‘NCIS’ season 11: Mark Harmon’s obvious reason to love his job

We all know that “NCIS” is a very successful show. Getting over 20 million viewers a week is pretty much proof of that. But what sort of paycheck comes along with getting that much success? That is what we are here to talk about today.

Thanks to an annual survey conducted by TV Guide, it was revealed that Mark Harmon is the highest-paid actor of any drama series on TV, with a total of $525,000 an episode. This is more than double what Emmy-winner Claire Danes makes for “Homeland,” or three times the earnings of Peter Dinklage on “Game of Thrones.” Granted, his show has been around for over a decade at this point, and he has slowly risen to this salary.

In case you’re wondering who is #1 on the list overall, that honor goes to Ashton Kutcher, who earns $750,000 per “Two and a Half Men.” However, Jon Stewart actually earns more than him, given that he takes home $25-30 million a year for “The Daily Show.” But late-night is a little bit of a different beast, and the hours are different.

Don’t expect Harmon to take the top spot overall among actors, even if Kutcher’s show ends this year. “The Big Bang Theory” will be negotiating new salaries soon, and the three stars in Kaley Cuoco, Jim Parsons, and Johnny Galecki could start to earn as much as $1 million an episode based on the show’s success.

Harmon is going to really have his work cut out for him this year, given just about everything that has transpired already behind the scenes on the show. With the exit of Cote de Pablo already on the books, the current actors may be required to raise their game to another level.

What do you think about Harmon’s salary, and do you think that it is particularly well-deserved? As always, we want to hear some of your thoughts below!

Photo: CBS