How Long Does It Take TV Top Earners to Make Your Salary?

Apparently it is a good time to be working as an advertising executive, or at least a good time to play one on TV.

That is because Charlie Sheen, who plays a jingle-writing bachelor on Two and a Half Men, (CBS) brings home $825,000 per episode, tops for small-screen actors this year, according to a poll released by TV Guide this week. (Of course, with 23 shows each year, Sheen, a three-time Emmy winner, will rake in about $20 million this year!)

As these actors make thousands of dollars each day on the set, their real-life counterparts are slaving away in hopes of earning fraction of their Hollywood equivalent’s paychecks.

Here’s how five of TV's top earners measure up to the clock-punchers they portray.

Charlie Sheen
Character: Charlie Harper
Job: Jingle Writer
Estimated Salary (Varies by Corporation Deals): $40,000
Sheen's approximate episode rate per minute: $27,500.
Time It Takes Sheen to Earn a Jingle Writer’s Annual Salary: 1 minute 27 seconds.

William Peterson
Character: Gil Grissom
Job: Head Crime Scene Investigator in Las Vegas
Estimated salary of a Las Vegas CSI: $45, 079.
Peterson's approximate episode rate per minute: $10,000.
Time it takes Petersen to earn a Vegas CSI’s annual salary: 4 minutes, 30 seconds.

Mariska Hartigay
Character: Olivia Benson
Job: NYPD Special Victims Unit
Estimated Salary of a NYPD SVU Detective: $100,000.
Hargitay's approximate episode rate per minute: $6,666.
Time it takes Hartigay to earn a NYPD Detective’s annual salary:  15 minutes, 1 second.

Kyra Sedgwick
Character: Brenda Johnson
Job: LAPD Deputy Police Chief
Estimated salary of a LAPD Deputy Police Chief: $218,760.
Sedgwick's approximate episode rate per minute: $4,583.
Time it takes Sedgwick to earn a LAPD Deputy Chief’s annual salary: 47 minutes, 44 seconds.

Dan Castellaneta
Character: Homer Simpson
Job: Nuclear Plant Safety Inspector
Estimated Salary of a Nuclear Play Safety Inspector: $48,953
Castellaneta's approximate episode rate per minute: $13,333. (D'ough!)
Time it takes Castellaneta to earn a Nuclear Safety Inspector’s salary: 3 minutes, 40 seconds.

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