As glamorous as working in Hollywood often sounds, it sometimes seems like it would actually be a nightmare. If you get really famous, paparazzi and fans follow you around and critique your every move. If you don't get famous, you spend years trying to earn enough roles to keep your SAG card without doing work that's demeaning or stereotyping. The easiest level of fame seems to be working on network TV, where the paychecks improve over time, your shows sometimes last for over a decade, and people know you but don't put you on tabloid covers every week. But even that career track can be a minefield: network shows can shoot dangerously long hours, and even the most standardized Hollywood sets have intense, messy power structures that can allow for some loaded interactions that wouldn't fly at, say, an office job.

Even the most popular shows in the country deal...