Ted McGinley spent seven seasons helping make “Married With Children” one of television’s most recognizable sitcoms. Today, some of the checks arriving in his mailbox are worth exactly one cent.
Penny Checks
The veteran actor recently revealed he has a “whole stack” of residual checks made out for a single penny.
According to an interview with Page Six, the payments stem from a career that includes appearances on “Happy Days,” “The Love Boat,” “Dynasty,” and, most notably, “Married With Children.” While audiences may assume television stars continue collecting substantial income from reruns, McGinley’s experience tells a very different story.
His revelation also highlights one of the biggest financial disparities in entertainment.
While McGinley receives penny checks, “Everybody Loves Raymond” star Ray Romano reportedly earned roughly $18 million annually from residuals and syndication years after his sitcom ended. Adjusted for inflation, that figure would equal approximately $25 to $26 million today. Romano’s television success helped build an estimated net worth of around $200 million. The difference is not popularity. It’s business structure.
McGinley explained that residual payments decline over time.
“Residuals step down, eventually, it doesn’t become that much,” he said. Even so, he noted, “I’ve been getting residuals all the time.”
The actor admitted he doesn’t bother cashing the penny checks, but he’s willing to deposit almost anything larger.
Asked about the smallest check he would cash, McGinley laughed and replied, “I’d say about $2.”
Then he quickly lowered the threshold. “$1.89, it’s going on!”
Residuals are payments made to actors, writers, and directors when television shows or films continue generating revenue after their original release.
According to KCRA, the system was developed through union negotiations and became a cornerstone of Hollywood compensation. Traditionally, performers were paid when episodes aired in reruns, entered syndication, sold on DVD, or appeared on cable television.
For decades, that system created enormous wealth. The cast of “Friends” famously continued earning millions annually long after the show ended. Romano benefited from a similar phenomenon. “Everybody Loves Raymond” became a syndication powerhouse, and Romano reportedly secured backend participation that allowed him to share directly in the show’s long-term success.
Most actors never receive those deals.
Instead, they rely on standard residual formulas negotiated by unions. Those payments decrease over time and often shrink with every new distribution cycle. Then streaming changed everything.
Actors and writers have spent years arguing that the streaming model dramatically reduced residual income. Unlike traditional syndication, streaming services generally pay under different formulas that are not directly tied to viewership. A show can become a cultural phenomenon without producing meaningful residual income for many of its performers.
The examples are eye-opening. “Orange Is the New Black” actress Kimiko Glenn revealed she earned just $27 in foreign residuals over many years despite appearing on one of Netflix’s biggest hits.
Actor Chris Browning said he received only $271 from Netflix’s “Bright,” a film widely promoted as a major success. Actress Whitney Morgan Cox said her residual checks stopped entirely when “Criminal Minds” moved to Netflix and resumed only when the show returned to traditional television platforms.
For McGinley, the penny checks are mostly a source of amusement. For the industry, they are a reminder that appearing on a hit show and profiting from one are often two very different things.