Profit From Reruns: $100 Million a Year
The impact of this noteworthy sitcom continues to this day. With quick wit, ridiculous characters, and episodes that ended up for the most part being about nothing, co-creators Jerry Seinfeld, and Larry David set the sitcom standard.
Most shows these days follow the ideas laid out by this show. Still, it’s possible younger fans won’t understand the pull, since plenty of shows have upped the creativity even further. With nine seasons, Seinfeld himself was earning a million per episode. And thanks to the fact that he was also a producer, he’s been bringing in over a hundred million dollars per year thanks to syndication.
Paul Fusco: Alf
Profit From Reruns: $300 Per Episode
Dreamt up by puppeteer and voice actor Paul Fusco, Alf stood for Alien Life Form, and the show "Alf" centered around a suburban family taking in this strange creature when it crash-landed in their garage.
The show was created by Fusco and Tom Patchett, and after only four seasons NBC canceled it due to low ratings. NBC president Brandon Tartikoff has regretted the move to cancel, saying the show could have gone for a few more years. During the first year of syndication, reruns gave Fusco a cool three hundred dollars per episode that ran.
Ben McKenzie: Gotham
Profit From Reruns: $10,000 a Year
Before there was the Batman, Captain Gordon kept the streets of Gotham safe – or tried to, at least. It was never easy. With supervillains like Penguin, The Riddler, and The Joker to contend with, Ben McKenzie has his work cut out for him.
Running for five seasons and ending just recently, it ran for exactly one hundred episodes. Not only did Ben star, but he also wrote and directed a few episodes. He is earning up to ten grand a year thanks to residuals from reruns and streaming. The very last supervillain to make an appearance was the big bruiser Bane, but by the end of the series, Batman has put on his cape and is ready to work.
French Stewart: 3rd Rock From the Sun
Profit From Reruns: $1,000 a Year
"3rd Rock From the Sun" features a group of extraterrestrials trying to make sense of life on Earth. Comedian French Stewart played Harry Solomon during the show's run of six seasons. The show also featured Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a child star. Sitcoms had boomed during that era, so this show had tough competition, yet still enjoyed respectable ratings.
Sadly, due to contract details, the cast is only getting about a thousand dollars a year, and most of that is only thanks to DVD sales. Good ratings only get you so far.
Jon Cryer: Two and a Half Men
Profit From Reruns: $20 Million So Far
"Two and a Half Men" has been at the top of the charts for years. The three original main actors, Jon Cryer, Charlie Sheen, and Angus T. still earn millions from rerun dividends. The sitcom is irreverent and goofy, and though it had its ups and downs (thanks mostly to Charlie Sheen's behavior), it has continued airing reruns even after twelve full seasons.
Cryer's peak salary was a little over six hundred thousand per episode, and at this point, he's earned around twenty million dollars in total residuals. A reboot might be in the works, but Sheen's unpredictability is a major factor in whether or not it will happen.