He thought for a minute. "Nothing, but it's all about risk. When the network fronts all the money, they take the risk. The producers pay people to appear and set the budget. If it is successful, they reap the benefits."

"And they make a lot of money off of my appearances," I said.

"True. If you appear again, you could negotiate for a larger cut, but you risk the producers choosing someone else." I did have a following, but no one was untouchable. "If you produced it yourself, you pay all the costs and take all the risks. You would need to form a production company, hire workers, do the...