My Lunches with Orson: Conversations between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles

by Henry Jaglom

OW: Yes, well … Let me tell you the history of American television in a few well-chosen words. As soon as CBS and William Morris and NBC and MCA—those four—saw what television was, they made a secret pact. I don’t believe in conspiracy stories, but this one is true! Which was that nobody in a series was ever going to get anything like movie money. Nobody. So that when Henry Kissinger came on, they gave him $5,000 for one day. And even if you’re a top actor, and willing to do Love Boat—there’s always somebody—for a long time the top salary for anybody, for any length of time, in any hour show, was $7,500. That was broken by the Beatles, when [Ed] Sullivan paid them twenty-five, or something, for their first appearance on American television. But despite that, the fee has remained low all this time. You’ll find that most of the guest stars on shows like this are getting $2,500, $3,000, $3,500. And glad to get the exposure.