Arienne Thompson

USA TODAY





During a break from Oscars week mania in L.A., I took the Warner Bros. VIP studio tour, where I learned from my guide Noah that the Friends cast is still rolling in MAJOR dough more than a decade after the show ended.



How major?



Well, through the magic of syndication revenue, Friends pulls in a whopping $1 billion each year for Warner Bros. Here's the kicker though: That translates into about a $20 million annual paycheck each for Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer, who each make 2% of that syndication income.



$20 million. Each year. For doing nothing.



Just let that sink in.



That wasn't the only thing I learned on my tour though...



That Central Perk set is tiny



Despite how it looks on TV, the coffee spot where the Friends gang hung out is not much bigger than a cramped NYC apartment. Oh, and it's shaped like a wedge to give the illusion of being more spacious onscreen. Ah, the magic of television!









Being inside a fake house is creepy...



Speaking of weird sets, traipsing through a house that looks normal from the outside but has no ceilings, no second floor, no plumbing and no people is downright creepy -- even if it is Monica and Ross' childhood home.









But petrified Hermione is even creepier



This will haunt me for all of eternity.









The new Batman vs. Superman car is sick



There's an entire fleet of Batmobiles at Warner Bros., but the coolest one wasn't even in the garage during my visit. You're looking at the cool new vehicle that will make its debut in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice movie. You're welcome.









Pink Floyd has a Warner Bros. connection



Does this stretch of studio lot look familiar to you? It should, if you're a Pink Floyd fan. This is the exact spot where the album cover photo for Wish You Were Here was taken.









Ellen DeGeneres always takes a three-day weekend



There are no pics allowed inside the Ellen show set, but I did learn something about her charmed life: She takes every Friday off. Yep, every single one. So on Thursdays, she pre-tapes Friday and Monday's shows and then she's out. A long weekend every weekend? Must be nice!



