Don't forget Chuck Lorre. That guy's got to be obscenely rich by now -- a quick googling says to the tune of $600 million. Yowza. But then he also probably works about 100 hours a week between his various shows.
True. Totally forgot about him. As an added bonus, not only is he obscenely rich, but he's obscenely powerful. After all, he's the guy that was able to tell Charlie Sheen to fuck off during Sheen's antics last year. Even the network execs were scared of Charlie Sheen at the time, and didn't have the balls to fire him. Lorre was more important to the show's success than the highest-paid actor in television. That's power. (Despite Sheen's insistance that he was "winning," he sure seems to have lost that brawl).
As a movie writer, you never really rise to that level of money or power. Sure, you have folks like Steve Zaillian or Aaron Sorkin[1], who make millions and can command a lot of respect. Some even become household names, or win Oscars. But they never quite become masters of the universe the way that hit showrunners do.
[1]Sort of an anomaly/exception, in as much as he's done both.
