Whitney Cummings, once the butt of jokes at Comedy Central roasts for being a nobody, is certainly now anything but.
Not only did NBC greenlight her sitcom “Whitney” for a full season, but they also gave a thumbs up for “2 Broke Girls,” which Cummings co-wrote, to continue shooting a full-slate of shows.
An insider told OTM the Peacock Network is expected to “bump up” her $60,000-per-episode paycheck “very soon,” after only three shows, thanks to a ratings surge.
It’s unknown what Cummings reeled in for “2 Broke Girls,” but the amount helped pad her surprising overall worth of an estimated $3.5 million.
A little over a year ago, the comedic actress was repeatedly mocked at the David Hasselhoff roast by wiseacres saying “Whitney Cummings? Whitney Cummings doesn’t know who Whitney Cummings is!”
Now, pretty much everyone does. Joseph Barracato
New credit crisis
No job is safe on Wall Street. Matt Smith, a much-read commodity analyst and budding media darling, has had doubts about his own lately.
His boss at Summit Energy, a subsidiary of Schneider Electric, recently told the loquacious and transplanted Brit (now living in Kentucky) that his job was on the line. Basically, his boss was not happy about how reporters were sourcing Smith.
At issue was the petty clause “a subsidiary of Schneider Electric.” So Smith frantically fired off an e-mail to business and energy writers worldwide, imploring them, “Going forward, when you quote me, please could you say I work for ‘Summit Energy, a subsidiary of Schneider Electric,’ rather than just ‘Summit Energy.’
“This instruction,” Smith nervously added, “comes from my boss, and if I don’t ensure that you do this, he said he will have ‘my guts for garters’ [sic] to reconsider my position with this company (this company being ‘Summit Energy, a subsidiary of Schneider Electric’).”
Smith told On the Money that this wasn’t a script for Monty Python. “It did prompt a decent response from reporters; most have complied,” he said.
Smith is still employed at Summit Energy . . . er, a subsidiary of Schneider Electric. ”I think (=hope) my job is safe,” the commodity analyst at Summit Electric, a subsidiary of Schneider Electric, wrote in a subsequent e-mail. John Aidan Byrne
Tequila
On The Money was hobnobbing last week at the New Establishment list party, hosted by Vanity Fair.
But absent from the event was former Viacom CEO Tom Freston, who’s a perennial on Graydon Carter’s ladder of most-influential people around. Friend Bob Pittman, now CEO of Clear Channel, explained that Freston was visiting Afghanistan.
Ah, doing good works we assume. Wrong! According to Pittman, Freston’s out in central Asia selling a brand of tequila called Dragonas. Pittman is also offering tastings for those with a hankering for South of the Border liquor.
Also at the party: Discovery boss David Zaslav, Sony’s chief deal-maker Rob Weisenthal, digital-music impresario Sean Parker, Google’s Eric Schmidt, and AOL’s Tim Armstrong and adviser Jim Wiatt.
Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes was there with HBO boss Richard Plepler. CBS honcho Leslie Moonves chatted with Universal chief Ron Meyer. Colleague Bonnie Hammer also showed up for cocktails at The Monkey Bar, as did SNL chief Lorne Michaels. Claire Atkinson
Be a winner
Want to channel your inner “winner” this Halloween?
Try dressing as Charlie Sheen for a little trick-or-treat fun.
According to Spirit Halloween, the country’s largest seasonal Halloween retailer, Sheen is topping the list of Halloween costumes this season. For an affordable $19.99, the Sheen mask, designed with the former “Two and a Half Men” star’s trademark smirk, is flying off the shelves. Paired with any number of Sheen-inspired T-shirts and a hefty dose of smugness, you, too, can be a “Rock Star from Mars.”
Top choices for women’s costumes are pop icons Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and “Jersey Shore” cast member Snooki.
The Halloween business is indeed “A Winner.”
The National Retail Federation reports that nearly 70 percent of Americans plan to celebrate Halloween this year. Total Halloween spending is expected to reach $6.9 billion, or about $72 per person, marking a 19 percent increase from $5.8 billion last year on costumes, candy and decorations. Angela Daidone