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"Contract negotiations with the stars of The Big Bang Theory have stalled, threatening the start of production for season eight. The original cast - Johnny Galecki (Leonard), Jim Parsons (Sheldon), Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting (Penny), Simon Helberg (Howard) and Kunal Nayyar (Raj) - have reached the end of their current contracts and are all asking for improved salaries with producing studio Warner Bros TV. Any agreement is &amp;quot;far apart&amp;quot;, reports Deadline.  Production for the next season is due to begin on July 22. It is believed that even if the start date were delayed until after Labor Day (September 1), there would be enough time for the show to deliver its hour-long premiere for September 22. Insiders are confident that talks will not drag on for that long. Galecki, Parsons and Cuoco-Sweeting, who were earning around $350,000 per episode last season and own 0.25 percentage points of backend royalties, could stand to be paid $1m per episode as well as a bigger cut of royalties. Helberg and Nayyar, earning $125,000 and $75,000 per episode respectively, are also targeting significant pay increases and are negotiating separately from the leading three stars. The negotiations come months after The Big Bang Theory was renewed by CBS for a further three seasons. Melissa Rauch (Bernadette) and Mayim Bialik (Amy) are the only stars currently contracted, having signed new deals last year worth upwards of $60,000 per episode. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/the-big-bang-theory/news/a584749/big-bang-theory-cast-pay-negotiations-threaten-production-start-date/>