The last two pieces of the puzzle are in place and ‘The Big Bang Theory’ season 8 is officially a go…
Following a week of negotiations for television’s most popular sitcom, all of the key actors for ‘The Big Bang Theory’ are officially signed to new contracts with production picking up this week on season 8.
The last two holdouts — Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar — officially put pen to paper on their new deals on Tuesday to join co-stars Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, who also just recently re-signed with the show for three more seasons.
Helberg and Nayyar were both looking for significant pay increases to close the gap between their salaries and those of the other three leads on the show. Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco-Sweeting signed new deals neighboring $1 million per episode with back end points on syndicated episodes and other bonuses that will see the three earn nearly $90 million each over the next three years.
Helberg and Nayyar didn’t get the same amount of money, but they did get a nice raise for the next three seasons (which are currently planned as the final three seasons of the show).
For the next 72 episodes, or three seasons, Helberg and Nayyar are expected to rake in around $70 million each with their back end points actually being the same as the other three leads on the show.
With Helberg and Nayyar’s deals done, the show can officially pick up production later this week to ensure ‘The Big Bang Theory’ will return on time for CBS to promote the one-hour debut on September 22.
H/T: Deadline
