Tichina Arnold Says Being Left Out Of ‘Martin’ Episodes For Guest Stars Was ‘Pretty Humiliating’: ‘My Salary Went To Guest Stars’

Tichina Arnold, “Martin” cast

Tichina Arnold Says Being Left Out Of ‘Martin’ Episodes For Guest Stars Was ‘Pretty Humiliating’: ‘My Salary Went To Guest Stars’

Actress Tichina Arnold is getting candid about what viewers didn’t see behind the scenes of Martin, revealing she wasn’t contracted to appear in every episode despite Pam becoming a fan-favorite character. “People don’t realize I wasn’t in every episode,” Arnold shared during an appearance on The Maverick Approach. “Anytime there was a guest, I wasn’t on it. You did not see them. My salary went to guest stars.”

Arnold explained that her contract called for her to appear in seven out of every 13 episodes. Because of that arrangement, she sometimes wouldn’t even know whether she was working until the cast was already together and scripts were distributed. “I didn’t know whether or not I was in the next episode until we were all in the trailer and they start handing out the scripts,” she recalled. “And if I didn’t get a script, damn…it was pretty humiliating.”

When asked whether anyone would console her when she wasn’t included, Arnold said, “No. After a while, no,” before recalling cast members eventually saying things like, “Damn, you know, we wish you were in it.” Looking back, she said syndication can make her presence on the series seem much larger today: “You see repeats, so it feels like I’m in every episode, but I was literally not.”

Arnold also faced a tough question: If she had to permanently erase either Martin or Everybody Hates Chris, which would she choose? After initially refusing — “That’s another way of asking me which do I like best. I’m not answering that” — she ultimately picked Martin. She explained why Everybody Hates Chris was such a major milestone: “I was a new mother. First time I was playing a mother. The first time I was number one on the call.” She continued, “It was the first time that I had a heavy load in a show that I really loved doing… It was a marker, a huge marker in my life.”