If you think you're seeing more and more marquee movie stars making the move to television, there's a reason - or about a million-an-episode - for it.
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Robert DeNiro has topped a list of TV's highest-paid dramatic actors, published by industry trade mag Variety.
The Oscar winner, 74, is earning $US775,000 ($982,000) per episode for Amazon's still in-production untitled project from Silver Linings Playbook director David O. Russell, set to premiere later this year.
And he's not the only Hollywood exile raking in movie star money on the small screen.
Among the big-name actors joining DeNiro in TV's top dollar ranks are Kevin Costner (Yellowstone; $US500,000), Kevin Spacey (House of Cards; $US500,000), Claire Danes (Homeland; $US450,000), Billy Bob Thornton (Goliath; $US350,000), Anthony Hopkins (Westworld; $US300,000), and Keifer Sutherland (Designated Survivor; $US300,000).
The elevated paycheques are due to TV's new focus on streaming, Variety notes.
"The business models that govern streaming services have had the effect of raising upfront payments to top talent because traditional forms of generating a profit from a hit series - through international sales and off-network syndication - are no longer an option," they write.
In more traditional TV circles, the cast of Game of Thrones are sure to be rueing next season's series finale, with lead stars Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, Lena Headey and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau currently earning $US500,000 per episode, following a recent pay-scale negotiation.
They're only bested in TV's dramatic circles by NCIS veteran Mark Harmon, who takes home $US525,000 per episode for the naval cop gig he's been shilling since 2003.
Of course, TV's greatest value (somehow) still lies in reciting canned gags about quantum physics and aerospace engineering.
Despite taking a pay-cut to lend their co-stars some scratch, the core five stars of The Big Bang Theory - Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Jim Parsons - remain the overall highest paid stars on TV, earning $US900,000 ($1.14 million) per episode over a 24-episode season.
They're trailed in the comedy landscape by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, who earns $US650,000 per episode for HBO's Ballers, and the adult cast of Modern Family, who earn $US500,000 per episode.
Nostalgia, it seems, also pays.
The stars of soon-to-be revived classics Roseanne and Will & Grace are also getting their bank accounts revived, with Roseanne Barr, John Goodman, Sean Hayes, Debra Messing, Eric McCormack and Megan Mullally picking up $US250,000 per episode.
Other new faces on the list include Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid's Tale; $US200,000), Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad; $150,000), Donald Glover (Atlanta; $75,000), and Claire Foy (The Crown, $40,000), whose modest per-episode take might be a bargain for the lavish Netflix hit.
Netflix, however, has been throwing its money elsewhere, bringing David Letterman into the top-paid reality/talk show talent scene with its recent $US12 million offer to host his own interview show.
That list is headed by Ellen DeGeneres and Judge Judy Sheindlin, whose annual salaries of $US50 million and $US47 million respectively dwarf even Katy Perry's monumental $US25 million take to be a judge on the new season of American Idol.
Among late night hosts Fallon, Colbert and Kimmel all earn around $US15-16 million, while Alec Baldwin and Mike Myers are grabbing $US3 million a piece for revived game shows Match Game and The Gong Show, respectively.
