TV Guide has released its annual “Who Makes What?” issue, revealing the salaries of our favourite TV stars, and one star continues to sit at the top of the heap when it comes to the fattest pay cheque.

And that star is…Judge Judy!

That’s right, Judy Sheindlin rakes in a whopping US$45 million per year for her hugely popular syndicated daytime show, making her TV’s highest-paid personality.

Other stars bringing home big salaries include David Letterman (US$28 million a year), Jay Leno (US $25 million), Matt Lauer (US$21.5 million) and TV judge Joe Brown (US$20 million).

Talent-show judging is also quite lucrative — that is, if you’re Howard Stern (US$15 million) or Mariah Carey (US$17 million) — while Mark Harmon and Ashton Kutcher are the highest earners in drama and comedy, respectively.

In case you were wondering, television’s highest-paid non-human star is Crystal the Monkey, who is reportedly earning US$12,000 per episode on the upcoming NBC comedy Animal Practice.

Here, according to TV Guide, are the highlights:

Drama (per episode)
Mark Harmon (NCIS): $500,000
Ellen Pompeo (Grey’s Anatomy): $350,000
Kevin Bacon (The Following): $175,000
Lucy Liu (Elementary): $125,000
Stephen Amell (Arrow): $30,000

Comedy (per episode)
Ashton Kutcher (Two and a Half Men): $700,000
Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory): $300,000
Modern Family Adult Cast: $175,000 each
Lea Michele (Glee): $75,000
Crystal the Monkey (Animal Practice): $12,000

Late Night (per year)
David Letterman: $28 million
Jay Leno: $25 million
Jon Stewart: $16 million
Craig Ferguson: $8 million
Chelsea Handler: $8 million

Daytime/Syndication (per year)
Judy Sheindlin (Judge Judy): $45 million
Joe Brown (Judge Joe Brown): $20 million
Kelly Ripa (Live! With Kelly): $20 million
Sherri Shepherd (The View): $1.5 million
Mario Batali (The Chew): $6,000 per episode

Reality
Mariah Carey (American Idol): $17 million per season
Howard Stern (America’s Got Talent): $15 million per season
Pauly DelVecchio (Jersey Shore): $175,000 per episode
Betty White (Off Their Rockers): $50,000 per episode
Landry Family (Swamp People): $25,000 per episode

News (per year)
Matt Lauer (Today): $21.5 million
Bill O’Reilly (The O’Reilly Factor): $15 million
Diane Sawyer (ABC World News): $12 million
Anderson Cooper (Anderson Cooper 360 and Anderson Live): $11 million
Robin Meade (HLN anchor): $750,000