The Big Bang Theory Season 8 Latest News: Production Now Back On Track
The Big Bang Theory cast members have all returned to work and the Season 8 premiere will air on September 22, 2014, as scheduled. "Production on season 8 of The Big Bang Theory will begin Wednesday, August 6, with contract negotiations now having been concluded," reads part of a Warner Bros. statement sent to USWeekly.
Filming for Season 8 was delayed last month due to salary negotiations by studio bosses with the agents of stars Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco-Sweetings, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar. Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco were represented together while Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar were represented together in the negotiations with producer Warner Bros. TV.
On August 4, it was reported by E!Online that stars Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco-Sweetings have each signed new three-year deals with Warner Bros. TV that will have their salaries leaping from $350,000 to about $1 million per half-hour episode. In addition, according to a Deadline exclusive, the three will get other perks including "larger pieces of the show, signing bonuses, production deals and advances towards the back-end." The day following Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco-Sweetings signing, according to a subsequent E!Online report, the two remaining stars Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar have both signed new deals as well although their new renegotiated per-episode salaries have not been disclosed. The two were reportedly aiming to raise their current $100,000 per episode salary to something closer to what the other three original cast members now make.
Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch just received their raises back in September of last year and are already on board for work on Season 8. According to Deadline, the two will be making around $60,000 each per episode, with their pay steadily increasing every year to reach close to $100,000 an episode each by the end of their contracts.
No plot spoilers for Season 8 have so far been leaked although it is already known that the title for Episode 1 will be "The Locomotion Interruption" and that it will be directed by Mark Cendrowski.
