THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 21, 1996 TAG: 9607190092
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: PASADENA, CALIF. LENGTH: 87 lines
IT IS AS IF an earthquake measuring 8.5 on the Richter scale rattled NBC's corporate headquarters nearby in beautiful downtown Burbank. The network's brass has been knocked off balance by the six young cast members of ``Friends.''
With filming to begin soon for the third season of ``Friends,'' the six have staged a mutiny, telling NBC and Warner Brothers that they all want raises.
Big, fat raises.
Published reports in the show business trade papers say that Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer want their individual salaries raised from $40,000 to $100,000 per episode. Nobody at NBC is denying that.
The actors made $22,500 a week when the series started.
The NBC portion of the semi-annual press tour was progressing smoothly with only a mini news flash or two - Carey Lowell has been added to the cast of ``Law & Order'' as an assistant district attorney - when the ``Friends'' earthquake struck last week. At a time when he wanted the spotlight to brag about NBC being No. 1 among viewers 18 to 54, NBC Entertainment President Warren Littlefield was bombarded with questions about the ``Friends'' open revolt.
If the show's producer, Warner Brothers, refuses to pay the six ``Friends'' cast members $100,000 per show - that would add $8 million to the series' budget - would NBC consider asking the studio to re-cast the series with new best friends?
There is no time for that, said Littlefield. But there is time, he said, for Warner Brothers to make peace with Cox and the others before filming begins.
``The network is optimistic about bringing this to a conclusion.''
A Warner Brothers spokesman said he expects the cast's contracts will be re-negotiated ``amicably and successfully.'' Imagine ``Friends'' without the six actors who made it one of television's hottest shows, who helped NBC create must-see Thursday night along with ``Seinfeld'' and ``ER'' on a schedule that makes millions for the network. NBC without the Rachel 'do? Unthinkable.
You can bet it was no coincidence that this ``Friends'' rebellion came in the same month when Warner Brothers announced it expects to make $4 million an episode when ``Friends'' is put into syndication in 1998. Dick Robertson, the Norfolk man who heads up the Warner Brothers division that will syndicate ``Friends,'' had no comment about the possibility of the cast defecting.
Half of the stations in the United States have already pledged to buy ``Friends'' when it is syndicated. Would these stations pay big bucks for a show in which six wildly popular actors no longer take part? Not likely.
``The kids on `Friends' have the network and Warner Brothers just where they want them,'' said an executive of a rival network who asked not to be identified. ``Does anyone believe that NBC wants to jeopardize the `Friends' franchise? The kids will get the money they want.''
If the cast refuses to work on ``Friends,'' said NBC, they are forbidden by contract to do other TV until 1998.
Were it not for the ``Friends'' thing, this story from NBC might be making headlines today: Not only will the Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser characters reconcile after nearly splitting in last season's finale, they will become parents.
``The main story line of the new season will be Jamie's pregnancy and all that it brings with it,'' said Reiser, who created the series with Danny Jacobson. He said he brought the show through ``a dark spot'' with the crisis in the Buchmans' marriage last season, and now that's done for.
``We do not intend to spend the next 22 episodes feuding,'' he said.
``Mad About You,'' which was attracting about 30 million viewers on Sunday for NBC, will move for the second time in two years. It will be on at 8 p.m. Tuesdays starting Sept. 17 before a new sitcom, ``Something So Right.''
That's fine with him, said Reiser. This is better than I expected. NBC could have put us on Saturday afternoons at 2.''
Reiser said he never wanted to bring a baby into his sitcom marriage - not until he became father in real life recently. ``This will not be a show about the trials of diapering a baby. It will be about a couple and what happens to that couple when a baby comes into their lives. And once the baby comes, it will not mysteriously disappear as on `Murphy Brown.' Actually, Murphy Brown will be our baby sitter.''
Reiser is laughing today, tossing off one-liners.
He'll be in a different mood five months from now if the move to the new time slot, and the baby's arrival during the November or February sweeps, drives away much of the ``Mad About You'' audience. If that happens, he'll be as shaken as the NBC suits waiting to hear if ``Friends'' is a go for next season. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo NBC
Published reports say "Friends" cast members ecah want $100,000 per
episode. by CNB