DH salary?

[Knight2000]

I was just looking at an Airwolf website and found that Jan-Michael Vincent was paid £250,000 a week while starring in Airwolf, making the highest-paid actor of his time. How much did David Hasselhoff get in comparison for Knight Rider?

[neps]

I personally don't know, but I would have to guess that it wasn't nearly close to that. Jan-Michael Vincent was already working as an actor for nearly 30 years before doing Airwolf. Hasselhoff had only been working for less than 10 years and most of it was a soap opera.

[Firefox]

Interesting question.

Whilst DH's wage would have been relatively low initially, I would have guessed it would have been heavily inflated as Knight Rider took off - it did become after all one of the world's most popular tv shows. Also remember Jan Michael Vincent's quarter of a million dollar wage was the highest for it's time, so it could be that Hasselhoff had over taken JMV by the time of KR's fourth season. Whatever the amount, it would have been far smaller then the ****loads of money Glen Larson made in merchandising etc.

[Michael Pajaro]

I really have to question that number...

Airwolf was successful, but I wouldn't really call it a major hit. And Jan Michael Vincent wasn't exactly a superstar. I find it hard to believe that JMV was being paid more than Don Johnson for example.

I don't have the numbers so I can't disprove it, but I'd like to see where the website got their info. Do you have the URL?

Mike

[Firefox]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Michael Pajaro:
<STRONG>I really have to question that number...

Airwolf was successful, but I wouldn't really call it a major hit. And Jan Michael Vincent wasn't exactly a superstar. I find it hard to believe that JMV was being paid more than Don Johnson for example.

I don't have the numbers so I can't disprove it, but I'd like to see where the website got their info. Do you have the URL?

Mike</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think he got the figure from the IMDB website. JMV was an established name at the time of Airwolf, and remember he came ahead of the Oscar winning legend Ernest Borgnine in the billing. JMV's television profile had been boosted considerably in the early 1980s with the lavish mini-series The Winds of War, hence he was a star in demand. Whilst in his earlier days he had starred in movies opposite legends like John Wayne and Burt Reynolds.

It could be that Don Johnson eventually earned more than Vincent, but remember that Miami Vice was launched in 1984 (the same year as Airwolf) and Don Johnson was a relative unknown hence it is plausible that he earned more than Johnson.

[Michael Pajaro]

imdb.com also has "Super Knight Rider 3000" coming out as a made-for-TV movie. So if that's the source, I definitely don't buy into it.

Mike

[Firefox]

I think it's unfair to discredit the IMDB site because its content is not 100% accurate.
Most of the time the info on there is accurate, and let's face it, information regarding future movies is always uncertain hence I think IMDB can be excused.

JMV wage is contained in various other media sources, including the showbiz press of 1984.

[Michael Pajaro]

It's not so much that I disagree with his quarter-million-dollar salary, but that he was the highest-paid actor on TV. It may in fact be true, but even imdb didn't claim he was #1.

Mike

[knightimmortal]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Firefox:
<STRONG>I think it's unfair to discredit the IMDB site because its content is not 100% accurate.
Most of the time the info on there is accurate, and let's face it, information regarding future movies is always uncertain hence I think IMDB can be excused.

JMV wage is contained in various other media sources, including the showbiz press of 1984.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Tough titty. The IMDB has been wrong on many things because they rely on user submissions, and allow 'anonymous' submissions. They are not the world's greatest source, no matter what, any researcher worth their salt would figure out that they need more sources than 'anonymous' to base their information off of.

As for the actual amount of Hasselhoff's payment, it's a mystery, unless he discloses it himself somewhere, but Hasselhoff most likely didn't pull in as much as JMV, for the reasons stated above. Take a look at the modern salaries for your standard action show, and note that KR wasn't as much of a hit during its run that we make it out to be, there would have been little to no reason for Hasselhoff to get an exorbitant pay raise, and if he did, Mulhare would have had to have one too at Hasselhoff's insistance.

knightimmortal

[knightrider_ni]

KR was a huge hit in the 80s, definitely in Europe anyways, I'm not sure what the US ratings were like in comparison with other shows at the time but for its time (and in comparison, again, with the ratings of others shows here in europe) KR was a phenomenal success, along with the a-team etc. airwolf allegedly fared much better over here than it did in the states - same with baywatch's season one which was cancelled in the states and only brought back with financial aid from hasselhoff and his partners and the success it had become in europe.

i'm not sure what jan's wage was exactly, but it is known widely throughout the internet and media-related printed press that he was the highest paid TV actor of the eighties which would then bring in all weekly wages from 80 to 89. tv zone magazine had a small feature on him last year, i'll try to dig it out as it confirms a lot of what you can find all over the net. i wouldn't trust the IMDB though folks, not without checking it everywhere that you can, whatever the info is that you have gotten from it. they appear to have gotten this right though.

[ November 09, 2002: Message edited by: knightrider_ni ]

[March2875]

The original run of Baywatch wasn't cancelled due to low ratings. Instead it was cancelled due to extremely high costs of production. David himself said this in an interview once. He said they bought the show back downsized the staff to make cost of production much cheaper. In fact this interview was where David first mentions plans for the Knight Rider film in October of 1995. He was washing the Baywatch trucks himself an example of cost cutting measures when He said "Id like to make Knight Rider a feature"

[knightimmortal]

Actually, NBC has mentioned in the past that Baywatch was cancelled due to low ratings. That it wasn't drawing enough of an audience during it's one season run. America is too tight for the jiggle audience, but in syndication, it found enough backing and international audience to make it work. Hasselhoff has a tendency of joking around a lot of the time in interviews and such.

And referring to the earlier concept of Knight Rider's popularity in the States: It only made the top 20 shows for one season, otherwise, it wasn't a total ratings bonanza, just enough to keep it afloat. You have to remember, America doesn't respect Hasselhoff half as much as the International market does. It is why he has found such a niche in Germany, and can't sell more than 100 albums in the states.

Yes, we Americans have a tendency of cutting our noses off to spite our face.

knightimmortal

[Firefox]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by March2875:
<STRONG>The original run of Baywatch wasn't cancelled due to low ratings. Instead it was cancelled due to extremely high costs of production. David himself said this in an interview once. He said they bought the show back downsized the staff to make cost of production much cheaper. </STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Funny, coz it was high production costs that killed off the CBS Airwolf; costs that were no doubt incured by Vincent's constant boozing while on set.

[Dana Knight]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Michael Pajaro:
<STRONG>It's not so much that I disagree with his quarter-million-dollar salary, but that he was the highest-paid actor on TV. It may in fact be true, but even imdb didn't claim he was #1.

Mike</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm a 100% sure of this but during that time Larry Hagman was the highest paid actor on TV as J.R. Ewing. I was reading a magazine couple weeks back about Larry Hagman and the new DALLAS movie and it said he picked up the biggest pay cheque back in those days. My friend's mother watched DALLAS all the time she said that when the world went through its "Who Shoot J.R?" stage he started getting the big bucks. And he had already had found fame before DALLAS for his role as Barbara Eden's Master on I dream of Jeannie. Larry Hagman said in his book that came out last year, that him and Barbara Eden were also picking up big pay cheques in the 60s when they on I dream of Jeannie because NBC loved them.

Her mother also said that Hasselhoff must have been paid well by the second year of Knight Rider, she said Knight Rider was very popular during its time and when shows become popular their actors start asking for more and more money.

Ms Garthe Knight [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[knightimmortal]

It wasn't all that grandly popular in the United States, was the problem. It was a favorite of some, but it's ratings were never consistently spectacular.

knightimmortal

[Skav]

Ms Garthe Knight, you're right on everything re: Dallas. I am a big fan of the show myself. I've seen all the episodes.

Talking about 'I dream of Jeannie' there is a Dallas episode called 'I dream of Jean'. I think this episode came about within the last two seasons where Bobby thinks a woman, who looks like Pam, his ex wife, is her.

Mind you, I always did think that even Dallas was sometimes even MORE far fetched than KR.

There was an episode where Pam has a car accident and the car blows up but yet they manage to rescue her and she is covered from head to toe in bandages. Very stupid. And yet, she actually managed to live.

The wonder's of the 80's [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Skav

[Dana Knight]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by knightimmortal:
<STRONG>It wasn't all that grandly popular in the United States, was the problem. It was a favorite of some, but it's ratings were never consistently spectacular.

knightimmortal</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I remember Knight Rider was popular in the 80s here in New Zealand or was it because I loved it so much.

In the US the first season of Knight Rider was put up against Dallas and Dallas was big then. From what the E! Hollywood True Story said it rated number one that year again, and also mention Larry Hagman was the highest paid actor at the time. Knight Rider wasn't that far off in the ratings and did bet Dallas once, I read that somewhere and I think that would have be good. Its like putting a show up against Friends today, but then I would watch whats on the other channel then Friends.

Skav have you ever seen a show that made backmail, corruption, power, money, lies and sleeping around look so good. I have to say I never liked Sue Ellen, but I feel sorry that she was J.R.'s wife twice, but J.R. claimed she was never good in bed. I loved Leann in the last season J.R's Ex Lover. How she took Ewing oil from right under J.R. and she knew how to knock him down and get away with it. Pity I only watched a couple of the episodes she was in, but I have video of Leann and J.R. on my site where she is droping her bombshell on J.R.
The Episode tittle I dream of Jeannie was a joke, it was in the last season. Just like Barbara Eden's surname before marriage was Nelson on Dallas, which was Larry Hagman and Barbara Eden's surname on I dream of Jeannie. Dallas was like the 4th time Hagman and Eden played lovers.

Did you know J.R. Ewing had 89 loves, well Larry Hagman was handsome. I always thought Michael Knight took the cup in that department, but it looks like you don't have to have good hair and a fast car to score.

Talking about far fetched, I thought that whole dream season was, another thing was the fights the Ewing had in the Southfork Swimming Pool that cracked me up. Like the one were J.R. and Sue Ellen got married a second time and after wedding J.R. fell in the swimming pool while having a fight and was still fight with the guy in the pool, I think?

Ms Garthe Knight [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[ November 13, 2002: Message edited by: Ms Garthe Knight ]

[Firefox]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ms Garthe Knight:
<STRONG>

I'm a 100% sure of this but during that time Larry Hagman was the highest paid actor on TV as J.R. Ewing. I was reading a magazine couple weeks back about Larry Hagman and the new DALLAS movie and it said he picked up the biggest pay cheque back in those days. My friend's mother watched DALLAS all the time she said that when the world went through its "Who Shoot J.R?" stage he started getting the big bucks. And he had already had found fame before DALLAS for his role as Barbara Eden's Master on I dream of Jeannie. Larry Hagman said in his book that came out last year, that him and Barbara Eden were also picking up big pay cheques in the 60s when they on I dream of Jeannie because NBC loved them.

Ms Garthe Knight [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, Hagman certainly earned more then Vincent, BUT the reason Hagman earned literally millions of dollars was because he had an executive producers credit on Dallas; he wasn't just an actor. If we're going to look at how much actors who also producers etc. earn then the king of 1980's pay cheques would be Bill Cosby, who at one point was earning $60 million a year and topped Forbes magazines celebrity Rich List beating the likes of Sly Stallone.

[David Whiteheart]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Knight2000:
<STRONG>I was just looking at an Airwolf website and found that Jan-Michael Vincent was paid £250,000 a week while starring in Airwolf, making the highest-paid actor of his time. How much did David Hasselhoff get in comparison for Knight Rider?</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

If that number is true we know how he could afford his drug habit.

Dave

[Dana Knight]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Firefox:
<STRONG>

Well, Hagman certainly earned more then Vincent, BUT the reason Hagman earned literally millions of dollars was because he had an executive producers credit on Dallas; he wasn't just an actor. If we're going to look at how much actors who also producers etc. earn then the king of 1980's pay cheques would be Bill Cosby, who at one point was earning $60 million a year and topped Forbes magazines celebrity Rich List beating the likes of Sly Stallone.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

FireFox you have a point.
But I also took that in account.
Larry Hagman was getting a big pay cheque when Dallas started because he was a well paid actor before. He got a even bigger cheque when world got crazy over "Who Shot J.R? (which was very big!) which happened in 1980, he didn't become executive producer until 1986.
One of the reasons why Dallas was axed because of Hagman's big salary.

Ms Garthe Knight

[knightimmortal]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ms Garthe Knight:
<STRONG>

I remember Knight Rider was popular in the 80s here in New Zealand or was it because I loved it so much.

In the US the first season of Knight Rider was put up against Dallas and Dallas was big then. From what the E! Hollywood True Story said it rated number one that year again, and also mention Larry Hagman was the highest paid actor at the time. Knight Rider wasn't that far off in the ratings and did bet Dallas once, I read that somewhere and I think that would have be good. Its like putting a show up against Friends today, but then I would watch whats on the other channel then Friends.

</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've seen the ratings numbers. Knight Rider bested Dallas for ONE episode, and that was it. Otherwise, Dallas was number one, and Knight Rider was some where down near #27 or further down. So, for all that we worship Knight Rider, and I know this is pure blasphemy for saying this, it was more of a cult favorite than a ratings favorite. Dallas was popular as a nighttime soap opera, which automatically draw more viewers.

knightimmortal

[knightrider_ni]

let's face it folks, there's nothing to get downbeat about. [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] there are HUNDREDS of shows out there, and for knight rider to be at 27 or thereabouts was terrific when you think about it being about a guy and his talking car [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

i'm sure shows right down to the 40's and 50's in those lists were still renewed year after year. and just because a show is around those number doesn't mean its ratings were low, just its position with other shows, there could be very little between some entries.

knight rider wasn't in syndication in its first run, and so was much more reliant on its home-based ratings than those sales abroad if the foreign ratings were even taken into account (the opposite of baywatch basically) and so it was still popular enough to be renewed for four seasons - a very healthy result for a show of its type when you think about it [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] and i believe it's even more popular today, at least here in the UK and europe.

[Firefox]

In the mid-late 1980s Knight Rider was frequently in the top ten most watched tv programmes on on ITV (the most watched tv channel in the UK). I would imagine KR was at least a ratings winner for the US network it was on.

[Skav]

KI, is right. KR only bested Dallas for one episode...anyone know which ep this was? I think it was 'Forget Me Not' but I'm not sure. Anyone clarify this?

Skav

[knightimmortal]

They garnered decent ratings. (Yes, the pilot was at the top of it's game, and I believe THAT was the one that beat Dallas, though a further check would have to be done.) The ratings for the season premieres were also higher than average, and in the much higher, compeditive top 20 range. But the normal episodes, all had average ratings, which, yes, kept it being renewed. (Knightrider ni, the debate is about if the ratings were high enough to garner Hasselhoff a pay raise, not to keep it on the air.)

But...the average ratings of the regular airings of the shows, were not spectacular. They kept it afloat, and they kept it in the market, but back then, when there were only three major networks here in the states, rather than 4 plus two mini-mes. The competition was a lot stiffer back then, and while it is the job of most publicity departments to proclaim how great, grand and wonderful a show is in the ratings, the numbers rarely lie. Knight Rider held its own, but not at the upper end list for huge pay raises.

knightimmortal