Production on the eighth season of the Big Bang Theory was halted last week after Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, and Kaley Cuoco refused to continue shooting without new deals and pay raises.
Executive producer Chuck Lorre admitted earlier this month that his cast was fully deserving of pay raises. “There here are people at Warner Brothers Television and people representing the actors who have done this before,” Lorre said. “This will work itself out. I think it’s great; I want them all to be crazy wealthy because nobody deserves it more than this cast. It’ll work out.”
It looks like it has worked itself out, and now the cast members are in for some big paychecks. According to Deadline, Galecki, Parsons, and Cuoco have come to an agreement on a new three-year contract that will pay them $1 million per half hour episode for the remaining 72 episodes that are slated to air between seasons 8 through 10.
With all of the deals and bonuses available to the actors, it is believed that they will be bringing in approximately $90 million during the course of their new contracts, putting them in the Friends salary category. Galecki, Parsons, and Cuoco were previously making $325,000 per episode.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar are working on sealing their contracts by the end of the week so production can resume. If Helberg and Nayyar come to an agreement by Wednesday, production will have only been delayed by a week, hopefully keeping the show on track for the 24 scheduled episodes.
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