'Friends' Want a Hike

12/28/1998 at 12:00 AM EST

Members of the ensemble cast of NBC's "Friends" are reportedly going to negotiate their new contracts as a group to land deals that will make them some of the highest paid actors on TV. Under their current contracts, each Friend -- Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer -- is paid about $100,000 per episode, or $2.2 million for 22 programs per season. Insiders reportedly expect new negotiations to start at a minimum of $250,000 per episode, or $5.5 million each for the season. (By contrast, "ER" star Eric La Salle currently has a 3-year, $27-million deal.) Insiders suspect that Warner Bros., which produces the sitcom, will ante up the dough.