EXCLUSIVE: CBS‘ The Big Bang Theory is a big step closer to making the new Aug. 6 production start date for Season 8 — I’ve learned that stars Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco have agreed to new three-year contracts. The deals for Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco came after marathon negotiations between Big Bang producer Warner Bros TV and reps for the actors over the weekend, with Parsons’ pact closing first on Sunday, followed by the Galecki and Cuoco under “most favored nations” terms, ensuring the trio have financial parity with each other. WBTV declined comment and reps for Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco could not be reached for comment, but I hear the trio are in the long-rumored Friends salary territory, scoring paychecks of $1 million per episode for the 72 episodes the show is slated to produce in Seasons 8-10. What’s more, I hear the door has been left open to a potential 11th season.
I also hear that the comp
lex deals go well beyond per-episode fees and also include larger pieces of the show, signing bonuses, production deals and advances towards the back-end — perks associated with talent deals on shows as big as Big Bang. In addition to tripling their most recent salaries of $350,000 an episode, I hear Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco also quadrupled their previous ownership on the show, which has gone up from 0.25 to more than a point. I hear Parsons’ pact includes a production deal that spans TV and features and possibly theater, with Galecki and Cuoco also getting producing arrangements. Galecki produced a comedy project for WBTV last season, No Place Like Home, which went to pilot at Fox.
All in, I hear Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco are poised to make at least $90 million each over the lives of the deals, with some observers noting that the total could conceivably rise towards $100 million if Big Bang continues to be as strong in syndication and auxiliary markets. With the big payday for Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco and the windfall for top profit participants, WBTV still is expected to clear $1 billion in profits, with some projecting that Big Bang could contribute to Time Warner’s bottom line twice that over its lifespan.
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With Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco signed on and co-stars Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik already on board for Season 8 after renegotiating their contracts last fall, the focus is on wrapping negotiations with the last remaining original cast members, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar, before the table read planned for Wednesday. I hear the two are close and there is a possibility for them to reach new deals today, though there have been some bumps in the back and forth. The close friends, who raised their per-episode fee to more than $100,000 an episode in the 2010 renegotiations, are again negotiating together and had been looking to close the salary gap with fellow original cast members Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco. If Helberg and Nayyar close on time for the Wednesday table read, production on Season 8 will be only one week behind schedule, a delay that the actors and WBTV are hopeful they can make up later in the season so the order remains 24 episodes and is not trimmed to 23.
Big Bang, whose eighth season is slated to kick off with an hour-long premiere on Sept. 22, is a major piece of CBS‘ fall plans. It is first being used on Monday as an 8 PM anchor and a launch pad for new drama Scorpion before the comedy returns to Thursday post-football to again lead the network’s comedy block.
The blockbuster deals for Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco were brokered by attorneys from Gang, Tyre Ramer & Brown (Parsons) and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller (Galecki, Cuoco) as well as the trio’s other reps: CAA and Principal Entertainment (Parsons), WME and Management 360 (Galecki), and SDB Partners and Brillstein Entertainment Partners (Cuoco).
Lots of money flying around
Seems like they missed that July 6 production date.
It’s now August 6th, as long as Helberg and Nayyar sign by then.
It’s August 6. They did start August 6; they were delayed one week.
1 million episode for 72+ episodes each… jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez.
Wow it’s never again going to be the same on set.
Not funny. Disgusted workers. Hope they can get even one show completed.
Fans
won’t be following this show. They will be expecting 10 million dollars worth of jokes each episode.
Workers and crew will be paid. Fans will not care. The network and the studio will clean up. The actors – who struggled for years in crap jobs – will reap the pay they have earned – relatively speaking – for being on a mega-hit sitcom. Life will go on.
And they may very well never work again due to typecasting. Or they might. But they certainly won’t have to!
Amen.
Except that it didn’t happen on Friends, Seinfeld, Everybody Loved Raymond, Cheers, the Cosby Show, or any other sitcom that made it this big….
These shows ended after the blackmail.
Raymond owned his show.
Sorry, those shows were funny for their time, but not exactly unique ororiginal, except maybe for , “Raymond”.
Funny for their time??? Jesus Bronwyn. You must be a millennial or at least a wannabe. I’m not a huge fan of the first three but each show broke ground in it’s own way. But as for Cheers and Cosby?? You might want to Netflix or Amazon Prime those pilots. They STILL hold up damn near 30 years later. Especially Cosby. To dismiss this show as ‘not exactly unique or original’ confirms your level of ignorance. There was no all black, educated all-black sitcom cast prior to Cosby. What dimension are you in?
You understand that the Seinfeld cast was making this much 20 years ago right?
This is why corporations and governments hate collective bargaining. It gets people too close to their worth.
Monetarily, people are worth exactly what somebody is willing to pay them. That’s the definition of “worth,” guy.
Well said. At least one person on this site understands the science of economics.
I’m not your guy, buddy.
I’m not your buddy, friend.
I’m not your friend pal
That’s just stupid. They are desperate because they have no future.
Of course they don’t have any future when the show ends. Just look at “Desperate Housewives” actresses. None of them is working not only because there are no leading roles for women over fifty but also because they have made bazillions on the show and don’t have to work anymore. The same gonna happen with these guys so good for them earning that kind of money.
Don’t know about all of them, but Parson has already proven he can do serious. Not sure about the rest of the cast, but this is a better show than, “Friends” could have ever imagined being and, “Desperate Housewives” — I can’t believe there are still people who admit they watched itl
Uhh Yes Penny was in a sitcom for years w/ John Ritter and Leonard was in Roseanne for the last 5 yrs or so of that show. So yes they have proved they can be in another hit show
Being in another hit show is not the same as admitting you can work in a different genre. “Penny” was not in a sitcom for years with John Ritter — Kaley Cuoco was and I believe John Ritter died in the 2nd season. Don’t know how you think that equals years. Galecki was on, “Roseanne” — another comedy. Get your facts and your grasp on reality straight.
Galecki has extensive film roles prior and was great in Suicide Kings, but he pops in comedy. You’re right about Parson-there’s much more in his tank but you’d expect that from a stage trained actor. Helberg is also a stage vet who’s carved a niche in comedy but has real chops. Nayyar might be the most talented of the bunch but he’s relegated to playing the sidekick brown foreigner and they can’t possibly be gifted, right. Kaley is the only question mark.
Who needs a future, when you are about to make 90 millions, just look at the cast of Friends, do any of them seriously work again?
Stop com paring, “Friends” to this. I doubt it generated anywhere near what, “The Big Bang Theory” did, even adjusting for inflation.
Huge waste of money given to actors for a television show… Meanwhile people who are 10 times as hard working are making up wards of only $200,000 a year. I have no sympathy for actors who complain about the money they aren’t receiving. Boo hoo, I have to learn lines and stay awake for a couple of hours. smh
That’s silly. First, they aren’t asking for sympathy, nor are they complaining. They’re negotiating. Second, they get paid so well because they are the very best at what they do in a highly competitive industry, and they get millions of people to watch the show every week. They get paid elite money because they are part of an elite product. It’s really that simple.
well said renbutler. people act like negotiating is greedy, meanwhile execs, suits, and creators are earning significantly more AND can diversify their revenue by having multiple projects on the air simultaneously. but god forbid an “actor” negotiates for more…i guess we should just be grateful, shut up and say our lines.
Someone making “upwards of only $200k” s/b very happy.
If you’re in an industry — and a position — that can command $1M+, why not get it?
You have no idea what you’re talking about. You have no idea what an avg 16hr workday feels like for 8 days straight. You have no idea what it’s like to have to stay mentally sharp in that 16th hour on day 8 to reshoot a messed up scene that you created 7 days and 124 hrs ago…and be funny while doing it. You have no idea what it’s like to do all that with cramps, a fever and a sore throat and ACT like you’re feeling 100. When you get a sniffle and a fever, you get to go home and rest. When actors on a major show get the same or worse, they call in makeup to get rid of the fever sweat on your brow and you keep going. Do not comment on working hard, when you have no idea what it is like to work “through” physical BS and pretend you’re rosy. Working hard never made anyone a lot of money. Truck driver’s work hard. Construction workers work hard. Loggers work hard. They’re all making decent money but are only as able as their body is to earn income. You earn ridiculous sums of money by working smart. By creating and selling an idea that others are willing to pay for or by doing something that makes millions of people pay attention to consistently. Either one is currency to be cashed in on and every person who cashes in deserves every dime they earn. Brittney when we need your opinion, we’ll give it to you.
Multi-cam sitcom actors do not work 16 hour days for 8 days straight. BBT is not single camera. It’s one of the cushiest gigs an actor can get. You’re only long work day is tape night. You should probably give yourself some facts, P8, before you start giving Brittney opinions.
P-8 is talking like a wannabe. If I defend them, maybe one day I will become one of them. Even if everything stated was true, just about any one of us would take that trade-off. And I’m sure if Kaley’s got cramps, she gets to rest.
Bronwyn… you’re projecting. I defend what I know. I was on a network show for quite a while and have since moved on. (Let me answer the question your mind just asked…The NW is a great place to play pretend doctor.) I happen to like BBT and the cast and it’s infuriating when non-actors chime in and judge our work, let alone our business decisions.
bereal…get real. if you consistently have eyeballs on the screen, and advertisers paying top dollar to promote on that show, season after season, at some point actors deserve a ridiculous pay raise regardless of the schedule or # of cameras. actors don’t work forever…except Morgan Freeman, Meryl and Hopkins. when it’s their turn to cash in they’d be foolish not to and you’d be foolish not to do the same in whatever line of work you do if the opportunity presented itself.
Do you also object to pro athletes getting millions of $ as well? How about Bill Gates? He created the computer you are now using, should he not reap the fruits of his labors? the market pays for what people bring to the table. if the show was in the tank, they would be glad to just be working. But this is a 2 billion $ show, why should they not get their piece since that are part of making that success.
Gates was sued for hijacking. Holding hostage. Some kind of thing about computer stuff being forced on everyone.
Now HE IS A GENIUS.
Way way way way genius.
Jobs and gates.
World life changers. Genius.
Bill Gates has probably contributed more to how our daily lives function than any of those actors ever will (and I say that as a fan of the show). H is also a major philanthropist. So, not quite the same.
“Only $200,000”? To them it’s peanuts, but for most of the rest of us, get real.
I suppose we all look at shows differently but I always thought if Penny moved on for whatever reason the show wouldn’t miss a beat. Take away one of the guys though and it wouldn’t be the same show. Clearly though they aren’t being paid that way.
So basically by the time the series ends, they won’t need to work a day in their lives again ?. Good for them.
They’ll be so identified with their BBT characters that they won’t be able to get work after it ends. Make it now while you can and invest wisely.
Exactly. Just like the friends cast and Seinfeld cast. No careers.
Jennifer Aniston made millions in movies AFTER Friends. Courteney Cox created and starred in Cougar Town – not as big a hit as Friends – but she still made millions more. Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc also continue to work – a little. Only David Schwimmer has fallen of the earth.
David Schwimmer is doing some fine work off broadway both as an actor and as a director — he’s hardly “fallen off the earth.”
If the actors have been spending their money wisely, that was true a long time ago.
Good for them! But the thing is the only person who should be getting something close to $1 million per episode is Andrew Lincoln who stars in the biggest ratings hit on network or cable “The Walking Dead”. That show is juggernaut and yet he’s only getting $90k per episode. AMC execs are really stingy.
That’s because it’s AMC. I’m sure if The Walking Dead was bringing in billions for AMC, he’d be able to renegotiate.
But Big Bang has more critical/awards recognition and massive syndication deals.
Actors and athletes making millions, while teachers, nurses, firefighters and police struggle to make ends meet – what is wrong with this country – when priorities are upsidedown – cultures eventually fall – it’s Doomsday America or close to it.
Sadly that’s how this world works. We should accept it, there’s nothing else to do… And btw it’s a showbusiness site so wtf are you doing here!?
Teachers, nurses, firefighters and police will be doing their job for the rest of their working lives. Actors and athletes won’t, most likely. When you consider that most of the membership of SAG-AFTRA are *not* working as actors at any given time and considering how much money the “Big Bang Theory” cast is making for CBS and Warners, who would blame them for wanting a bigger cut of the money, especially in a profession where job security is tenuous at best?
There’s a difference between job security and excess. They are probably not going to use their salaries to support out-of-work actors, so that argument doesn’t really hold up.
You guys know in countries where teachers, etc. are fairly compensated, they still have wealthy celebrities? You guys seem to have no grasp of business, economics or taxes.
You’re conflating two different situations. Teachers, nurses, et al certainly do deserve to be paid far more than they are. But the BBT actors are earning billions for Warners, and deserve to be compensated fairly for their contribution to that income. If America is falling, it’s because of the GOP lawmakers who steal from the poor to give to the 1%.
Conflating?????????
Now there’s a million dollar word.
My show will have a talking horse or dogs. They get all the food for free and spa days. Ehhheeeeehheeee eeeheeeehheee
arf arf arf
memenememe( mouse)
Our priorities are exactly where they’ve always been…Capitalism. You cannot make a comparison between the service and commercial industries. It’s very bleeding heart and, you’re right, service workers deserve a financial windfall but they generate zero dollars in revenue…except the police. This is why you see cops ticketing people for anything and everything they can as well as harassing innocent people into breaking a law so they can be arrested into the system and have fines and fees extracted from them. As for culture…arts and athletics ARE western culture. Besides ALL that, these actors and athletes draw billions of dollars into a system and are deserving of every dime they can extract from that system that would prefer to pay them $50K a year if they could. You don’t know what you’re talking about. Idealism doesn’t pay the bills.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Do you?
BT…lay off the crack. You’re the type that sees the sun shining, feels it’s warmth and says “ooo, I must be the heat.”
It’s simple supply and demand. This is an economic principle that is not governed by “what’s right” or “fair.”
Whose priorities are upside down? Counting taxes, virtually everyone over the course of their life spends vastly more on education, medical care, and basic civil services than they do on entertainment.
The reason a handful of massively popular entertainers are able to earn so well is only because of the leverage generated when a small group is able to provide a service to literally tens of millions around the globe. Each audience member is contributing just a tiny amount, but because there are so many of them the total is still huge.
The incredible success of the few actors who get deals like this is completely unrepresentative of actors as a whole, the vast majority of which are compensated on a much more modest scale.
They provide a desired commodity. I think saying they provide a service is stretching it.
Public sector employees struggling? LoLz.
Greed is good and should be shared especially in light of the billions of dollars Big Bang has made since its debut. No one thought for a split second that the actors would have been shown to the door during these “negotiations.” That being said, Big Bang Theory stopped being funny or original a few seasons back but as long as viewers watch, it will eventually become The Big Bang Theory: The Nursing Home Years.
High salaries for lowbrow humor.
High salaries for high revenue generators. You can be guaranteed that Mr. Murdoch is looking at BBT as a big part of his desire to buy Time Warner.
There’s big money in mediocrity!
Cue the haters! Let the snarking begin!
Cue the genius with nothing to do but call people with opinions, “haters”. What are you like a 65 year old saggy dude with a lot of time on your hands?
If they deserve it why not !
$70 + million. Lucky actors hit the jackpot & so have their agents. Did they get any back end too?
What is their work “worth”? Whatever the network is willing to pay them. In terms of numbers, “worth” is completely subjective. *Should* their work be worth this much, compared to school-teachers? Absolutely not.
I can imagine Rauch and Bialik working into that table read on Wednesday thinking “we got screwed at our contract negotiations” and Kevin Sussman (Stuart) will be even more depressed than the character he plays.
In fairness, Rauch and Bialik walked into a hit show. The other five made that show a hit.
Parsons made the show a hit. It was fortunate that the others had working chemistry with him. Bialik and Rauch did walk into a hit show, but they earned their places there.
I heard that, as part of the deal, Kevin Sussman has to be their butler.
And the one Talent Of Color… does he get a deal this lucrative?! Seriously, when has a Talent Of Color received a deal this lucrative?
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Big Bang!!! It’s my absolute favorite show on TV. I really don’t care what they’re getting paid. I’m just so happy & excited that Johnny, Jim & Kaley have finally come to an agreement & signed 3 year contracts. Now, I just hope that Simon & Kunal will come to an agreement & sign new contracts sometime today or tomorrow, but hopefully today, so that production can finally start on Wednesday. Big Bang rocks!!! I can’t wait for season 8!!!
This is the best show on TV. Just totally fun.
This is the last time that we will ever see numbers like that again but its nice to see. The actors need to share in the wealth that the studio sees – there wouldnt be a show without them
Its funny that Kaley is the only actor who hasnt changed representation three times since the show started. Good for her!
Nobody is worth 1mil it’s greed and how stupid and dumb Can Nina Tassler be agreeing to what i call blackmail.
If she had held her ground, she would be unemployed by Mid Nov, her successor would close the deal minutes after taking over, and the cast would still get their money. And she would be fired, probably for gross negligence, with no severance. And, she would be such an industry joke that she would be unlikeable in the entertainment industry. The closest to the industry she would be able to get would be teaching theater/drama in a public school system in a horrible district.
She had to do this deal. This is the most profitable show currently on TV. It is still a billion dollar franchise.
I agree the agents s cr d everyone. It’s unlawful. It’s blackmail. Theres nothing anyone could about it.
Don’t watch.
Don’t watch don’t watch this show.
The crew will sabotage it. The writers don’t have to make these actors look good enough to win prizes. Who are they kidding. There are NO OTHER SHOWS.
The last season of friends when they got their big blackmail money NO ONE ON THE SET LAUGHED AT THE SUPPOSED JOKES!!!! Only the 3 writers were laughing. It was pathetic.
Money isn’t acting.
“Friends” doesn’t compare to this show. There was nothing unique about any of its cast. It had some funny moments, but came nowhere near in the writing, creativity, etc.
I love how fans of current shows think precursors to the show they’re infatuated with had no impact, precedence or importance on said show. It’s like saying Kevin Hart and Jim Carey are hilarious but Eddie Murphy and Robin Williams “doesn’t compare.”
So after taxes, mgmt, agents, and lawyers fees…how much will they really clear?
They’ll clear about $15/hour. I heard that Galecki’s taking a second job at Hobby Lobby because they poor more.
It must be nice.
Good for them. The Studio shouldn’t get all the money.
And if a CEO made this kind of money the left would get their panties in a bunch. Let’s see if they squawk about this deal.
I take it you’re a Baby Boomer. I’m a Millennial, and I just don’t get the underwear reference. Can you explain? Thanks.
CBS and WB TV are idiots. Parsons is the only one worth one million per episode he has three Emmys he’s the star the way Henry Winkler was on Happy Days you can’t do the show without him. Galecki and Cuoco would have been happy with $500,000 per episode that’s all they deserve. Simon and Kunal deserve $350,000 per episode. Mayim and Melissa should also be getting that much. Simon and Kunal now have a lot of leverage if they hold out for two more weeks they will get $400,000 per episode possibly more.
Simon deserves over a million per episode. Parsons deserves half a mill the rest deserve 250k
I do think that Simon is very valuable and a good actor.