Forbes Top 10 Earning Women In Prime Time

Forbes have come up with their annual list of the 10 top-earning women in Prime-Time television and it’s full of the usual people you would expect to appear on the list.

10. (tie) Jennifer Love Hewitt, Estimated earnings: $6.5 million

The CBS show Ghost Whisperer, on which Hewitt served as producer and star, ended its run in May after five seasons. The former Party of Five star also played a prostitute in the Lifetime movie The Client List and offered a scene-stealing cameo in NBC’s Love Bites pilot. In March she shared personal relationships struggles in her book The Day I Shot Cupid.

10. (tie) Calista Flockhart, Estimated earnings: $6.5 million

Though her on-screen struggles, be them health-, politics- or marriage-related, as Kitty Walker have been many, Flockhart has little to complain about off-screen. As the ensemble cast’s top-earner, the former Ally McBeal star banked $6.5 million last year. Arguably better: she finally tied the knot with long-term beau and fellow actor Harrison Ford.

8. (tie) Marcia Cross, Estimated earnings: $7 million

Cross’ comedic turn as the all-too-perfect Bree Van De Kamp on ABC’s hit series has earned her critical accolades, countless fans and a $250,000-per-episode paycheck. The mother of twins padded her Wisteria Lane income with a lucrative turn as a Motts spokeswoman.

8. (tie) Ellen Pompeo, Estimated earnings: $7 million

Now in its seventh season on the air, viewers still flock to ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. Having spent years watching Pompeo’s Meredith Grey simultaneously push away and pine after her now husband, Dr. Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd, they got to see her move on to the next struggle this past spring: a child. In the high stakes season finale, her character miscarries. Off camera, Pompeo has been busy caring for her own healthy baby, Stella, with her real-life producer husband Chris Ivery.

7. Tina Fey, Estimated earnings: $7.5 million

What 30 Rock lacks in prime-time viewers (the series averages 6.5 million weekly viewers last season) it makes up for in critical and award show acclaim. The series had won the Emmy for best comedy for three consecutive years, upstaged this year by ABC’s Modern Family. Fey, too, has picked up statues for her role as the series’ creator and star, Liz Lemon. She reprised her Emmy-winning Sarah Palin impersonation on an episode of Saturday Night Live last season, and appeared opposite Steve Carell in the big-screen romantic comedy Date Night.

6. Mariska Hargitay, Estimated earnings: $9.5 million

Though ratings for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit took a hit when it was bumped up an hour to make room for Jay Leno’s short-lived 10 p.m. talk-show last season, the series remains the franchise’s strongest effort. At the forefront of both that show and its success is Hargitay, who has been rewarded with an Emmy and Golden Globe win in the past. Now that the Law & Order mothership has concluded its lengthy run, the New York-based actress becomes the unofficial face of the larger franchise.

5. Marg Helgenberger, Estimated earnings: $10 million

The Emmy-winning actress recently launched her 11th season as showgirl turned blood-spatter analyst Catherine Willows on the lucrative CBS procedural. In an era where few shows deliver sizable ratings–much less massive profit–her series continues to stand out.

4. Eva Longoria Parker, Estimated earnings: $12 million

Like her fellow leading ladies, the Desperate Housewives siren pulled down an estimated $250,000 per episode last season. Off screen, Longoria Parker’s lengthy list of endorsements included L’Oreal Paris, LG Fashion Touch, Heineken and London Fog. The restaurant owner, who donates much of her personal income to charity, also dipped her toe into the celebrity fragrance marketplace with the spring launch of Eva by Eva Longoria.

3. Katherine Heigl, Estimated earnings: $15.5 million

With both a newborn and a film career to nurture, Heigl walked away from her Emmy-winning role as Izzie Stevens on Grey’s Anatomy. Thanks to a string of box office successes, like Knocked Up and 27 Dresses,Heigl commands $12 million a flick, which puts her among the best-paid ladies in Hollywood. More recently her turn opposite Ashton Kutcher in the critically panned Killers proved a dud. Up next: Life As We Know It, where she and co-star Josh Duhamel become caregivers to an orphaned girl when their mutual best friends die in an accident.

2. Tyra Banks, Estimated earnings: $25 million

Though the supermodel turned super-personality concluded her daytime talk show run in May, she’ll continue to serve up ABC’s True Beauty and her popular unscripted model competition series, America’s Next Top Model. In addition to producing the latter, Banks has licensed it in territories throughout the world. First up from the newly minted book division of Bankable, her multimedia company, is Modelland.

1. Ellen DeGeneres, Estimated earnings: $55 million

In addition to her short-lived gig judging American Idol, DeGeneres remains host of her popular talk-show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and lends her face to ad campaigns for American Express, CoverGirl and new entry Vitamin Water. More recently, she announced she was launching her own record label, eleveneleven, and promptly signed 12-year-old YouTube sensation Greyson Chance as her first artist.

I was feeling great about myself after taking a loan out from the bank today, until I read this. Now I feel depressed.

source: Prime Time’s 10 Top-Earning Women [Forbes]