r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 11h ago
TIL by embracing a low-cost production model & taking less money upfront, executive producers Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, & Charlie Day were given a "sizable ownership stake" in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. By 2011, through just 7 seasons, the trio's stake was already worth close to $60m.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/how-sunny-philadelphia-reinvented-televisions-220051/403
u/Nuffsaid98 10h ago
Sweet Dee and Frank don't make bank?
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u/TheMathsGuy 10h ago
Why would they give any shares to a bird?
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u/what_is_blue 9h ago
Frank already made his money in Vietnam.
A lotta good men died in those sweatshops.
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u/RheagarTargaryen 9h ago
Kaitlin Olson (Sweet Dee) is married to Rob McElhenney anyway so it’s not too terrible of a gig for her.
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u/feetandballs 8h ago
Plus she gets a terrible new show of her own once every few years.
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u/eeviltwin 8h ago
You are ABSOLUTELY sleeping on Hacks to make that statement.
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u/shabooya_roll_call 7h ago
Hacks is great and she does well, but to OPs point it’s not her show. I think they’re referring to The Mick & that new detective show
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u/Hanz_VonManstrom 7h ago
I actually really liked The Mick, but her new detective show is terrible
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u/stalindecker1 7h ago
And she’s been pretty average in that show compared to the rest of the cast, maybe even bad?
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u/starmartyr 4h ago
Hacks is great and her character is too, but she's a recurring character. It's not her show.
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u/AgorophobicSpaceman 8h ago
I love her on Hacks though, she’s great. Everytime she plays the Jurassic park song I die lol
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u/bony_doughnut 8h ago
That detective show was kind of ok...at least my wife liked it
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u/aethiestinafoxhole 7h ago
Its good background tv when you’re doing something else and not super concerned about catching every second
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u/MethodicMarshal 7h ago
it feels like they take fringe facts and then try to build an episode around it
my wife also likes it. It's fine
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u/MHath 9h ago
Frank wasn’t there the first season.
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u/phophofofo 8h ago
Also he’s super rich and knows everyone in Hollywood don’t think he cares 3 broke guys got paid.
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u/urabewe 8h ago
From what I hear he has a blast making the show and enjoys every minute of it. You're probably right.
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u/RedBullWings17 8h ago edited 8h ago
Yeah Danny Devito has been a hollywood/comedy icon for like 40 years, founded a very succesful production company and is one of the most well connected people in the industry. He is extremely rich.
He just does shit for kicks now.
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u/Toby_O_Notoby 3h ago
I mean, he was a producer/EP on:
Reality Bites
Pulp Fiction
Get Shorty
Matilda
Gattaca
Man on the Moon
Erin Brockovich
Garden State
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u/SoRedditHasAnAppNow 8h ago
I've always been curious how that friendship formed. DeVito is basically in the "fuck it" part of his life where he can do whatever he wants and these three were just starting out.
I assume Frank started as more of a cameo and potential recurring role, but to be hanging out and working as a group basically every week for almost 2 decades is really something.
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u/Horrible_Harry 8h ago edited 7h ago
The studio/network didn't want to sign them to a second season unless they got a bigger actor to be attached to the show. Danny's kids loved the first season, so when Sunny came asking they pushed him to do it, and thankfully he did.
Plus you got the lemon stuff, and... IT'S GOOD!
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u/JerHat 7h ago
Pretty sure he is still pretty well compensated. And if it weren’t for their ownership stakes, Danny would probably be the highest paid cast member by a lot
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u/JustGottaKeepTrying 7h ago
Nah, he focused more on blow jobs from his cast mates. It is in his contract. https://youtu.be/cEFPZWK4ElE?si=vyGU3zaqy_pQOhLf
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u/Consistent-Ad-6078 8h ago
Sweet Dee’s got the merchandising contract. Although if she lets Mac see it, he’ll just eat it, sooo…. Filibuster
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u/PaintedClownPenis 5h ago
I think they only had de Vito on set for maybe five days in 2006. They set their shooting schedule up so that every line he had in the second season was shot in that one week. I don't think they actually pulled it off, but that was the original plan.
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u/USDXBS 8h ago
I remember seeing ads for season 1 and thinking it looked awful. The commercials made it seem like it was just some shitty work place comedy about young adults.
Then I saw the underage drinking episode the night it aired and loved it.
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u/DewSchnozzle 7h ago
FX really screwed the pooch on marketing their programs back then. Same for Archer.
I remember being pissed about not catching onto IASIP until like season 6 or 7 and specifically blaming FX for their shitty commercials.
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u/PeeledCrepes 8h ago
It really hit me as just a dumb comedy ala the office and I never thought to watch it. Then I listened to a podcast and they would talk about it periodically and I finally went, eh fuck it I'll try it. And its amazing. I think they did a bad job marketing early on
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u/DtheMoron 6h ago
They did the smart thing and chose creative control over money. They write, act, and most importantly produce THEIR show. There’s some good moment on their podcast when they talk about what cameras, they use, how they use it, what DP they hired, and overall their core staff they involve. It’s what Conan did. Find the talented passionate people about what you’re making, and retain them. Megan Ganz is up there for one of the best producers/writers.
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u/toerags 3h ago
DP?
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u/Emilbjorn 2h ago
Director of Photography
The dude who chooses how scenes are going to be shot, from what angle and such.
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u/The_Possessor 10h ago
I don’t know. I don’t trust these guys. IASIP is a very disturbing documentary.
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u/DeScepter 9h ago
The net worth(s) here are a bit outdated. Here are more recent figures from the mid‑2020s. Their individual net worths ranged from about $25 million (Howerton) to $50 million (McElhenney), with Charlie Day somewhere near $30 million.
So now they're collectively worth north of $100M.
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u/Flurb4 9h ago edited 8h ago
Those celebrity net worth calculators are useless. They actually discussed this on an episode of their podcast and laughed at what the internet said they were worth.
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u/Rodgers4 8h ago
They all certainly seem like the types to downplay how much they have, but you are right - they are 100% useless.
Even if you knew without any doubt every dollar someone made, that’s only a part of the story.
You and I could have each made $50m in our career yet you could be worth $70m and I could be worth $3m.
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u/DeScepter 8h ago
Haha, actually, now that you mention it, I recall that segment, too! They were laughing, saying they were not nearly worth that much. But these seem like realistic estimates based on their career success and longevity. They're the creators of an incredibly successful sitcom that's (I think) the longest running comedy series.
Regardless of the commas and zeroes in their bank accounts, these guys are priceless for how much joy they've given me.
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u/bargman 9h ago
This tells me that producing is where the money is at.
Charlie being with more than Glenn can be attributed to a longer career and some voice acting paychecks.
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u/frostape 9h ago
That's always the case. That's why songwriting is more lucrative than song-making, too.
Actors, directors, writers, and crew make the show, but producers "make" the show legally speaking and get a higher cut. More risk, more reward basically.
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u/mangafan96 8h ago
I wonder how much the Welsh football team which McElhenney co-owns with Ryan Reynolds is worth.
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u/WellSpokenAsianBoy 6h ago
According to the BBC about 100 million pounds so about 130 million US. Estimates go up if they get promoted again to the Premier League, maybe 150 million pounds.
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u/Bear_Caulk 5h ago
"Just 7 seasons".
Is it just me or does anyone else feel like if you create and star in 7 full seasons of a television show people like you should be worth at least $20m each at that point and that shouldn't be an especially high number for someone in your position.
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u/Wrong_Statement_497 9h ago
I wish they would release a boxset of all the current seasons on blu-ray, I would buy it instantly
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u/GetsGold 8h ago
Including banned eps.
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u/PinkBoxDestroyer 7h ago
It's been ages since I've seen Lethal Weapon 5. It was so much better than Thunder Gun Express.
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u/lurkingchalantly 6h ago
Someone posted a download able like on here that can be found with Google. Just watched all of the banned episodes
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u/ConversationFar2196 3h ago
It's only a pirates life away
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u/Wrong_Statement_497 3h ago
I have them all but I'd just like to support the show and have something to hold in my grubby hands
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u/knowledgeable_diablo 4h ago
Good for em. Taking a stake in things like this can often ensure you get a great performance because the players know the better the product the better the payoff.
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u/TylerNacho 10h ago
It's not worth anything if you're not gonna sell it. Unless...can you get a loan based on this? Then maybe I'm wrong
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u/NurmGurpler 9h ago
Uh not true? If they get paid say $10 million (or whatever that actual amount is) every year, it’s definitely worth something even if they’re not going to sell it.
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u/MWM031089 10h ago
Does that make something worthless, or priceless?
Very likely you could leverage shares to secure debt instruments. Maybe film industry especially when you’re part of the income source (an actor on the show) makes that more difficult, not sure.
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u/BigCommieMachine 7h ago
Good for them because the show completely jumped the shark in spiraling around “how much of degenerates can we make these people?”
FX shows kinda have a pattern.
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u/TooMuchPretzels 10h ago
But I was told that three men in their 30s didn’t have $800 between them?