Fun with contracts!

[titan1978]

After the recent post about the cast member leaving Y&R (see the spoilers page for that), and after reading just how many people don’t understand how soap contracts work (the comments on that performer’s post on social media about said firing), I got to thinking how much these boards taught me about soap contracts over the years.

 

13 week cycles, outs, vacation clauses, etc...we know a lot about them around here.  The majority of them benefit the show/network totally, although some elite performers over the years have clauses that give them their own week cycles to quit before their contracts expire, and even a couple that had penalties if the show didn’t keep them for their entire contract length, or pay them the full amount for early termination!

 

I thought this might be a fun place to compile all the contract information we have learned over the years about these shows, especially the odd ones.  Maybe correct some myths, conjecture on what we have “heard” over the years!

 

The current standard for newer performers seems to be 2 to 3 years with standard 13-week cycles.  Not too long ago, that was almost always 4 to 5 years for newbies.

 

GH-Tony Geary, by the time he left, had almost 6 months off a year put in to his contract instead of more money.  He had been adding more time off for over a decade by the time he left.  I have read that the infamous clause allowing him to rewrite his dialog was not actually in his contracts though.

Edited February 2, 2021 by titan1978

[Chris B]

Me contract clause rumored is that Eric Braeden has to have the last word in scenes and can’t lose to Jack in a story. 

[Franko]

I believe I read it here that both Susan Lucci and Erika Slezak had it written in that they wouldn't have to work on their children's birthdays and first and last days of school. Not a bad perk and I wonder if it was something only ABC actresses utilized.

 

As for myths, let's go with Jensen Buchanan's fabled helicopter service to the Another World studio.

[AbcNbc247]

According to Eight Years in Another World, when AW episodes ran for 90 minutes, both Victoria Wyndham and Beverlee McKinsey had it written into their contracts that they would appear in only three episodes a week. VW also had written into her contract that she could appear in four episodes in one week, provided that she appear in only two episodes the following week.

Edited February 3, 2021 by AbcNbc247

[All My Shadows]

The clause in Bev McKinsey's GL contract that allowed her to take vacation time whenever she wanted, and she chose to do it at the perfect time so that it would line up with when her contract ended so that she could leave way earlier than she was "supposed" to. Someone who knows more about it (or has the lengthy interview where she explains it) can go into detail.

[AbcNbc247]

Here it is

 

https://iriswheeler.tripod.com/tvguide19920811.html

[All My Shadows]

Thank you! I knew I had it wrong in a way, but now I remember. She had an outclause that allowed her to leave with an eight-week notice, which she used as she embarked on a six-week vacation (with the show being ahead two weeks). Just a real gangsta move.

[titan1978]

My absolute favorite part was BM warning JFP she might have to quit and Jill telling her she can’t quit because she has a contract.  And Bev telling her “you better read it.”

If such a thing existed, it was after Bell was long gone.  He would never let an actor dictate how the story would be told.  And by all accounts, none of the actors did that lasted a long time.

I have also heard that Susan and Erika had those clauses.

 

And that Jensen one has been a legend for a long time!  I think I even read it in a soap mag!  I didn’t watch much of AW, but what I did I liked her but not so much I would have given her that.

That’s interesting.  I can imagine they used all their clout at that time after experiencing the show going from 30 minutes to an hour and how much longer their day had gotten by that point.

Also from GH- Denise Alexander being killed off was due to her wanting time off and the show didn’t want to give it to her during a contract negotiation.  They even threw more money her way, and it pissed the network negotiator off that she was declining more money for a vacation before her new contract started.  Nobody was happy and they killed her as punishment.

 

Her arrival at GH was due to a lapsed contract at DAYS, because Bill Bell was focused on launching Y&R and wasn’t sure what the story was for Susan just yet, and ABC found out she was off contract and offered her a much more significant contract guarantee, which is why she left.

Edited February 3, 2021 by titan1978

[Paul Raven]

Of course there was Eileen Fulton's famous 'grandmother' clause in her contract.

From what I understand she gad it inserted in the late 60's/early 70's when Lisa's son Tom son was SORASED and was now of marrying age (Tom married Carol in 1972 when he should have been 11 years old)

Eileen had seen what happened to Patricia Bruder's Ellen (who became a grandmother in the late 60's, despite her son Dan being only 12 years old in real time) and Barbara Berger's Claire who become a great grandmother at the same time.

Their importance in the story was reduced and they were aged up to make them appear closer to their screen age.

La Fulton could see the same happening to vixen Lisa so demanded the clause.

Therefore Tom never became a father in the 70's despite 2 marriages.

Fulton claimed the clause was dropped when she returned in the early 80's but she received backlash when Tom's 3rd wife Margo had a miscarriage.

[titan1978]

Fulton was smart to get that clause when she did!

[Paul Raven]

! think it was Victoria Wyndham that had it in her contract that her scenes were to be taped first so she was out of the studio earlier.

 

[DRW50]

I think there was some flap over Morgan Fairchild's contract at The City, wasn't there? 

[vetsoapfan]

 

Possibly. Erika Slezak had that in her contract too, which allegedly left newbie Marcia Cross in a snit.

[DaytimeFan]

When Linda Dano came to ABC after the cancellation of AW her contract was a 5 year deal that, in addition to her appearing on all 4 ABC soaps, had a minimum number of appearances on The View each year that Linda used to publicize her QVC and interior design businesses. 

There is also the issue of special credits. When Deidre Hall returned to DAYS after a short stint in prime time in the 1980s she got a “And Deidre Hall as Marlena Evans” credit. Rosemary Prinz had “Special Guest Star Rosemary Prinz” when she was on AMC. 

[titan1978]

As did Genie Francis after her kids were born, Wendy Riche agreed to it and that also pissed off some people at GH.

 

When JFP refused to let Genie take off the summer she turned 40, without giving her 120 days notice in writing (which were the network included terms of her contract), she revealed she had the same ability in her contract to quit as long as she gave the show 120 days notice.  So that’s what she did.  The sticking point for her was that they do not require Tony to give the notice, they just let him go, and Riche had been allowing her to do it for the prior couple of years.  And she said that JFP was taken by surprise again that she actually followed through and resigned.

 

ABC really has treated her like crap several times over the years, and let Tony do what he wanted.  I loved Luke, but not as much as I love Laura, or them as a unit.

 

Didn’t Deidre also want Wayne to return as part of her agreeing to come back?  And I remember reading she was incredibly well compensated.

 

Dano’s deal was pretty remarkable considering she was not a huge ABC star, and Another World had not been the top rated show that it once was during her tenure there.  She must have had an incredible Q rating back then.

 

Louise Sorel also said that Corday was very generous in her contracts in the 1990’s.  Although I remember that she had a run in early on DAYS where they tried to replace her and still had to pay her so they ended up bringing her back.

 

Kim Zimmer was very public about GL in its last years trying to renegotiate her contract before it was due to expire for lower money, and she refused them.  She said they could make that offer when her contract negotiations were due, but not with over a year left on her current contract.  And people blamed her for actors being fired.  But I agree with her- those were the agreed terms!

Edited February 3, 2021 by titan1978