This week's TV Guide magazine has a list of "Who Earns What" as actors on TV series. Tom Welling is the only CW actor listed on there and apparently he makes $150,000 per episode.
Here's a few other actors for comparision:

Charlie Sheen was first on the list with $825,000 per episode (which includes earnings from his ownership stake in Two and a Half Men).
Kiefer Sutherland makes $500,000 per episode of 24.
Kyra Sedgwick makes $275,000 per episode of The Closer.
Patrick Dempsey makes $250,000 per episode of Grey's Anatomy.
Jennifer Love Hewitt makes $225,000 per episode of The Ghost Whisperer.
Steve Carell makes $200,000 per episode of The Office.

I'm assuming (and I could be wrong) that since Tom was the only CW star mentioned, that no one else even comes close? Someone like Tyra Banks wouldn't count because she'd be in the reality show category (Simon Cowell makes $50 million a year). I'm thinking more along the lines of Chad Michael Murray, Blake Lively (Gossip Girl was really only her 2nd thing after the first The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie), or Jensen Ackles.

That about what I figured. I'm assuming that's not counting what he makes for directing. Either way, 3.3 million isn't bad at all.

I'd think so. Smallville is the longest running show on the network (it's probably one of the longest running shows on primetime TV now- part of that class of 2001 which gave us Alias, 24 and Scrubs). One Tree Hill, second longest running IIRC. is entering its 6th season and doesn't get nearly as much press as Smallville does.

Tom deserves a raise.
A huge raise.

Totally. I mean, he was in The Fog for crying out loud!

Seriously, though...I'm not sure that I buy the listed figure as accurate. It seems VERY low, no? I don't know how contracts work, and if there was some kind of cap in place from day one and/or what kind of, if any, negotiating power TW would have, but you'd think a lead in a relatievly popular 7+ year series would be making more than that. I wonder if MR was doing the same range. Jeez, no wonder he left.

I'm guessing that the salary info is available through the Screen Actors Guild somehow, but I could be wrong.

Jennifer Love Hewitt is also an executive producer on Ghost Whisperer so I don't know if her salary figure included the producer salary or just what she gets paid for acting.

Wouldn't Ghost Whisperer bring in a lot more ad revenue than Smallville though? I assume anything on The CW is going to be bringing in a lot less than most things on the bigger networks.

Also, I assume Welling was paid very little, comparatively in season one. Even with the yearly increases, I wouldn't expect him to be on more than $150,000 per episode.

Which is still a huge amount of money for a relatively small amount of work.

Considering what I hear may be the weekly budget for Smallville, and considering the lame-duck network that it's on, Tom is getting a decent chunk of change.

But with that said, if the show had aired on and been nurtured by a real network, Tom would totally be expected to make more than the Boob Whisperer.

I doubt it. SAG has standard percentages but the amount of money that actors can earn will be different from job to job. Personally I think that figure for TW is wrong. It's way too little considering how long the show has been on and considering the amount of hours that he has to work. 150,000 per episode would be more of a season one salary. By now I would imagine that TW is getting 250,000 to 300,000 per episode.

Upon more inspection, I realized that the TV Guide article says that the salaries were "Based on the information from TV industry insiders and published sources."

But if the overall budget for the series is 1 million per (not saying it is, just throwing it out there), then there's no way Tom would be getting 300,000 of the weekly budget, since they still have a lot of other people and things to pay for. It's just not financially feasible, especially if the CW cut the license fee they pay for the series.

This is too low IMO. I'm no authority on what's correct, but, my guess is the amount of time, the way CW relies on him for revenues, and fan response would give have him at a much higher amount. Plus, he's playing Superman for pete's sake!

Being a television actor has to suck at times. The hours can be brutal and you can't do anything else while in production. To me, the zeros look like a lot of money, but there's constant investments to maintain in your appearance and everyone around you gets a cut.

It's just not enough in his case.

Run TOM Run!

Quite awhile back, and I don't even remember the thread, but someone who purported to know said that an episode averages about $3-million.

True, but at the same time, a steady paycheck is always nice as compared to a movie where you're only paid once.

I believe it was back during season six that SDK on his myspace page had said that an episode of Smallville cost 3.5 million per episode to produce. That actually sounds about right. The actors salaries alone would easily cover almost 1 million of that production cost with the other 2.5 to be split on all the other areas of production.



I guess if you have a problem taking home more in one week then most people make in a year then yeah being a tv actor would suck. Other than that it would be a pretty sweet gig.

From what I hear it's a LOT less in Season 8...

What are you hearing the new budget is around? Or can you not tell us?

With a smaller budget maybe it will force them to script more time for the characters to talk and interact. There usually is so much going on in everyones head that we never get to know about, I wish the would take the time to let the audience in.

But that just makes them think that the way to save money equals more triangles and not anything deeper than that.

I think that if whoever was in charge of this network (and above) really wanted to get people interested in the Superman franchise, it wouldn't keep cutting the FX $$$ because damn, it ain't the writing and in some cases the acting that makes people come back.

A place to discuss the real-world monetary aspects of Smallville. I'm moving some posts here from the media thread.

My guess it's 1.5 million per episode for S8.

I read somewhere that they expect to see a clip show with the current budget. I actually think that would be a good idea. Goodness knows, there's a wealth of scenes to throw back to.

I wondered about a clip show a while back. The idea was met with much derision. ;)
However, after 7 years and the imminent (sp?) close of the series, if they want to tie up some dangling story threads a clip show might help refresh some memories, in addition to being cheap to produce.

I think a clip show would be great... heck, a recap to launch the season, even, would be welcomed.

Such things still would cost money though - approval from previous cast, DVD licensing, etc.

Ideally I'd prefer a clip show to be a 23rd episode in the season, though.

I will say that whenever they do the clip montages at Comic-Con I get a happy nostalgic feeling... I think that might be what they need. Of course, with being on the CW, it's still a question of if people will actually see it.

I think it's because overall clip shows are met with derision, not just your idea or for this show but overall. Especially when they try to pass it off as a new episode like with "Remember the times..." The commentary for The Simpsons' It's Come To This: A Simpsons Clip Show explains the entire clip show thing hysterically.

I can't possibly imagine the episode of Smallville that cost 3 million dollars. This show has Hercules the Legendary Journey level special effects.

They don't spend a lot of money on special effects. In fact the special effects department undoubtedly has the smallest budget of all the various departments that works on the show.

What we do know is that the production budget has been cut. What we don't know is exactly how much. We can only guess but I'd say that it was slashed 1-1.5 million per episode. So instead of paying 3-3.5 million per show its now down to 2-2.5 million per show. You add that up for 22 shows that's 22 plus million dollars that the CW is saving in franchising fee's. That's a lot of money. For a show that has been on as long as Smallville has that's also a pretty serious blow to the production company that produces it.

Under normal circumstances this would be an even greater cause of concern but lets look at whats happened within the past year. They've lost 3 cast members. 2 of them principles. The amount of money that SV will save on both MR's and KK's salaries alone will cover a lot of what was been cut from the production budget. The other part of this is that now SV only has two full time cast members in TW and AM. Everybody else is on a part time basis so they save money there. When it comes to television the two biggest expenses come in the form of actors salaries and producers fee's. Al/Miles fee's are no longer part of the equation.

So while the production budget may have been cut the show has also cut a lot of it's cost at the same time. TW whatever he does make he's at least guaranteed that in season eight because he has a contract saying he is, so they can't cut his salary. AM is most likely the only series regular actor who actually got a raise because she got a new contract for season eight. Both ED and AA were already contracted so their salaries are already set. That leaves the three new series regulars who are only part-time anyway. Out of them JH is probably the only one who would get a little more if only because of his previous history with the show. While KK will be back for 5 it wouldn't affect the budget because they are using season seven budget for those since she was gone for five.

Oh I understand. Personally, I don't mind clip shows if they a) are few and far between, b) help refresh memories on important but distant plot points (e.g. the Fever letter, the Skinwalker bracelet, etc.), and c) feature "Hell yeah!" moments. Furthermore, if it allows a financially strapped show to spread the budget around to give some kick-ass episodes then I don't see the big deal. I don't like it so much when they tout them as "new" episodes though. It's better if the reason for the clips serves some kind of organic purpose and are included amongst some new scenes that further a genuine plot. Reminiscing for a purpose (e.g. Clark trying to convince Chloe that he really loves her afterall, a Chlois reveal, etc.) is better than just "remember those funny times..., gosh those were the days" swill.

Yeah, clip shows are enjoyed as long as their is a legitimate reason and an actual plot to the episode that features the clips. In other words, if it doesn't feel like they are just wasting our time.

I always think of Star Trek TNG with their infamous RIKER clip show season finale from season 1. It was so obvious that it was just a waste of time. The whole episode was either a clip show or RIKER on a bed moving his eyes around very fast with TROI crying and Picard looking perplexed.

Oh, and Old Juan....GREAT post. I don't think it's going to be all that noticeable. And it especially won't be as noticeable if the dollar keeps rising like it is right now. That helps the exchange rate which saves them money.

I actually think the only reason JH is affordable this year is because he already had a talent deal with the network, so the network is footing part of the bill.

As for budget cuts... as I understand it, the music supervisor is gone; the on-set unit publicist is gone; Al Gough, Miles Millar, and Ken Horton have all departed on the production side; Michael and KK are gone, but also, John Glover has departed and I'd imagine he was getting paid fairly well because of his experience; and I'm pretty sure there are even more cuts across the board to make the ship tighter.

So what will this mean as far as having music in the episodes?

Perhaps there will be a running scroll at the bottom of the screen. It'll say things like, "Put in Cold Play CD. Hit track 8........ NOW!"

Hopefully the Goofy "Lois Is a DumbShit" Theme is safe.

I'm still hoping for someone to play "Superman Dat Ho" on the show.

In my opinion, they need to be spending at least as much on the special effects budget as they were last season. And even then, it was frustrating how little action we got sometimes and how many stupid moments there were where a character should have used their powers and didn't (Kara, I'm looking at you trying to stab Zor-El at normal speed).

It was also pretty obvious that some of the effects (heat vision is the most glaring example) have been 'cheapened' to make them more cost effective.

I don't want to see anymore of this. At the end of the day this is still an action-adventure show. As important as the writing etc. is, in my opinion the action sequences and special effects are just as important.

Without them I'm just watching another drama on The CW. And if I wanted to do that I'd be watching One Tree Hill.

And I'm not.

Also, I think as a general rule, money or not, ever year a show should be a little bigger and bolder. A little more action, a little more effects... Not sliding back the other way. I don't think that plays well at all. It's like the rule of sequels having to top the original. No-one wants to see the sequel where they've ramped things down rather than up.

I think good writing can make up for a decrease in effects on a genre show while still keeping it "actiony." BtVS, for example, didn't have the greatest effects budget ever (and it sometimes showed) but that show wasn't lacking in the action department. But SV has a couple of strikes against it that BtVS doesn't have.

First, while some shows can make up for decreased effects with really good writing and interesting storylines, writing isn't always one of SV's strongest elements. As someone else mentioned, SV's idea of beefing up the writing seems to be to add more romantic angst/love triangles.

Another way some genre shows make up for decreased effects is with more kick-ass fight scenes. But Clark is so powerful that showing him in a real fight with someone as strong as he is takes a lot of effects. So they've got a "Catch 22" situation there.

When "they" decided to renew Charmed for an 8th season, the budget was also severely cut.
TPTB had to come up with a contrived reason to get rid of Leo (Piper's husband) for the majority of the season so that they would "hopefully" be able to afford him (and hopefully he would be available) for the series finale.
Plus, Alyssa, Holly, and Rose were done with being over-worked and put into ridiculous costumes.
To solve this, they brought in Kaley Cuoco to play a nascent witch who needed training. She got to wear the stupid costumes instead. To me, this season seemed so different from the first seven that I almost think of it as a different show altogether. I really liked the season seven finale (it was written as a series finale just in case the show wasn't renewed) so I prefer to think of that as the last episode of the show.

I think I'm more optimistic than some about the eighth season of Smallville so I'm hoping that what I just said about Charmed will not be true for Smallville too.


Maybe Chloe will develop some "Lana-Fu" abilities? I'm being sarcastic...

They could try sticking everybody on the Kansas sea's beach and make them wear swimwear permanently. It's really no stupider an idea than anything else they've ever done.

When a series goes past 7 seasons, the cost take a pretty big jump. Maybe because a lot of contracts come up for renewal around that time. (Which is what happened with SV.) So, even with the old budget, doing an 8th season would've already required tightening the old belt. And the old budget already didn't seem like it was enough for a show like SV.

For them to cut the budget again verges on the ridiculous. They had to know the show would have to be sliced and diced quite a bit as a result. Which makes it seem like they don't care about the show's quality, as long as they can have another season of SV on the air.

And I don't know why that surprises me even a little.

I wonder what the budget of Smallville is compared to the other CW shows?

I know that TW (and with her new contract, AM) probably have a larger per-episode salary than most of the CW actors. But I would think shooting so much of the show on sets would cut costs, as opposed to say Supernatural, which has a lot more outdoor and location-based shooting.

Advertising also come into play here. I know from last year, that the three genre shows on the CW (Smallville, Supernatual and Reaper) geta fraction of the advertising that Dawn's beloved tween girl targeted shows get. (If I see one more fucking commerical for 90210, I am going to smash my poor TV to pieces.) IIRC the Reaper showrunners complained a little about this last year, and Kripke used episode time and budget to make his commercials and promos.

I have already seen a lot of what I liked about Smallville go away (MR, JG, Real!Chloe). If the fights and FX also go away... well, Clois wackiness and Chimmy may be cheap to shoot, but it ain't too appealing for me. YMMV.

Ken Horton, too? WTF? Didn't he do, like, everything? Man, this sucks. I wonder if this means SV won't have any more commercial songs.

And according to MR's stand-in and SV stunt double, Morris Chapdelaine, new sets have been built for S8:

Link

But why since everyone seems to be doing everything in Metropolis.

That's a shame. I rather liked its look.

That was my immediate thought. This just seems so dumb. I guess they've done away with location shooting at the town then, which doesn't surprise me at all.

I'm also not surprised they've ditched film. It can be one of the most expensive production costs.

When every cast member now works in Metropolis?

Zod almighty, the dumb is just overpowering. I could understand doing this last year if they had some "Clark and Kara visit the town" or "Clana/Chimmy on a date" stories planned. But now? When the budget is being slashed and there is no reason to be in Smallville?

Whatever, show. At least with DMT, there is a reason to use the hospital set every other episode.

I believe Morris is incorrect on this one, but I don't blame him! The crew has been building a Metropolis set, according to Bulleteer's pictures (the most recent of which was from a few days ago). It looks like it would be a Smallville set, since everything is so humbly and small. A closer inspection reveals Metropolis flags hanging from lightposts, and a new movie theater called Metro (possibly where the gang will go to watch the new WA movie). They've spent the most amount of time on the exterior of what looks like an urban loft/apartment.

Of course, Morris could be talking about a set we haven't seen yet.

Thanks Scry. A Metropolis set makes much more sense. I find it hard to believe they'd have the money to build both a Metropolis and a Smallville set though, especially since they can't be doing much in Smallville this season.

And surely the point of building a set is to eliminate location shooting and save money?

Much as Charmed did in season 8 when they eliminated location shooting all together and only shot on their sets and the universal backlot.

I must have missed bulleteer's pictures. Do you have a link?

I realize this is speculation on my end, but I can't help to think that this is good news for Alison Mack fans. I know we were told that production wanted her back, but I didn't quite appreciate how much until I see the other costs.

Thanks Craig for posting.

See this is why I think ED getting more episodes is impossible. If it was at S7's budget then sure. However, this show will undoubtedly be hiring some guest stars, some speaking extras, so I don't think they'll waste money for 2 more ED Episodes for a 3+ min scene if the money could go to use of set building, or better lighting, or even better advertisements. Or many guest stars.

Nothing against ED, but I rather see the money used to make Clark fly then see ED in extra episodes.

I think the main actors contracts are very set in stone. It seems to me that negotiations took forever, especially with MR. (And it was pretty well known he wanted out--said he's gone, but not surprised).

I just don't see SV redoing anyone's contract. They've budgeted for talent, and they'll stick to it. Other things are more uncertain.