"Grey" Payday, But X-ray of Deal Shows Fractured Cast
These days, it pays to be Grey: Meredith Grey, that is.
ABC has inked fat new deals with much of the cast from "Grey's Anatomy," per the Hollywood Reporter,
"Under the new deals, all actors will receive salary bumps. [Ellen] Pompeo now will be at nearly $200,000 per episode, while Pickens, Wilson, Chambers and Knight will be paid in the neighborhood of $125,000 per episode, sources said."
Yow.
Amusingly, sources tell TMZ that the group of supporting characters attempted to pull a "West Wing" style move, wherein the supporting castmates banded together the same way that Richard Schiff (better known as Toby Zigler) did with Alison Janney (CJ Craig) and Bradley Whitford (now of "Studio 60") -- except that in the case of the Grey's cast, the cast soon fractured: Pickens, Wilson, Knight and Chambers unified front quickly devolving into an "every doc for himself" style of bargaining.
Apparently, when it comes to pay, these actors believe in "first, do no harm" to your relationship with the studio.
Speaking of, we wonder, too, about the fact that no deals have closed for either Patrick Dempsey, Sandra Oh nor, especially interesting "Dr. Izzie" aka Katherine Heigl -- the latter of whom has had her bedside manner critiqued rather publicly by ABC. Contract status for Isaiah Washington still unknown.
We'll keep a close eye on the show's heart monitor.
