Big Bang Theory Leads Are Next to Seek Bigger Paydays, as Co-Stars Score Salary Bumps
Three years after famously banding together Friends-like at the negotiations table, The Big Bang Theory‘s Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki are poised for an encore, with their current deals expiring in the spring at the end of the show’s seventh season. But how high will their new paydays go?
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With the entire ensemble’s contracts — as well as the CBS hitcom’s license fee — up for renewal at season’s end, thus far Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch (aka Amy and Bernadette) have inked new deals, our sister site Deadline reports, putting their per-episode paychecks at around $60,000 (up from $20,000-30,000).
That leaves Team Parsons/Cuoco/Galecki, as well as costars Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar, with negotiations still ahead of them. While Helberg and Nayyar (currently at $125 and $75K, respectively) again negotiate as a unit, the three leads will unite to seek, reportedly, north of $500,000 per episode (versus the $300K they’re currently pulling).
It’s worth noting that Big Bang ranks as TV’s most-watched and highest-rated comedy. It’s also a syndication powerhouse.
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Because you were wondering: Per a recent TV Guide Magazine report, TV’s highest paid drama actor is NCIS‘ Mark Harmon (at $525,000 per, plus points from the back end), while Two and a Half Men‘s Ashton Kutcher collects comedy’s biggest paycheck, getting by on $750K per episode.
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