Phill Lewis says scenes filmed a week at a time were assembled into an extra episode of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, with no separate episode payment for the cast.
Speaking with former co-star Dylan Sprouse on Sprouse’s Wildman podcast, Lewis described what the production called “wraparound episodes.” Alongside the episode they were working on that week, actors would film a scene intended for another episode. They’d shoot another scene for it the following week, gradually building a complete episode.
Lewis, 58, played hotel manager Mr. Moseby on the Disney Channel series and its spinoff, The Suite Life on Deck. Asked about the payment arrangement, he said: “Not for residuals. We didn’t get paid for [that episode].”
He also alleged that their contracts let producers treat however many episodes they filmed within a calendar year as a single season. “They called it one season because they didn’t have to pay us bumps,” Lewis said.
Sprouse shared his own account of the show’s residuals, payments actors receive when their work runs again after its original release. He said: “the only residual cheque I’ve ever received for the Suite Life at all was a crossover episode with Hannah Montana for five cents. I’m not joking.”
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody aired from 2005 to 2008, followed by The Suite Life on Deck from 2008 to 2011.