This is how much money the Friends cast made for every single episode of the show

Though the Friends cast spent the early seasons of the show playing money strapped 20 somethings, in reality the cast were getting paid a fortune for just one episode of the show.

Thanks to clever negotiation, all six cast members managed to get themselves some pretty impressive deals and end up with million dollar salaries.

They all ended the show getting paid $1million each for every 20 minute episode, and even when they first began filming they were paid over $20,000 for appearing in an episode of the show. One episode?! Madness.

These are the salaries of the Friends cast throughout the years, including the recent reunion:

The early seasons

During the first season of Friends all six of the cast were paid $22,500 per episode, making each member $540,000 for all those early episodes.

Then in season two the cast were given a pay rise and their salary increased to $40,000 per episode, which made them all nearly $1million for just one season.

Before the third season the cast unconventionally grouped together and asked for more money. For season three they were paid $75,000 each per episode. In season four it was $85,000 and in season five they all received $100,000 per episode.

By the time season six rolled around the cast were all earning $125,000 per episode of Friends.

The later seasons

Again the six Friends cast members negotiated as a group for their salaries.

In season seven and eight they were each paid $750,000 per episode, meaning their total salary for each season was $18million.

And then for the final two seasons, each cast member made $1million for every episode. Bringing their grand total for those two seasons to $42million each.

Reruns

When the cast negotiated their salaries in 2000, they added on an additional clause that would allow them to make money from syndication deals.

So every time the show is bought by a company like Netflix, the cast will make millions from this. It’s been said each cast member makes between $10-$20million in royalties alone.

The reunion

Sticking with their long tradition of negotiating pay together, for the reunion episode two years ago, the cast also joined forces to get their millions.

The cast are said have earned between $2.5 million and $ 3 million each for appearing in the reunion episode.

Friends is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Featured image credit via Netflix

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