cal@pyramid.UUCP (Craig Alan Levin) (08/14/85)
The following is an excerpt from Marilyn Beck's _The_Grapvine_
column in the San Jose Mercury, 13 Aug 1985:
A WHOLE bunch of trouble is going on on "Hill Street
Blues." Now, to fully comprehend the situation, you
must understand that some time back the cast was
divided into three different salary categories.
Veronica Hamel and Daniel Travanti (who reportedly
gets $50,000 per week) are A's; B's include Charles
Haid and Bruce Weitz; and on the lowest rung of the
financial scale is the C group, which includes Betty
Thomas, Barbara Bosson and James Sikking. The
agreement had been that everyone in a category would
be given raises at the same time. But according to
three different key sources, that's not what
happened last week. They report word spread among
the cast that MTM granted Thomas' request for a pay
hike -- and that Bosson and Sikking marched in and
asked the same and were invited to walk. Weitz
decided the B's deserved more money, too, and also
walked and ... the situation grew so hairy by Friday
that production had to be suspended. It was
scheduled to resume Monday, but it sounds as if it
will be a while before everything is sorted out and
peace restored on the "Hill."