Dotting the i's and Crossing the t's

In the days of Friends and Seinfeld, outrageous salary bumps were almost unheard of and when details of the staggering per episode salaries were revealed, the public was understandably shocked and probably a little disgusted. Since then, salaries of actors from major television series are climbing -- and we thought athletes made too much money! The latest drama in salary negotiations comes from the cast of HBO's The Sopranos. Trying to get the entire cast to agree on per episode salaries for the final eight episodes has become trickier than keeping track of Tony's girlfriends. At one point, the negotiations became so heated; James Gandolfini had to get involved. Currently, most of the cast has signed new contracts with salaries ranging from $110,000-$230,000 per episode. The only cast members who have yet to sign a contract is Tony Sirico, Steven Van Zandt and Steven Schirripa. They are reportedly very close to finalizing their respective deals.

In Other Contract News....

After an impressive season premiere, TNT has officially renewed The Closer for a third season.

Fans of The OC will be dismayed to learn that Fox has only ordered 16 episodes of the series as opposed to the traditional 22, or in the case of The OC, 25 episodes. The series will be facing tougher competition than ever when it finds itself against the Thursday night powerhouse CSI and the newly relocated Grey's Anatomy this fall.
^{(Photo of the Cast of The Sopranos © HBO/Barry Wetcher)}