The Big Bang Theory ‘s original cast members have voluntarily taken pay cuts from their million dollar salaries so that their co-stars Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik can get raises ahead of the expected two-season renewal.
All of the original cast members from The Big Bang Theory, Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, and Kunal Nayyar made the gesture to take a pay cut while Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik are still in the process of negotiating new contracts, according to Variety.
The original five stars of The Big Bang Theory currently earn around $1 million per episode. The cast has voluntarily decided to give up around $100,000 per episode in the potential 11th and 12th seasons.
The $500,000 from the five stars would be split between the new co-stars, Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik, bringing their salaries per episode to around $450,000 each.
Both of the actresses joined The Big Bang Theory in Season 3 and became regulars in Season 4.
Bialik’s Emmy-nominated character Amy Farrah Fowler became Sheldon’s (Parson’s) live-in girlfriend.
Rauch’s character Bernadette Rostenkowski is married to Helberg’s character, Wolowitz.
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The Big Bang Theory is currently in its 10th season, and the show is expected to be renewed for at least two more.
The executive producer of The Big Bang Theory, Bill Prady, posted on Facebook that the deal had already been done.
CBS chief Glenn Geller said that he “hopes it lasts forever” and that the network would “put it on for as long as everyone wants Big Bang on the air.
Another executive producer, Steve Molaro, told EW that he wasn’t considering Season 10 to be the last, but he has been thinking of ideas about how the series will eventually end.
“I have personal thoughts that have been floating around in my head, but we haven’t really talked about it. It always seems like this thing that’s off in the distance forever. Until it becomes closer to a reality, I’m not going to think about it all that much, because it makes me sad.”
There is also a chance of a Big Bang Theory spin-off. EW reported back in November that CBS was considering a spin-off featuring the early years of Jim Parsons’ character Sheldon Cooper.
What do you think of the original cast of The Big Bang Theory forfeiting some of their million dollar salaries for their other co-stars? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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