In 1997, NBC faced a problem that would have sounded ridiculous just a few years earlier: How much do you pay the star of a television show that has become too valuable to lose?
The answer was $1 million per episode.
Jerry Seinfeld’s new salary for the ninth season of “Seinfeld” was unprecedented. But instead of establishing an untouchable ceiling, it gave every major television star who followed a new target. Within a few years, Kelsey Grammer was making $1.6 million per episode of “Frasier.” Ray Romano pushed the traditional network-TV record to at least $1.8 million for “Everybody Loves Raymond.” Sarah Jessica Parker has long been reported to have earned $3.2 million per episode during the final seasons of “Sex and the City.”
Today, streaming has pushed compensation back toward the $2 million-per-episode level while making the rankings much harder to understand. Modern stars are often actors, producers and executive producers at the same time, meaning a “$2 million salary” may actually be several different forms of compensation bundled together.
So who is actually the highest-paid TV actor in history? And who is earning the most right now? The answers depend on exactly what you’re counting.
Who Is The Highest-Paid TV Actor Right Now?
Among stars of ongoing television series whose compensation has been credibly reported, Jennifer Aniston has the strongest current claim. She earns an estimated $2 million per episode of “The Morning Show” in combined acting and producing fees.
Sylvester Stallone is either tied or very close behind. He earned nearly $2 million per episode for Season 3 of “Tulsa King,” where he also serves as an executive producer. The series continued into a fourth season, though an updated Season 4 salary has not been publicly established.
Those modern packages are important to distinguish from a pure acting salary. Aniston and Stallone are being compensated for more than simply performing, which is why Ray Romano’s $1.8 million “Everybody Loves Raymond” deal remains such an important historical benchmark.
The Biggest Per-Episode TV Paydays Ever
The table below ranks the largest reported per-episode compensation packages in television history.
Sarah Jessica Parker Vs. Ray Romano: Who Actually Holds The Record?
Sarah Jessica Parker occupies a unique place in the history of television compensation. As “Sex and the City” became one of HBO’s defining shows, Parker’s influence expanded beyond acting and she eventually became an executive producer.
Celebrity Net Worth has long reported that Parker earned $3.2 million per episode during the final three seasons. With 46 episodes across those seasons, that would equal roughly $147 million in compensation. The figure has subsequently been repeated by numerous entertainment publications, but its original sourcing is difficult to trace, and Parker was serving as both star and producer by that point.
For that reason, Parker’s $3.2 million figure is best described as the largest reported per-episode compensation package in television history rather than the highest independently documented pure acting salary. You can read the full story of Sarah Jessica Parker’s extraordinary “Sex and the City” compensation here.
Ray Romano’s record is much cleaner. In 2003, he negotiated a contract paying him at least $1.8 million per episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond.” Contemporary industry reporting explicitly described the deal as making him television’s highest-paid actor, surpassing the $1.6 million Kelsey Grammer had been earning for “Frasier.”
The size of Romano’s salary was even more extraordinary because traditional network sitcoms regularly produced more than 20 episodes per season. At $1.8 million per episode, a 24-episode season would generate more than $43 million in salary before considering any additional economic interest in the show.
So there are really two defensible records: Parker has the largest widely reported overall per-episode package, while Romano has one of the strongest claims to the highest clearly documented traditional episodic acting salary.
How $1 Million Per Episode Became Hollywood’s TV Benchmark
Jerry Seinfeld reached television’s defining salary milestone first. In 1997, NBC agreed to pay him roughly $1 million per episode for the ninth season of “Seinfeld.” His acting salary was only part of his economics, however, because his ownership and backend participation ultimately made the show’s syndication value far more important to his fortune than his weekly paycheck.
A few years later, Grammer pushed the record to $1.6 million per episode for “Frasier,” and Romano subsequently reached at least $1.8 million.
The cast of “Friends” took a different approach. Beginning with negotiations for Season 3, the six principal actors bargained as a group and insisted on equal compensation. Their salaries eventually climbed to $1 million per episode each for Seasons 9 and 10, while the cast also obtained backend participation in the show’s long-term revenue.
For Jennifer Aniston, that meant reaching the million-dollar threshold years before she would return to it in the streaming era. The “Friends” deal became almost as important for its negotiating strategy as for the actual salary: instead of allowing the studio to play one actor against another, six stars acted as a single economic unit. See our detailed breakdown of how much the “Friends” cast earned.
Charlie Sheen later produced one of the best examples of why TV salary figures need context. He is frequently described as having earned $1.8 million per episode of “Two and a Half Men,” but his base acting salary was roughly $1.25 million. The higher figure included expected backend income from reruns.
“The Big Bang Theory” created another enormous ensemble payday. Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco reached $1 million per episode beginning with Season 8. Later, the five principal stars agreed to reduce their salaries to help make larger raises possible for Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch.
For the full chronology, see our separate guide to every television actor who has earned $1 million or more per episode.
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Annual earnings rankings can tell a very different story from per-episode salaries. Sofia Vergara dominated those lists during the “Modern Family” era, ranking as television’s highest-paid actress for five consecutive years. She earned $28.5 million in the 2015 ranking and $43 million in 2016, when she earned more than any television actor or actress. Much of that income came from endorsements, licensing deals and business ventures in addition to her “Modern Family” salary, which is why those annual rankings should not be confused with a list of the largest per-episode paychecks.
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Streaming Changed What “Per Episode” Means
The streaming era has pushed headline compensation back toward and above $2 million per episode while making direct comparisons much messier. Traditional network actors were generally quoted an acting salary, with producing fees and backend interests treated separately. Modern streaming deals frequently bundle several forms of compensation together.
Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon have been reported to receive as much as $2 million per episode for “The Morning Show,” but both are also executive producers. Other reporting has placed Witherspoon’s combined compensation for producing and starring lower, demonstrating why modern package figures should not automatically be treated as pure acting salaries.
John Krasinski presents an even clearer example. His reported $2 million-per-episode compensation for “Jack Ryan” included both his acting salary and producing fee. Robert Downey Jr. was similarly reported to be receiving at least $2 million per episode for “The Sympathizer,” although trade reporting treated the figure as a reported package rather than a publicly confirmed acting salary.
Meanwhile, Sylvester Stallone reached nearly $2 million per episode for Season 3 of “Tulsa King,” where he also serves as an executive producer. Kevin Costner reached the seven-figure tier with “Yellowstone,” illustrating how streaming and premium-cable economics have allowed established movie stars to command movie-star compensation on television.
None of this makes modern salaries less impressive. It simply means today’s biggest television stars increasingly function as both performers and producers, making an apples-to-apples comparison with Romano, Grammer or Seinfeld difficult.
The Original 2021 Highest-Paid TV Actors Ranking
Celebrity Net Worth originally published this page in September 2021 as a ranking of the highest-paid actors then working in television. Streaming had already transformed the industry, and 25 of the 29 actors on the original list were working outside traditional broadcast network television.
The ranking is preserved below because it provides a useful historical snapshot. These are the salary figures reported and published at the time, not a newly calculated all-time ranking.
For an expanded look at television’s seven-figure salary club, see our complete list of actors who have earned $1 million or more per episode.
