Roseanne Barr's Salary On Roseanne Was So High, Nobody Could Afford Her After

A lot of factors impact an actor's pay: how famous they are, how much they made in previous projects, how involved they are in the project both on and off-screen, and others. Remuneration can vary widely from actor to actor for very similar projects.

Roseanne Barr is a perfect example of how actor remuneration works in TV. The renowned but highly controversial actor/comedian rose to fame in the 1980s as a stand-up performer. She appeared on NBC's The Tonight Show and Late Night with David Letterman during that time. She was also offered the role of Peg Bundy on the iconic comedy show, Married… with Children, but she turned it down and went on to star in her own sitcom, Roseanne.

The show followed the Conners, an average working-class American family, and it quickly became hugely successful with a broad range of audiences. Roseanne's positive narrative promoted the honour and dignity of common people who found happiness despite constantly having to make ends meet. The show ran for nine consecutive seasons and then had a brief revival series twenty years later.

Roseanne Barr was the lead actor, co-creator, executive producer and main writer on the show. Naturally, given all those roles, she was compensated handsomely. In fact, her remuneration was so huge it actually jeopardised her career prospects post-Roseanne.

Nobody knows how much Roseanne Barr was paid early on during Roseanne's run, but Celebrity Net Worth reports she received over $21 million for the ninth season, the last in the original run. Seeing how it comprised 24 episodes, that translates into roughly $900 per episode. Adjusted for inflation, it's about $1.75 million in today's money.

There have been just a handful of actors who have been paid comparable amounts: Sarah Jessica Parker's remuneration on Sex and the City as the lead actress and EP topped out at $3.2 million. Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston were reportedly paid $2 million per episode on Apple TV+'s The Morning Show.

Thus, it probably should come as no surprise that Roseanne Barr's career stalled after her eponymous show ended in 1996. No other project could afford her. But then again, it wasn't just that: her obnoxious public antics and questionable comments might have contributed to her status as a bit of a pariah.

The actor/comedian only participated in a handful of productions post-Roseanne, the most notable of which is probably as Carla Fern in two episodes of The Office. She's mostly doing stand-up gigs and hosting various shows now, like The Roseanne Show and Roseanne's Nuts, but none of her current projects can hold a candle to Roseanne.

Source: Celebrity Net Worth.