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'The Big Bang Theory' Stars Holding out for More Money in Contract Talks
by AOL TV Staff, posted Jul 29th 2010 11:40AM
In the show's final seasons, the cast of 'Friends' made one million dollars per episode. Now, the three stars of 'The Big Bang Theory' are hoping to follow suit, though on a smaller scale, by negotiating their salaries from $60,000 to $250,000 per episode, according to a Deadline Hollywood report. The latter amount is what industry insiders speculate the cast should make given the show's high ratings. Instead, word on the street is that the studio offered stars Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco $100,000 an episode, and the actors have not responded.Apparently, critically hailed main geek Parsons is attempting to negotiate higher pay than both of his costars. It's a demand not completely out of left field, seeing as Parsons has two Emmy nominations under his belt in addition to near-universal praise for his portrayal of socially awkward scientist Sheldon Cooper.
At Comic-Con recently, the cast took questions on whether a deal would soon be reached.
"I don't think any of us really even know what's going on," Cuoco said. "We have people that help us with that and take care of it. I mean, I'm doing next season for free. I don't know about you guys."
"My people work for free," Parsons added.
Ah, the 'BBT' cast has obviously perfected the "deflect serious questions with jokey answers" strategy of handling celebrity interviews. There's clearly still some negotiating to do, but fans shouldn't worry. The stars will sign. What else are they going to do in this economy?
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