The Three Primary Stars of "Big Bang Theory" Secure $1 Million Per Episode After Months of Negotiations

One million dollars. Per. Episode.

And there are 22 or so episodes per year. (24, I just checked, though the lateness in signing everyone may cause this season to be cut to 23.)

And they only actually shoot the show like seven or eight months per year.

I'll tell you who loves science: These guys.

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.

These most favored nations clauses are dynamite.

I'll suggest you click the link, because there's more I'm not excerpting -- they also substantially increased their ownership of the show (and hence the royalties for syndication) and bonanza of other monetary perks.

On the downside: Two of the other stars were sort of negotiating as a team with Cuoco-Sweetling, Parsons, and Galecki, but apparently are not part of the "most favored nations" pact, and are going to get far, far less.

They bumped their earnings to $100,000 per episode a while back but now that the producers have signed the big three, they have less leverage to get something really huge out of this. But they're supposedly close to a deal.

Meanwhile, Melissa Rauch and Miam Biayalik (whatever) negotiated a raise for themselves last year -- but only (if I remember this right) something like $60,000 per episode.

Which, if you watch the show, you know greatly understates their actual impact on the show.

posted by Ace at 02:27 PM

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