CBS' top rated sitcom The Big Bang Theory is slated to go on production for its eighth season on July 30. But there's just one problem-all five actors from the original cast do not have existing contracts as of yet.
But CBS' head honcho Nina Tassler is not too worried. "I just love being able to answer these questions year-after-year, primarily because we have successful shows," she was quoted saying at the 2014 TCA Summer Press Tour.
Tassler also said that she thinks everything will work out. "We're feeling very confident that everything will work out," she continues. "These deals manage to get done miraculously somehow year after year."
This year's negotiations bring to mind the 2010 salary renegotiations that happened with the "Original Five." The only difference is that four years ago, the cast still had existing contracts and were forced to show up for work, all while their teams haggled for significant rise in paychecks in the background.
Meanwhile, talks that The Big Bang Theory's Original Five, namely Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar, are currently negotiating together have come out. New cast members Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik got new contracts last year, so they're not as affected.
Entertainment news website Deadline reports that for the eighth season, Parsons, Cuoco-Sweeting and Galecki may be looking at a salary of $1 million per episode. This is a very significant raise from last season's salary of $350,000 per episode.
CBS renewed the series for an additional three seasons in March, bringing the total season count to 10.