Who are the Highest Paid TV Stars?

TV Guide released its annual salary survey this week.  Here is the 2011 list, which includes some performers who haven't even hit the airwaves in these roles yet:

Ashton Kutcher – $700,000 per episode (Two and a Half Men)
Jon Cryer – $600,000 per episode (Two and a Half Men)
Patrick Dempsey – $275,000 per episode (Grey’s Anatomy)
Kate Walsh – $275,000 per episode (Private Practice)
Johnny Galecki – $250,000 per episode (The Big Bang Theory)
Kaley Cuoco – $250,000 per episode (The Big Bang Theory)
Jim Parsons – $250,000 per episode (The Big Bang Theory)
Angus T. Jones – $225,000 per episode (Two and a Half Men)
Tim Allen- $225,000 per episode (Last Man Standing)
Kiefer Sutherland – $225,000 per episode (Touch)
Ted Danson – $225,000 per episode (CSI)
Tom Bergeron – $150,000 per episode (Dancing With The Stars)
Nick Cannon – $70,000 per episode (America's Got Talent)
Cat Deeley – $60,000 per episode (So You Think You Can Dance)
David Letterman – $28 million per year (Late Show with David Letterman)
Jay Leno – $25 million per year (Tonight Show)
Ryan Seacrest – $15 million per season (American Idol)
Anderson Cooper – $11 million per year (syndicated talk show and anchoring on CNN)
Jimmy Fallon – $5 million per year (Late Night with Jimmy Fallon)

Of the news/news talk types, Matt Lauer earns $17 million a year for the Today show, which is $4 million more than Brian Williams who anchors NBC's Nightly News broadcast.  Diane Sawyer makes $12 million from ABC, just a tad more than Bill O'Reilly's $10 million from Fox News Channel.  Keith Olbermann is getting $10 million a year and an equity stake in Current TV.

TV Guide reports that some TV news personalities are making less than their predecessors and even their own prior salaries.  It says after Katie Couric left the CBS Evening News, Scott Pelley started at under a third of her $15 million a year.  Regis Philbin is leaving Live! instead of taking a cut in his $15 million salary. And Piers Morgan is getting less than a third of what Larry King earned during his final year at CNN.

3 Interesting News Tidbits: Lopez Cancelled, J-Lo Back on 'Idol,' a Bachelorette Runner-Up Gets a Big Date

There were three TV-related news items in the past 30 minutes.

American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe announced unofficially today that Jennifer Lopez will return to the program this fall, which is a big one with the competition coming from    On Ryan Seacrest's radio show this morning in LA, Lythgoe said, "I believe we're still waiting for the official announcement, but I am delighted to say that all three judges, along with the brilliant hot of American Idol, is back for the next season."  No word on how much money she's getting, but word is Steven Tyler is not too happy because he'll be making somewhat less.

TBS just announced that it's cancelling Lopez Tonight, the talk show with comedian George Lopez after two seasons.  Thursday is his last program.  Says the network:  "TBS has reached the difficult decision not to order a third season of Lopez Tonight. We are proud to have partnered with George Lopez, who is an immensely talented comedian and entertainer. TBS has valued its partnership with George and appreciates all of his work on behalf of the network, both on and off the air."

And, Perez Hilton is reporting that Jennifer Love Hewitt is dating Ben Flajnik, the runner up to JP Rosenbaum on the most recent installment of The Bachelorette.  According to Hilton, Love Hewitt flew to San Francisco this past weekend to have an intimate getaway with the 28-year-old winemaker. The two were spotted "making out" at a club called Lion's Pub. Apparently, she tweeted that he should call and he responded.

Jersey Shore Goes to Italy and Wins in the Ratings (With Apologies to Italy)

Italy's loss at having to host those reprehensible, appalling and dreadful cast members from the Jersey Shore has meant great ratings for the show and MTV.  I guess, in the end, the trip has been good publicity for Italian tourism, but what a negative image for the U.S.

Jersey Shore topped the cable ratings last week as Snooki, J-Wow and The Situation traveled to Florence.  Last week's numbers were good all around for reality shows and for cable, especially America's Got Talent, The Bachelorette and Big Brother.

Other winners for the week were repeats of NCIS (plain and LA) and the dramas on USA and TNT, including The Closer, Rizzoli & Isles, Royal Pains and Burn Notice.

One broadcast network drama with original summer programming is doing pretty well, Flashpoint on CBS.

In the network vs. network race, Fox was on top in the broadcast category among viewers 18-49, thanks to Hell’s Kitchen and Master Chef, which aired two episodes each.  With Falling Skies and other programs mentioned above, TNT is making quite an impression on cable. 

Primetime Broadcast Network Total Viewers, week ending August 7, 2011:

Rank	Program	Network	Day	Viewers (000)
1	America’s Got Talent	NBC	Tuesday	11,916
2	America’s Got Talent	NBC	Wednesday	9,963
3	The Bachelorette	ABC	Monday	9,752
4	NCIS (Repeat)	CBS	Tuesday	9,690
5	Bachelorette: After… Rose	ABC	Monday	9,313
6	60 Minutes (Repeat)	CBS	Sunday	8,864
7	NCIS: Los Angeles (Repeat)	CBS	Tuesday	8,134
8	Big Brother 13	CBS	Sunday	7,842
9	Big Brother 13	CBS	Thursday	7,425
10	Big Brother 13	CBS	Wednesday	6,897
11	Wipeout	ABC	Thursday	6,644
12	Wipeout	ABC	Tuesday	6,604
13	Flashpoint	CBS	Friday	6,333
14	Hell’s Kitchen	FOX	Tuesday	6,318
15	The Big Bang Theory	CBS	Thursday	6,303

Top 25 Basic cable shows, week ending August 7, 2011:

Rank	Program	Network	Day/Time	Viewers (000)
1	Jersey Shore Season 4	MTV	Thu, 10-11 pm	8,788
2	Phineas and Ferb Movie	DSNY	Fri, 8-9:30 pm	7,642
3	The Closer	TNT	Mon, 9-10 pm	6,553
4	Rizzoli & Isles	TNT	Mon, 10-11 pm	6,454
5	Falling Skies	TNT	Sun, 9-10 pm	5,703
6	Pawn Stars	HIST	Mon, 10-10:30 pm	5,654
7	Pawn Stars	HIST	Mon, 10:30-11 pm	5,593
8	Falling Skies	TNT	Sun, 10-10:58 pm	5,541
9	NASCAR Sprint Cup L	ESPN	Sun, 12:55-5:12 pm	5,485
10	Royal Pains	USA	Wed, 9-10 pm	5,642
11	Burn Notice	USA	Thu, 9-10 pm	5,211
12	Storage Wars	A&E	Wed, 10:30-11 pm	5,177
13	American Pickers	HIST	Mon, 9-10 pm	5,163
14	True Blood	HBOM	Sun, 9:30-10 pm	5,143
15	A.N.T. Farm	DSNY	Fri, 9:30-10 pm	4,929

Television Critics Association Awards Last Night

Last night was a big one
for Parks and Recreation's
Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson).

The Television Critics Association Awards were handed out last night at The Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles.  Mad Men and Modern Family came out on top in the drama and comedy categories.  The outstanding performers in those areas were Jon Hamm for Mad Men and Ty Burrell (Phil Dumphy) of Modern Family who tied with Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson) of Parks and Recreation, host of the awards program.

Oprah Winfrey was honored with the Career Achievement Award following her final and 25th season of her talk show.   

And, 45 years after it went off the air, one of my all time favorites and still one of the best sitcoms of all time, the Dick Van Dyke Show, was presented with a Heritage Award.  How cool is this?  Carl Reiner, the show's producer and creator, accepted the award and Rose Marie (Sally) attended.  "We were a hell of a team," she said.

Here’s the full list of winners:

Individual Achievement in Drama: Jon Hamm, Mad Men (AMC)
Individual Achievement in Comedy: Ty Burrell, Modern Family (ABC) and Nick Offerman, Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Outstanding Achievement in News and Information: Restrepo (NatGeo)
Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming: Amazing Race (CBS)
Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming: Sesame Street (PBS)
Outstanding New Program: Game of Thrones (HBO)
Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials: Masterpiece: Sherlock (PBS)
Outstanding Achievement in Drama: Mad Men (AMC)
Outstanding Achievement in Comedy: Modern Family (ABC)
Career Achievement Award: Oprah Winfrey
Heritage Award: The Dick Van Dyke Show
Program of the Year: Friday Night Lights (DirecTV/NBC)

The Closer Meets Abbott and Costello with Hilarious Results

The latest episode of The Closer, "To Serve with Love," demonstrates it's a damn shame that this winning series ends after its current run on TNT.

Centering on the off-duty hijinks of Lieutenants Flynn (Tony Denison) and Provenza (the incredibly funny G.W. Bailey from M*A*S*H), intertwined with the on-duty trouble they cause Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick), the installment is a stand-out among stand-outs.

The wonderful Adam Arkin  guests stars as a Bernie Madoff type who's in trouble for pilfering pension funds.  The two detectives take a supposedly benign moonlighting job to serve him a subpoena, which naturally spins into a murder and crossed swords with the FBI.

The two involve the team's young and naive techie, Buzz, and put the Los Angeles Police Department's reputation in peril as they lose a suspect, wreck a car, run afoul of the Chief's FBI liaison/husband (Jon Tenney) and deliver false information to the media, all to earn a paltry $3,000.

The plot and dialogue shine as the two get deeper and deeper into trouble.  The laughs escalate with the "tip off" that the dead body is not the Jewish man he's thought to be, an appearance by the bickering twenty-something wife and daughter of the supposed victim  - who went to grade school together - and as Chief Johnson throws Commander Taylor, the constant thorn in her side, unwittingly into a media maelstrom.

Like an Abbott and Costello meets Keystone Cops short, there's hilarity that ends with a win-win for everyone, except Taylor, and Arkin's comic, yet hateful character. 

If this program is not on your DVR, you can find it at www.tnt.tv (Episode 3, Season 7).  The Closer has only a few episodes left because Kyra Sedgwick has had enough, even though it's drawing nine million viewers per week.  There are seven more programs scheduled for this summer and a few more for early 2012.  Some characters will be spun off into a new series, Major Crimes, with Mary McDonnell, a semi-regular who plays Captain Raydor. 

I can't imagine the show will be as good without Sedgwick's Chief Johnson and the interplay between Brenda and Fritz, but if G.W. Bailey is around with Denison as his straight man, great moments are guaranteed.

MSNBC Brings Mark Halperin Back after Suspension

MSNBC chief Phil Griffin has reinstated political analyst Mark Halperin who was back on Morning Joe this morning after his "indefinite" suspension.  I'm glad it only lasted a month.  As I stated when Halperin was removed from the network after making an irreverent remark about President Obama, he didn't deserve to have his career ruined, though the suspension was completely justified.  I'm sure he'll never say anything off-color anywhere near a microphone again.  Good news for Halperin and good news for MSNBC.  Halperin, editor-at-large for Time, an author ("Game Change) and commentator, is a solid, though formerly misguided, journalist. 

Bachelorette Ashley Chooses JP and Few Other Surprises

If you're a reader of Reality Steve, you already knew Bachelorette Ashley Hebert chose JP Rosenbaum of Roslyn last night as her bachelor.

Ashley and JP: Will a lot of kissing
lead to a longterm relationship?

If you didn't, I'm so sorry you had to sit through almost two hours of recaps, anticipatory interviews and, finally, the humiliation of poor Ben before the three to five minute reunion leading up to the "engagement" at the end of the episode.  The news is that Ashley will complete dental school in Philadelphia in a month and will then move to New York City where she and JP will "get a place together."

It certainly seems like Ashley and JP are into one another.  I've never seen so much kissing.  So, let's hope there's a chance for them.

However, this process (um, journey) has to be tweaked - for the contestants and for the audience.

Again, producers used misleading teasers to throw viewers off the track.  Ashley's sister was put up to lobbying against JP.  (This morning, I heard a radio host opine that she was auditioning for her own reality show.) There's footage of Ashley frowning right up against video of JP to make it look like she's down on him.  Poor Ben has an engagement ring and goes so far as to get down on one knee to propose to a woman who knew weeks before the taping of the finale that she was going with the other guy.  At least he walked away like a man, without histrionics.

Are these contestants so wrapped up in their contract - or cowardly - that they give the runner-up no indication they'll be rejected until the last second?  Or is the runner-up acting?  Either way, there has to be a better way to close this program out.  You fly a guy to Fiji so he can get psyched for a lifetime commitment, dress him up in his best Sunday duds and spit him out?  The men I know would be furious at having to put on a suit for no good reason.

In the After the Final Rose episode, host Chris Harrison alluded to an appearance by the wicked Bentley, but he was a no-show, as anyone who reads the blogs knew.  The most interesting part of the after party was the interview with Ben who said, basically, "JP's a good guy, I'm not angry anymore, I wish the two of them the best.  I'm getting on with my life."

And let's not forget the endless promos for ABC's upcoming Bachelor Pad.

I've said all along that this show is guilty pleasure and I enjoy it, but it could be so much better if they threw away the tired reality show formatting.  Mix it up a little bit.  Intertwine a some behind-the-scenes action.  Let us know more about the contestants and the process and delete the endless chatter with the same buzz words - journey, my heart, in it for the right reasons, I think I'm falling for..., which reminds me of the worst one of them all, dot, dot, dot.

With the Bachelor/Bachelorette's poor track record - three couples still standing since the 2002 debut of the franchise - producers ought to consider additional changes to keep the couples together - if they care about that.  Word is that after Ashley and JP's final rose ceremony, they were allowed to see each other, whereas in previous seasons that was not the case.  At least there was one adjustment.  Reality Steve has said couples should be recruited from the same part of the country to avoid the failure of so many long distance relationships.  That's a good one.  C'mon ABC, let's try something new.