Last week, you may have gotten the chance to check out the article about how much the TV show characters on FOX are making. If you missed it, you can read it by clicking here. We at TVOvermind decided to do some more research (Hey, if it has to do with television, we are all about it!) and find out what the characters from CBS are bringing home every year in their careers. Each week we are going to tackle a different network and see what some of your favorite TV show characters’ salaries and if their fictional lifestyles actually match up with what their lives would be like in the real world. Some of the careers analyzed from the eye network include a State’s Attorney, a waitress, and even a physicist. So take a look and discover how much money these fictitious people earn for a living.
Alicia Florrick (The Good Wife), State’s Attorney
Alicia Florrick is a TV show character on the popular CBS drama The Good Wife. Over the course of six seasons, Alicia has been able to climb the corporate ladder in the field of law and was even offered a partnership at the firm Lockhart/Gardner before she decided to jump ship and create her own firm with colleague Cary Agos. Now she is running for State’s Attorney of Cook County. Though she has not been elected into the position yet, we here at TVOvermind have high hopes for this TV show character. The actual State’s Attorney of Cook County makes almost $200 k a year, so Alicia will be doing quite well for herself if she every decides to kick Peter to the curb.
Christy Plunkett (Mom), Waitress
Christy Plunkett is a TV show character that we are all rooting for to succeed. She is a recovering alcoholic and is trying to stay sober and support her two children. She is even living with her mother to help make ends meet. Christy is currently working at an upscale restaurant in Sonoma county, which is located in California. The average hourly wage for a server in this region is $9.76 per hour. If Christy works 40 hours a week that would equal an annual salary of $20,300. Considering the restaurant is on the high end, she probably does very well in tips. If she made $100 every night and worked five days a week all year long, that would average out to another $26,000 to her annual earnings.
Elizabeth Faulkner McCord (Madam Secretary), Secretary of State
Elizabeth McCord is a new TV show character as Madame Secretary is one of the successful new series of the 2014-2015 season. She is the Secretary of State, which in real life is currently being filled by Democrat John Kerry. Past Secretary of State’s include Hillary Clinton, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, and Madeleine Albright. The Secretary of State is fifth in the chain of command so if something happened to the President, Vice President, Speaker of the House, and the President pro tempore of the Senate; then you could expect to see Elizabeth running the country. Right now, her salary mirrors that of Alicia Florricks of $200,000 per year.
Mike and Molly Biggs (Mike & Molly), Police Officer and Author
Mike Biggs is a TV show character that lives in Chicago. Maybe has run into Alicia Florrick a time or two. Mike is the half of the duo on the comedy series Mike & Molly. He spends his days trying to clean up the streets of Chicago as a dedicated police officer. He brings home around $55,000 a year, which is close to the national average. Molly quit her job as a fourth grade teacher to become a writer in season four of the series. Apparently authors are not raking in the dough. The average traditionally published author will only make $1,000 a year. Good thing Mike has a steady job. However, it just takes one great book for an author to become a millionaire.
Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter (The Big Bang Theory), Physicists
Sheldon Cooper is a TV show character that you really, really love or that you really, really hate. For me it is the latter. Sheldon lives with his best friend Leonard and the two are both physicists. Sheldon is a theoretical physicist while Leonard is an experimental one. Both of these men have Ph.D.’s which means that they would be getting paid more money than someone who is still trying to earn that achievement. The two must really love living together, because each would be able to live comfortably on their own and still be able to pay the bills. Sheldon earns an average of $90,000 per year and Leonard makes slightly less at $84,000 per year.
Leroy Jethro Gibbs (NCIS), NCIS Special Agent in Charge
Gibbs is a TV show character that has been around for a long time. Mark Harmon first began to play the character on a 2003 episode of JAG. Since then, the character has been the Special Agent in Charge of his team on NCIS, which is currently airing its twelfth season. A Special Agent working for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service can earn on average $120,000 per year. Since Gibbs oversees the Special Agents, his salary would be higher than that. We were unable to find an exact amount, but he will be compensated nicely based on the salary of a Special Agent.
Alan Harper (Two and a Half Men), Former Chiropractor
Next month, viewers will be saying good-bye to the TV show character Alan Harper as Two and a Half Men will end its twelve season run on February 19th. When the series began, Alan was a chiropractor living with his alcoholic womanizing brother Charlie. Since the death of Charlie, Alan has lost his job and is living with his best friend Walden. That means that Alan’s current income is $0. The average chiropractor in California makes $150,000 a year. On the low end, which is where Alan would have fallen based on several storylines depicting he is bad at his job, he still should have been making between $80,000 and $100,000. I guess the alimony payments to Judith were a lot!
Which salary of your favorite CBS TV show character were you most surprised about reading? Let us know in the comments section below.
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Follow Us
