Inside my TV eye, never stopped to wonder why, I'm way down now...

July 26, 2005 7:32 AM

Dad's salary is skyrocketing - on TV.(list here all averaged by profession and adjusted for inflation) "Today's TV dads average salaries of $195,000 after adjusting for inflation, according to Salary.com."
posted by jonmc (42 comments total)

heh. I wonder how much George Jetson made/will make? Also, How about Captain Kirk?
posted by jabberwock at 7:47 AM on July 26, 2005

What exactly is the point of this being restricted to men? Mothers with jobs on TV shows isn't even a very recent development.
posted by Espy Gillespie at 7:53 AM on July 26, 2005

Ok, it mentions it's in "in honor of Father's Day," but not mentioning women on TV at all is weird. For instance:

"A few salaries are bound to raise eyebrows, too. According to Salary.com, Sandy Cohen of "The OC" would only pull down $113,780 as a lawyer in one of the priciest areas of the country.

That's because his wife is the primary source of income for the family.
posted by Espy Gillespie at 7:59 AM on July 26, 2005

Now, if I could just get job as a TV dad I'd be all set.
posted by OmieWise at 7:59 AM on July 26, 2005

Nice, nice page title. Holy shit.
posted by COBRA! at 8:01 AM on July 26, 2005

Espy-
Granted it's weird not to mention women at all, but if the point is as a comparison, then it makes some sense to only compare to something that was there before. On the other hand, there is something strange here, since TV families now mostly have two sources of income, which must skew any quality of life comparison.
posted by OmieWise at 8:02 AM on July 26, 2005

How about Captain Kirk?

A couple of movies after he finds out he is, in fact, a dad himself, he goes back to 20th-century San Francisco and has to deal with the unfamiliarity of a cash economy. Apparently, in the 24th century, what with replicator-based technology, scarcity of material goods is no longer sufficiently an issue to maintain a scarcity-based economic model that makes money convenient or necessary.
posted by alumshubby at 8:27 AM on July 26, 2005

OK, so Carl Winslow, police officer, makes $48K but Andy Sipowicz, detective, makes just under $43K?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:40 AM on July 26, 2005

Fucking capitalist patriarchs.
posted by rhizome23 at 8:43 AM on July 26, 2005

OK, so Carl Winslow, police officer, makes $48K but Andy Sipowicz, detective, makes just under $43K?

Winslow's in Chicago, Sipowicz is in New York. Different Departments, different pay scales, if I had to guess.
posted by jonmc at 8:49 AM on July 26, 2005

Mike Brady would only make $44,000 as an architect? How could they possibly afford Alice?
posted by billysumday at 8:55 AM on July 26, 2005

Never in the history of mankind have the lifestyles of the upper class been so thrust into the consciousness of the lower and middle classes. In bygone eras the have-nots would have only been this intimate with the details of aristocratic living if they were servants and actually shared many of the same experiences (eating the same food, for example.) I am sure there is a correlation between the high burden of debt in this country and the constant barrage of luxury items as seen on TV. Even allowing for higher average salaries, the families on TV live fantasy life styles unattainable by most Americans.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 9:03 AM on July 26, 2005

What's more interesting is what that money can buy. That guy on "King of Queens", for instance, has a job as a UPS driver. Still, somehow he manages to own a home that must be worth at least $500K.

And his wife is hot, while he's a sorry fat sack of shit. That's another trend on TV I can't quite comprehend. Where did all these fat doofuses get such hot wives?
posted by fungible at 9:03 AM on July 26, 2005

(Laughing re: Mike Brady). Yeah, and how can Ray Barone support a whole family on $47 K a year and live on Long Island? And granted, Elliot Stabler lives in Queens, but his salary is in the $40's also, and he's supporting teenagers AND his wife? In a HOUSE? Hmmmm.
posted by WaterSprite at 9:05 AM on July 26, 2005

And one more - I didn't think salaries in North Carolina were so high. How come Andy Taylor made so much money?
posted by WaterSprite at 9:06 AM on July 26, 2005

> Today's TV dads average salaries of $195,000 after adjusting for inflation, according to Salary.com.

You don't have to adjust for inflation if you're using a current value. They're just trying to show off.
posted by Plutor at 10:11 AM on July 26, 2005

Mike Brady would only make $44,000 as an architect? How could they possibly afford Alice?

And this is your only reality check issue with The Brady Bunch? And besides, an architect who ( presumably) designed a 1-bathroom house with 6 kids is over-paid at $44K
posted by ElvisJesus at 10:21 AM on July 26, 2005

Pssst, alumshubby, I think that was a Nerd Test. We'll leave it to you to decide if you passed or failed.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 10:24 AM on July 26, 2005

TV DOES NOT REFLECT REALITY: NEWS AT 11
posted by stenseng at 10:28 AM on July 26, 2005

Never in the history of mankind have the lifestyles of the upper class been so thrust into the consciousness of the lower and middle classes.

The 19th-century novel in Britain.

A couple of movies after he finds out he is, in fact, a dad himself, he goes back to 20th-century San Francisco and has to deal with the unfamiliarity of a cash economy.

Gosh, as an SF resident, I gotta see that movie one day. The premise of IV was just so lame that I never saw another Star Trek movie again.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:29 AM on July 26, 2005

How come Andy Taylor made so much money?

It's adjusted for inflation. How much does the top law officer in your town make? I think ours earns about $200,000.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:31 AM on July 26, 2005

Gosh, as an SF resident, I gotta see that movie one day.

You're in for a treat. Chekhov provides one of the funniest moments in Trek history.
posted by jonmc at 10:31 AM on July 26, 2005

Somebody figure out the median, not the mean. Looking through the full list, I don't see any trends at all (except a fickle viewing audience.)
posted by mrgrimm at 10:37 AM on July 26, 2005

and yes. flashing me back to the summer after high-school graduation.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:46 AM on July 26, 2005

Howard Cunningham was not the manager of the hardware store. He owned it.

I'm just sayin..
posted by gfrobe at 10:54 AM on July 26, 2005

I though of that, too, gfrobe. And Archie Bunker didn't become foreman until quite a few years into the series.
posted by jonmc at 10:58 AM on July 26, 2005

And Archie Bunker didn't become foreman until quite a few years into the series.

And then he quit and bought a bar, his daughter and son in law moved to California, and they adopted talentless Danielle Brisbois and the series went down the tubes.
posted by WaterSprite at 11:10 AM on July 26, 2005

and his daughter got fat eating starving children. or teaching them gun repair.
posted by jonmc at 11:15 AM on July 26, 2005

And this is your only reality check issue with The Brady Bunch? And besides, an architect who ( presumably) designed a 1-bathroom house with 6 kids is over-paid at $44K

Well first of all, smarty pants. There was a master bathroom, and Alice had one as well.

In other words, everything about the brady bunch is completely plausible!
posted by glenwood at 11:20 AM on July 26, 2005

Still, all that unrelated boys and girls bathroom sharing is a little disturbing....
posted by WaterSprite at 11:32 AM on July 26, 2005

glenwood

I stand corrected. I am also frightened
posted by ElvisJesus at 11:44 AM on July 26, 2005

" Even allowing for higher average salaries, the families on TV live fantasy life styles unattainable by most Americans."

That holds on “reality” shows as well. How the hell do they afford those apartments?
And what’s the deal with movie bars? I’ve never seen anything like that?
Advertising (or the intitiation of unrealistic expectations) = desire
Desire = suffering
Go figure.

Although, I'm a doofus and I've got a beautiful wife. Eh. Sometimes you win the lottery.
posted by Smedleyman at 12:10 PM on July 26, 2005

no one has thought of Homer J. Simpson?

he HAS to spend 60% of his income on beer.

there are lots of casual mentions of astronomical legal bills: Homer as an 'ousider artist' "Go ahead and sue me, the average settlement is $18,000" (i'm guessing on the number, but you get the point)
posted by markovitch at 1:37 PM on July 26, 2005

Groening mentions often in the DVD commentary how Homer, being the alleged underpaid blue collar slob, lives a fairly high -end life, with a suburban 2 story home with a large fenced yard and attached carhole and such...
posted by glenwood at 1:40 PM on July 26, 2005

The Simpson's economic life is about as consistent as the geography of their town. They're blue-collar when it's convenient for the joke.
posted by sonofsamiam at 1:49 PM on July 26, 2005

"And his wife is hot, while he's a sorry fat sack of shit. That's another trend on TV I can't quite comprehend. Where did all these fat doofuses get such hot wives?"

I found my "SO" through Usenet. You can too, just not my "SO".

And Watersprite, what do you think of Alyssa Milano?
posted by davy at 2:48 PM on July 26, 2005

And Watersprite, what do you think of Alyssa Milano?

Um... as opposed to Danielle Brisbois? I don't know what one has to do with the other, one is working now and the other one isn't.

Where did all these fat doofuses get such hot wives?"

I found my "SO" through Usenet. You can too, just not my "SO".

Are you trying to say you're a fat doofus with a hot "SO"? Nothing hurtful intended here, that's just the way it came off.
posted by WaterSprite at 4:39 PM on July 26, 2005

"That guy on "King of Queens", for instance, has a job as a UPS driver. Still, somehow he manages to own a home that must be worth at least $500K."

Lots of guys like that in Queens, and the NYC area in general. That's probably the house he grew up in, which his parent(s) gave him when they moved to the retirement home in Coral Gables, Florida... and they likely got it from one of their parents. So it's not implausible. $10,000 a year property tax, that a UPS driver can afford - a lot of them make around $60K.

Which I don't make much more than... and I couldn't afford a house in my area, Los Angeles, unless I wanted a double-wide out in the high desert. The days are long gone when a guy making a USA-median household income (which is around $45K as I recall) can actually afford a "household" or a family.

Sheesh, if I made $150K... I might just be able to afford a solid home life here for me, wife and 2 kids.
posted by zoogleplex at 4:59 PM on July 26, 2005

The days are long gone when a guy making a USA-median household income (which is around $45K as I recall) can actually afford a "household" or a family.

...in a few large metro areas. In the rest of the country, including many other large metro areas, you can easily buy a house on a single $45K income. Here in D/FW, for example, that wouldn't be hard at all.

It's also easier to have the 1950s family situation if you're willing to live a 1950s lifestyle -- small house with limited plumbing, no a/c, one car, and so on.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:12 PM on July 26, 2005

[Never in the history of mankind have the lifestyles of the upper class been so thrust into the consciousness of the lower and middle classes.]

The 19th-century novel in Britain.

There is a big difference: words vs. pictures. It is one thing to read a sentence about Mr. Darcy's fine carriage and handsome horses and another to watch an hour of Mr & Mrs. Huxtable swanking about with their beautiful new cars, designer clothes and fabulous home interiors.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:42 PM on July 26, 2005

mrgrimm : "Somebody figure out the median, not the mean."

$62,769

Secret Life of Gravy : "Never in the history of mankind have the lifestyles of the upper class been so thrust into the consciousness of the lower and middle classes.]

"The 19th-century novel in Britain.

"There is a big difference: words vs. pictures. It is one thing to read a sentence about Mr. Darcy's fine carriage and handsome horses and another to watch an hour of Mr & Mrs. Huxtable swanking about with their beautiful new cars, designer clothes and fabulous home interiors."

Ok, how about paintings then? Or are we going to further limit this to moving pictures? And then moving pictures in sound, or with color? Perhaps "Never in the history of mankind have the lifestyles of the upper class been so thrust into the consciousness of the lower and middle classes in 720 progressive scan mode"?
posted by Bugbread at 12:53 AM on July 27, 2005

This all smells of Fark a month ago....hmmm.
posted by mrblondemang at 9:39 PM on July 27, 2005