Big Bang Theory Stars Still Without Contracts

[comedyfreak]

https://tv.yahoo.com/news/big-bang-t...234609693.html

[James28]

I have heard that Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting may possibly get around $1 million per episode, and may significantly increase their current back-end stake of 0.25 points. If I were them, I'd get no less than $600,000 per episode after Season 8.

[comedyfreak]

I'm sure they'll get what they want.

[JamesG]

"The Big Bang Theory" Delays Production Amid Contract Negotiations
Jul 30, 2014
by Sadie Gennis


Production on "The Big Bang Theory's" eighth season has been delayed as the show's five stars continue negotiating their contracts.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the first table read was scheduled for Wednesday, but Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar are not returning to work on the CBS comedy until they reach a new deal with Warner Bros. Television.

"Due to ongoing contract negotiations, production on The Big Bang Theory— which was originally scheduled to begin today — has been postponed," WBTV said in a statement Wednesday.





Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco, who currently earn $325,000 per episode, are negotiating as a group and seeking salary increases up to a potential $1 million per episode as well as a cut of the back-end profits. Helberg and Nayyar are also negotiating together and seeking big raises similar to those given to co-stars Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch,who previously secured new deals with WBTV.

CBS renewed "Big Bang", which is the No. 1 show on television, for an additional three season in March, contingent upon the current cast returning.

As of now, the one-hour season premiere is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 22 at 8/7c.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Big-Bang...s-1085078.aspx

[JamesG]

UPDATE: Production on "The Big Bang Theory" Pushed Again, No Table Read Thursday
by NELLIE ANDREEVA
July 30, 2014


I’ve learned that Warner Bros TV has made the call — there will be no table read for "The Big Bang Theory" tomorrow.

Production on Season 8 of the hit CBS comedy originally was scheduled to start today, but with the five original cast members still without contracts as negotiations between their teams and WBTV continue, the studio cancelled the table read, pushing it by a day.

Now I hear production has been postponed one more day as talks continue. In its statement confirming the production delay this morning, WBTV did not set a return date, so its still stands.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/07/big-...-negotiations/

[comedyfreak]

This may delay the fall schedule.

[JamesG]

"The Big Bang Theory" Negotiations Update: Production Start Date Pushed To Next Wednesday as Talks Continue
by NELLIE ANDREEVA
August 1, 2014


After taking things day by day on Wednesday and Thursday, I’ve learned that Warner Bros TV has tentatively slated production on Season 8 of "The Big Bang Theory" to start next Wednesday, August 6.

That is a week after the CBS series’ eighth season was originally supposed to kick off with a table read last Wednesday, July 31. Of course, holding the postponed table read on August 6 will be contingent on the five original cast members closing new deals.

I hear talks continue with Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco, Helberg and Kunal Nayyar. The contracts of all five expired at the end of last season. The only "Big Bang" cast members who have deals in place and available to start work immediately are Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik, who renegotiated their contracts last fall.





For now there is no danger of "Big Bang" not being able to make its hourlong premiere on September 22. There is talk that the delay might lead to a minimal order reduction from 24 to 23 episodes, but I hear that could be avoided by shortening planned hiatuses or extending production in the spring.

Like the 2010 salary renegotiations, Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco would likely end up with equal pay, more than doubling and possibly tripling their most recent salary of $350,000 an episode as well as their current back-end ownership, said to be around .25 point.

Helberg and Nayyar, who are once again negotiating together, raised their per-episode fee to more than $100,000 an episode in the 2010 renegotitions. I hear they may be looking to close the salary gap with their three original cast mates.





The "Big Bang" cast negotiations are going on during the Emmy voting period. with co-star Parsons seeking his fourth win for best actor in a comedy series and the show looking to score its first best series win. (Bialik also is in the running for best supporting actress.)

The 2010 salary renegotiations also coincided with Emmy voting. There was no impact as Parsons scored his first Emmy that year.

Similarly, the dramatic 2012 salary renegotiations for the cast of "Modern Family", which concluded just before the second phase of Emmy voting began, were not a factor as the show won both acting categories it was eligible for — supporting actress in a comedy series (Julie Bowen) and supporting actor in a comedy series (Eric Stonestreet) — as well as best comedy series.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/08/the-...ext-wednesday/

[comedyfreak]

They all deserve what they're be getting imo the show is still very funny.

[irehtman]

That's trouble!

[Mr. Television]

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment...-insider-says/

‘Big Bang Theory’ cast will likely win wage dispute with CBS, insider says

By Hollie McKay
Published August 01, 2014
FoxNews.com


LOS ANGELES – Contract negotiations continue to delay production for the Warner Bros TV (WBTV) produced and CBS-aired sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” but one well-placed insider assured us that while the production team won't cave right away, the demands of the talent will prevail.

Industry experts expressed a similar sentiment.

“Since the actors are negotiating together, I expect them to have fairly similar deals,” entertainment attorney Julian Chan told FOX411. “What they want is completely reasonable considering the financial success of the show. It’s all about balance. The show has proven long-term success and is ensemble-driven, and the balance favors the wealth with the cast.”

Key cast members – Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting – are requesting a salary boost from $325,000 per episode to $1 million, in addition to an increased cut of the show’s back-end. The series has been the number one TV comedy for the past three seasons, averaging almost $20 million viewers in the previous season.

“The conflict [will] certainly get resolved, and the three leads will be considerably wealthier as a result. Nobody wants to walk away from the show, or the negotiating table, on this one. But the financial stakes are extremely high and talks are going to come down to the final wire until a deal is struck,” said Hollywood-based popular culture expert Scott Huver. “At this point, there is still plenty of time to complete a full season and keep the below-the-line players from losing work and feeling any financial pinch.”

“The Big Bang Theory” plays a pivotal role in CBS’ fall lineup creatively, ratings-wise and in terms of profitability – showing no signs of wear and tear. It is also a property CBS is able to use to effectively launch newer shows. For example, the network intends to use “Big Bang” as a springboard for launching an hour-long action-drama, “Scorpion,” by briefly moving the “Big Bang” Season 8 debut to Monday, preceding the new show.

“That plan is definitely in jeopardy if the contracts aren’t signed in time to produce those shows before the planned premiere date, September 22,” Huver noted.

CBS declined to comment, as did a representative for Warner Bros TV (WBTV), other than to confirm that “due to ongoing contract negotiations, production on ‘The Big Bang Theory’ — which was originally scheduled to begin July 30 — has been postponed."

But it seems “Big Bang” fans need not fear.

“The deal will get done. The show represents huge money for CBS, making the $3 million per-episode fee for the three actors relatively cheap,” said Dwight DeWerth- Pallmeyer, associate professor of Communications Studies at Widener University, adding that a potentially delayed start date could actually boost ratings. “It gives the network a second season launching date to promote.”

[comedyfreak]

CBS would be stupid to let the top 3 stars leave, it would be the end of the show.

[JamesG]

Report: "Big Bang" Stars Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco Ink New $90 Million Deals
by Michael Ausiello
August 4 2014


Warner Bros. has shown "Big Bang Theory" stars Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco the money.

After protracted negotiations that pushed back the show’s Season 8 start date until Wednesday, the trio have agreed to new three-year contracts worth $1 million an episode, per Deadline. (That’s up from the $300K-an-episode they had been earning.)

When all the perks are factored in — including signing bonuses and back-end fees — the actors will likely pocket north of $90 million over the three years.





With Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco on board, and co-stars Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik already signed, all eyes turn to Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar (who are currently fetching $125 and $75K per episode, respectively).

The pair remain in active talks are are expected to close new pacts today or, at the latest, tomorrow.





Back in March, CBS renewed "Big Bang" for three more seasons — through May 2017 — contingent on the cast’s contracts staying current.

According to Deadline, the actors’ new contracts leave open the possibility of an 11th season.

http://tvline.com/2014/08/04/report-...million-deals/

[Mr. Television]

http://www.deadline.com/2014/08/big-...ose-new-deals/

‘Big Bang Theory’s Simon Helberg & Kunal Nayyar Reach New Deals, Series To Start Production Tomorrow

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday August 5, 2014 @ 2:56pm PDT


Will Big Bang Theory‘s Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar walk away from $70 million? That was the question on the mind of everybody involved in the contract negotiations between the two actors and series producer Warner Bros. TV this morning as the clock was ticking on the two sides to reach a deal in time for the first table read for Season 8, rescheduled for tomorrow, Aug. 6. Because people associated with the series needed time to make travel arrangements, I hear the studio wanted to make a decision whether to keep the Wednesday table read by 3 PM, making that a de facto deadline for reaching an agreement with Helberg and Nayyar. A deal was closed with just minutes to spare, clearing the way for production to begin tomorrow. “Production on season 8 of The Big Bang Theory will begin Wednesday, August 6, with contract negotiations now having been concluded,” WBTV just said in a statement.

Playing hard ball, seeking parity with co-stars Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco, seems to have paid off, with Helberg and Nayyar each netting more than $70 million over the life of the three-year deals for Seasons 8-10, I hear. I also hear that the quintet have parity on the back-end participation, which is very valuable, and that Helberg and Nayyar will catch up with their counterparts in Season 10 with equal per-episode fees. Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco just secured big new three-year contracts that would pay each of them at least $90 million dollars, including a $1 million per-episode fee. With Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik renegotiated their contracts last fall, now the entire cast of Big Bang is locked in for next season.

While the focus had been on the contract negotiations of the duo’s higher profile cast mates, stars Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco, Helberg and Nayyar’s negotiations proved to be even more difficult. One observer recently described them as “Battle Royale.” The roots of the problem is in the natural evolution of the characters on the show. Conceived as a series about two brainy roommates and a hot woman who enters their lives, Helberg and Nayyar’s characters or versions of them were not even in the original pilot. They started off as supporting characters to Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco’s Leonard, Sheldon and Penny. Gradually, the presence Helberg’s Howard and Kunal’s Rajesh expanded as the series became more of a true ensemble. That is especially true for Helberg, whose character had been at the center of major plot lines, including his wedding and trip to space. (“Rajesh didn’t even speak for the first five seasons,” an observer exclaimed, a reference to the quirk in the character that rendered him mute in the presence of women, leading to Nayyar having a limited number of lines in the show’s first seasons.) During the 2010 salary renegotiations, Helberg and Nayyar’s talks followed those for Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco, with the duo raising their per-episode fee to more than $100,000 an episode. That was about a third of what their three colleagues had just secured, making the raises in their new contracts even more impressive.

This time around, because all five original cast members needed new contracts in order to start work on Season 8, talks have been running on parallel tracks in the two “favored nations” groupings established in the 2010 renegotiations, with Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco in one tier, despite negotiating contracts separately with Emmy winner Parsons leading the way, and Helberg and Nayyar in another. Using favored nations, a system that gives actors financial parity, is crucial for studios to avoid discord on the set. Helberg and Nayyar had been been seeking a different kind of parity, with their co-stars Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco. That was the major sticking point. The two actors, who are close friends, had a point — Big Bang today is an ensemble. But if history is any indication, if a series did not originate as a true ensemble of equals, which was the case of NBC’s Friends, it has been virtually impossible for those who start off as supporting characters to reach salary equality with their more established cast mates.

When Big Bang started, it had three leads. Of them, Galecki was the biggest name, with Cuoco also fairly well known from her starring role on 8 Simple Rules. Parsons was an unknown but quickly became a breakout star soon a three-time Emmy winner. Even at Modern Family, which, like Friends, has been a true ensemble from the get go, Ed O’Neill, who had gone onto the show as the only household name with a deal far more lucrative than the other cast members, had remained the highest paid with the biggest ownership piece. Many of his originally lesser known co-stars went to win Emmys, but when salary renegotiations time came in 2012, O’Neill stayed on a separate, higher-paid track. With Friends, there was hardly a big name among the young cast, who were pulling in equal checks by the first salary renegotiatins after Season 2 and stayed that way til the end.

Big Bang, whose eighth season is slated to kick off with an hour-long premiere on Sept. 22, is a major piece of CBS‘ fall plans. It is first being used on Monday as an 8 PM anchor and a launch pad for new drama Scorpion before the comedy returns to Thursday post-football to again lead the network’s comedy block.

[TMC]

http://www.vulture.com/2014/08/big-b...ore-money.html

Adjusted for inflation, the “Friends” cast’s $1 million an episode is worth $1.3 million in today’s dollars. Which means “The Big Bang Theory” stars are making much less than each of the “Friends” cast members. And with “Big Bang” CBS’ only big comedy hit, as Josef Adalian points out, "'Big Bang' is arguably more important to the Eye than either ‘Friends' or ‘Seinfeld' were to NBC.”

[TMC]

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/08/22/ji...ble-emmy-nods/

“You see the word ‘strike’—’They’re walking out!’—but there was nothing to walk out from,” he says with a laugh. “That’s always hard, because part of you wants to explain to people what’s really going on. ‘Don’t worry, we’re not leaving, we want to do the show.'”
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/tv-tattle#wS96RLACPPH3xcTt.99