This Is Us cast receives $2 million bonuses for their final season

This Is Us has proven to be the last true viable hit on network TV in quite some time. While cable and streaming dominate ratings and awards attention, NBC’s This Is Us has been the lone representative for network TV on those fronts, and rightfully so. The Dan Fogelman-created drama has had a consistent and tight narrative focus bolstered by a strong ensemble cast that gives top-notch performances. The series is heading into its final season by choice as that has been the storytelling plan from the beginning and its series regulars are about to be handsomely compensated for their final year.

According to “Deadline“, the main adult cast, Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, Susan Kelechi Watson, Chris Sullivan, and Jon Huertas, all sought pay raises this past summer heading into the sixth and final season. This was initially met with resistance by 20th Television and NBC since the original cast members (Ventimiglia, Moore, Brown, Metz, Harley, Watson, and Sullivan) previously negotiated big raises after the second season when all of the actors, who had started the show at different compensation levels, all went up to $250,000 an episode. The main cast has maintained parity since season 2 and that’s something they all wanted as they entered the final season.

When the cast was met with resistance by the higher-ups, creator Dan Fogelman stepped in on their behalf and said they deserved more money based on the continued critical and ratings success of the series. 20th Television and NBC ultimately relented and agreed to a $2 million cash bonus for each of the seven original cast members and $1 million for fellow series regular Huertas, who began as recurring during season one before being bumped up to series regular in season two.

Here is the pretty cool thing about the original seven cast members. They all requested parity for Huertas to receive the same $2 million bonus but 20th Television and NBC declined to do so. Per “Deadline“, the original seven cast members were willing to pool their $2 million bonuses in order to get Huertas to match their increases by the actor, who has also directed on the series, declined the offer. All of these negotiations just show how much one big happy family the This Is Us cast actually is.

News of the pay increases arrives as the series has just released a trailer for its sixth and final season that can be viewed at the top of this story. I’m sure NBC is sad to see this be the last hurrah for This Is Us because it has done wonders for the network but hopefully network TV will be able to find another series that resonated with viewers as this one did. I like to believe network TV isn’t the dead zone I think it has become and shows like This Is Us gave me a little hope that there is still a pulse and a life worth saving.

The sixth and final season of This Is Us premieres on NBC on January 4, 2022.