for CBS and HBO Independent Productions, which produces the show along with David Letterman's World Wide Pants, refused to comment on the pending deal.
But, inside sources tell Variety, the Emmy-nominated actor's new salary increase will also be retroactive to include his work on the fourth and fifth seasons of the series, netting him even more millions.
The deal puts Romano in some rarefied company. While not retroactive, Grammer drew a record $1.6 million per episode fee for sticking with Frasier for two more years, making him the highest paid star in TV history. And Carey's extension was worth an estimated $750,000 per episode of The Drew Carey Show.
Like those stars, the checks will go even higher for Romano thanks to syndication. Romano will reportedly receive a hefty chunk of the projected $300 million the network is expected to gross once Raymond begins a five-year run in syndication next season.
Retaining the star is priority number one for CBS, considering it just recently signed a $140 million deal with the show's producers to continue airing Raymond through May 2003.
And for good reason. The comedy has turned into a solid ratings performer for CBS since it first debuted in the mid '90s, now ranking just behind NBC's Friends in the race for TV's most-watched comedy. The CBS sitcom regularly dominates its 9 p.m. Monday slot and has averaged nearly 19.9 million viewers a week, up 2.5 million viewers from a year ago.
Romano and CBS first started negotiating the new deal last winter. Meanwhile, network executives are trying to nail down contracts with Raymond's key cast members, including Patricia Heaton (who won an Emmy for her role as Ray's wife) and Doris Roberts (who snagged a TV Guide Award earlier this year for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy).
Everybody Loves Raymond kicks off its sixth season this fall.
0 Comments
Now loading...