Drake & Josh was easily one of the biggest shows on Nickelodeon in the early 2000s and remained extremely popular until it ended in 2007. Regardless, it is still one of the most famous and influential kid shows.
One-half of the iconic main characters from “Drake & Josh,” Josh Peck, has recently opened up about his days on the Nickelodeon show. One particularly interesting piece of information he revealed was his paycheck per episode.
Read on to find out what he said.
Josh Peck Said There Was A Big Misconception About His Salary
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Peck was one of the biggest child stars early on in his life, and he has finally shared his salary during his time with Nickelodeon. He also dispelled some of the financial misconceptions he believes people have about child stars and their earnings.
As per E! News, during an interview on Dear Media’s Trading Secrets podcast , Peck said, “I can only speak to my experience, but I think it’s quite public that if you were on a show like Two and a Half Men or Modern Family, and you were the kid on a massive network, syndicated show.”
He continued, “The case could be made that you’d have enough money to last you for the rest of your life.” He then made it clear that he believes there is a “misnomer” about him that he was given a “golden parachute” during his time on the show.
Josh Peck Only Made $15,000 Per Episode
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To dispel the “misnomer” and all misconceptions people have about his earnings from Nickelodeon, Peck said, “But, the reality is that when we were making the show, we did 60 episodes, and we made about $15,000 an episode.”
“So, when all is said and done, we were sort of left after agents and managers and taxes,” he continued, “You live with about $450,000 over five years, which breaks down to a little less than $100,000 a year—now, certainly a great amount of money, but not enough to set you up for life.
Peck also revealed that he and his mom lived a “middle-class” life. He said, “And a lot of it, we lived on, and I’m not gonna brag: My mom and I had a used BMW five series. We lived in a two-bedroom apartment with amenities. We lived a very middle-class life.”
He Said The Money Went To Their Lifestyles
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Peck also revealed that after the show ended, all the money he had earned went to his and his mom’s lifestyles, and he claimed that there are “no residuals on kids’ television.”
He said, “It was like we had 18 months of runway, you know,” he said. “It’s as though someone had lost their job.” This isn’t also the first time 35-year-old Peck has spoken out about his time and experiences on the iconic show. He has previously revealed that he and his former co-star Drake Bell were not currently friends.
Bell and Peck previously had a rift when Peck failed to invite Bell to his wedding in 2017, and Bell made several tweets about the disappointment he felt. In his podcast, Bell recently said that he was “bugged” about Peck’s statements that their friendship was over. To fans, it is another iconic duo going their separate ways.
Peck’s Salary Was Average Compared To Other Shows
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Drake & Josh was easily one of the biggest shows on Nickelodeon, and while the salary Peck earned might seem low, his $15,000 per episode was actually an average amount compared to his fellow Nickelodeon child stars such as Victoria Justice. However, it was much lower than Miranda Cosgrove.
According to the New York Post, Cosgrove made approximately $180,000 for every episode of iCarly, which had over 100 episodes by the time the show ended. At the time, Cosgrove was the highest-paid child star on TV, second only to Angus T. Jones from Two and a half men.
Another example is Victoria Justice, who, as per yournextshoes, was paid $12,0000 for each episode of Victorious and $50,000 per episode on Zoey 101. Both shows were extremely popular and largely influenced the kids’ show industry.
