Profit From Reruns: One Penny Per DVD
“The Carol Burnett Show” broke new ground when it came to television. Carol Burnett was a female comedian who ran a sketch show with thousands of small segments that still get plenty of laughs today.
With eleven seasons and plenty of reruns to show, you’d think Carol would be sitting pretty, but it wasn’t to be. Reruns had to cut out music due to copyrights, which reduced the amount she got for each show. Her most recent contract grants her a single penny for each DVD sold. Thankfully, Burnett is getting a little help from her recent Netflix show, “A Little Help”.
Mark Harmon: NCIS
Profit From Reruns: $60 Million So Far
As another part of the CSI family, NCIS is set around Navy investigator Special Agent Jethro Gibbs, played by Mark Harmon. The show first aired in 2003, and is still going! Harmon earns about an eighth of a million dollars per episode, and with hundreds of episodes bringing in that sweet rerun money.
Two more shows have spun off this long-runner, but the original NCIS is the seventh-longest primetime television series in the US. This means Harmon is set to make enough money to put all of his great-grandchildren through college. Right now the number is a mere sixty million.
David Schwimmer: Friends
Profit From Reruns: $20 Million a Year
In "Friends", Schwimmer played the archaeologist who thankfully ends up with Jennifer Aniston's character. Like Matt LeBlanc, he's getting twenty million dollars a year thanks to reruns and syndication.
His career is going strong thanks to roles in the animated "Madagascar" movies and the recent Netflix movie "The Laundromat", with Meryl Streep. His famous line “We were on a break!” is still popular online as a meme. Based on the popularity of the show on Netflix and other streaming services, all six of the principal actors will continue to earn big.
Tim Allen: Home Improvement
Profit From Reruns: $18 Million So Far
Tim the Toolman Taylor appeared in over two hundred episodes of "Home Improvement" as he helped viewers of his in-show series improve their homes and he improved his relationship with his family.
This sitcom was a big hit for the Disney channel. Allen still gets money from the show to the tune of eighteen million dollars in total, and there have even been rumblings of a reunion, which would certainly bump that number even higher. One way or the other, Tim Allen has plenty of projects to keep himself busy, such as his show "Last Man Standing", and voicing Buzz Lightyear in the "Toy Story" series.
Tracey Ullman: The Tracey Ullman Show
Profit From Reruns: $5,000 a Year
As an actress, singer, and dancer on various shows, it was no surprise when Tracey Ullman got her own show on Fox. Opening with the George Clinton song “You're Thinking Right,” the show ran for four years, ending in 1990.
Thanks to reruns on Fox, Ullman earns a maximum of $5,000 per year. And this was even only after fighting a long legal battle with the producers of "The Simpsons" after voicing a number of characters ("The Simpsons" first appeared on "The Tracey Ullman Show" as animated shorts), all for a mere five grand a year.