In the middle of a press conference for the Netflix comedy “Grace and Frankie” that wasn’t much funnier than the show itself, its actors began to say odd things.
“Was that supposed to be funny” Lily Tomlin said.
“Who gets 100 bucks?” Sam Waterston asked.
Then when someone asked Jane Fonda how life has been since 50, the actress, now 73 said “I can’t remember — 50 was too long ago.”
As some in the room responded with titters, she called out, “I get $100!” adding to the reporters “Never mind, that’s an inside joke.”
And after expounding on her late-in-life success, her dog on her laugh, she said to her co stars “I don’t know what you think, but I get $200.”
“That doesn’t qualify as a laugh,” Tomlin shot back.
“That’s just a chuckle. Okay,” Fonda allowed.
Eventually she came clean on what she was talking about. Before they came out to do the panel discussion, she said they were warned about the dour reporters they would be facing. “We were told that you all are very serious and that you don’t laugh much,” Fonda said. “So anybody that can make you laugh gets paid $100.”
If only they were paid on that basis for the show.