Nickelodeon Star’s Viral Video Shows Just How Small Residuals Can Get
Getting a check in the mail usually feels good. Not so much when the check is worth two cents.
That's exactly what happened to former Nickelodeon actress Jennifer Hyatt Tedmori, best known for her role as Doris Trembly on the mid-2000s show "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide," who recently filmed herself opening a stack of residual checks she'd been putting off for months. The results were, in her words, cause for a full "crashout."
The Math Didn't Math
Tedmori starred in 11 episodes of the series between 2004 and 2006. For a Valentine's Day-themed episode, her residual check came out to two cents. For another episode — one that apparently involved a mosh pit scene and crushing a soda can against her forehead — she pulled in 68 cents.
Other checks trickling in were valued at three cents, 81 cents, a dollar and one cent, 45 cents, and 87 cents. She didn't hold back her frustration, joking that postage alone probably cost more than some of the checks were worth, and pointing out the absurdity of a company spending 75 cents to mail her three cents.
To be fair, she got a little pushback on the smallest amounts, preemptively telling anyone tempted to criticize her for tossing a nickel that they've probably lost far more than that in their own couch cushions at some point.
One Show Paid Noticeably Better
Interestingly, Tedmori's brief two-episode stint playing a goth character on Nickelodeon's "90210" actually earned her a real check — $21.43, which dwarfed anything from her main gig. All told, her "Ned's Declassified" residuals added up to $8.63 total, while her combined earnings across both Nickelodeon projects landed at $30.06.
She closed out the video with a joke about how she'd spend the windfall — either treating herself to a coffee or reporting the earnings to the IRS — and signed off wishing viewers a better payday than her own $8.63.
How Residuals Actually Work
Residual payments are meant to compensate actors when a show or film gets a second life — reruns on cable, streaming placement, DVD sales, or video-on-demand purchases — beyond the original paycheck they earned filming it. The amount isn't random; it's calculated using a formula that factors in the year of production, how much time an actor spent on set, what type of production it was, and where it ends up airing. It's not just actors who deal with this system either — stunt performers, stunt coordinators, and professional singers can all be on the receiving end of residual checks too.
She's Far From The Only One
Complaints about tiny residual checks have been circulating in Hollywood for years, and this Nickelodeon alum isn't an outlier. One actress who appeared in 24 episodes of "All That" said in 2023 that she'd never received any residual payments at all for her work on the show, despite her recurring role.
Mandy Moore has talked about receiving checks ranging from a single penny up to 81 cents, calling the broader residuals system a genuinely serious problem for actors.
Jodie Sweetin, known for "Full House" and its Netflix revival "Fuller House," has said her checks used to be considerably larger back in her twenties but have shrunk dramatically since — largely, she argues, because traditional syndication has been replaced by streaming, where meaningful residuals for most actors have effectively disappeared. She's also been upfront about what that means day to day: driving a used car, renting her home, and living with maxed-out credit cards rather than anything resembling the glamorous lifestyle people might assume comes with the job.
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