14 DAY TRIAL // It pays to be on “Two and a Half Men”: first Charlie Sheen and now Ashton Kutcher, the sitcom is making its leading star a very rich man. A recent report had Kutcher’s salary at $700,000 per episode but, as it turns out, it’s more than that.
The other day, TV Guide released the list of the highest paid men and women in television, putting Kutcher and “House M.D.” star Hugh Laurie at the top of it as TV’s most bankable actors.
Both made $700,000 each for a single episode of their respective shoes, TV Guide said. TMZ notes that Ashton is actually making close to a million dollars, which should definitely put him ahead of Laurie.
“Judging by the audience reaction Friday night, Ashton Kutcher is an instant hit on ‘Two and a Half Men,’ and judging by the bottom line, he’s being handsomely rewarded with a paycheck that approaches a million bucks an episode,” TMZ writes.
Clearly, he’s still a long way from making the same kind of money as Sheen on the show but, considering the good start he’s been given, it wouldn’t be that far-fetched to imagine he’ll get there in a couple of seasons, if his work receives the stamp of approval from audiences.
“There are reports that he’s raking in $700,000, but we know it’s much higher. Ashton is actually getting between $800,000 and $900,000 an episode,” TMZ reports.
“True enough... Charlie Sheen was making a lot more – $1.25 million an episode, plus profit sharing which brought him to $2 million per show. We’re told Ashton will get the often-elusive ‘back end’ profits as well,” says the same e-zine.
However, whether Kutcher will prove a good replacement for Sheen is still to be determined. The first episode of “Two and a Half Men” was shot last Friday and will air on September 19.
The season premiere will be a 2-episode deal which will include, besides the introduction of a new character (played by Ashton), the funeral ceremony for Charlie Harper, the character played by Sheen until the scandal that got him fired from the series.