Big Bang Actors To Earn $1M Per Episode

Cludge (981852) writes with a snippet from the BBC: "And rich they will be: With The Big Bang Theory commissioned until 2017, the show's three biggest names, Jim Parsons (Sheldon), Johnny Galecki (Leonard) and Kaley Cuoco (Penny) are guaranteed to earn $72m (£42.6m) each over the next three seasons. Unsurprisingly, the cost of producing the sitcom has spiraled." I wonder what that works out per line?

Comments

Nerd Blackface

[mythosaz]

The argument against is that BBT is, essentially, Nerd Blackface.

The argument for BBT is that the material and situations are relateable, especially with the mainstreaming of geek culture (Dr. Who, BSG, Marvel films).

Meh. It's funny. I watch. I read the vanity card at the end. I think they're all good actors - at least within the scope of the show.

Re:Nerd Blackface

[RobinH]

Pullleeeze. To even suggest that is to suggest that the persecution of nerds is equivalent to the persecution of African American minorities in the United States. Certainly nerds are persecuted, particularly in high school, but they are in no way equivalent. Besides, it's not like the show doesn't make fun of people who are "smart and good looking".

Re:Nerd Blackface

[Enry]

No, GP is right about how the characters are treated. I've only watched a few episodes, but it looks like the main character (Sheldon) has some serious issues that need to be addressed with medication or counseling. To use it as a form of entertainment for others is just insulting to those who have those kinds of problems, and those that are supposed to have those kinds of problems and don't.

Re:Nerd Blackface

[Anonymous Coward]

Pullleeeze. To even suggest that is to suggest that the persecution of nerds is equivalent to the persecution of African American minorities in the United States. Certainly nerds are persecuted, particularly in high school, but they are in no way equivalent. Besides, it's not like the show doesn't make fun of people who are "smart and good looking".

Tell that to the parents of any "nerd" that has committed suicide due to the bullying. Go on. Straight to their face.

Re:Nerd Blackface

[E-Rock]

We're talking about a fictional example, but Sheldon is highly successful, and seems quite happy with his life. He doesn't need to be medicated just because he doesn't meet stereotypical norms.

Re:Nerd Blackface

[nine-times]

The argument against is that BBT is, essentially, Nerd Blackface.

That wouldn't be my argument against it. My argument is that it's not a good show. I don't find the characters relateable. I don't think it's particularly funny. It seems like someone took a very bland, unoriginal sitcom and attached a geek gimmick to try to make it interesting, but in my mind it fails. It's not interesting, and the geek gimmick doesn't really work.

If you wanted to talk about it's problem with relation to "geek culture", I don't feel like it's right to say it's like "nerd blackface". I would argue the problem is more like, if you had a bunch of kids thinking that they understand urban black culture because they're listening to rap music, but the rap music they're listening to is Vanilla Ice.

Sorry, no, you don't understand geeks and nerds and "geek culture" from watching Big Bang Theory. You don't understand comic books and Doctor Who from learning the references that the show uses. From the episodes that I've seen, the characters don't seem like authentic geeks and nerds. Not really. It mostly seems like a crappy "Friends" ripoff where the characters are all wearing nerd costumes and talking in nasal voices. I don't think it's mainstreaming geek culture, but more like jumping on the bandwagon of geek culture that has managed to mainstream itself.

That's my take. I don't require that anyone else agrees.

Re:Nerd Blackface

[retchdog]

Maybe. But it ends, is my point. It ends, and one is rewarded relatively richly afterward (relative to one's intrinsic ability, of course, and subject to the vagaries of fortune).

The discrimination against blacks (to whatever extent it is, and for whatever reason) is much more persistent.

Re:Nerd Blackface

[roc97007]

We're talking about a fictional example, but Sheldon is highly successful, and seems quite happy with his life. He doesn't need to be medicated just because he doesn't meet stereotypical norms.

This. The Sheldon character holds down a high paying job and manages to interact with an admittedly small circle of friends. He's already doing better than a good segment of the population. That his personality quirks should be wrung out of him through therapy and/or medication is more than a little offensive.

Re:Nerd Blackface

[AudioEfex]

Oh please. I don't think many of you have ever seen a sitcom before.

Sam Malone had a sex addiction problem. Monica Gellar had severe OCD. Roseanne had anger management issues.

That's what's hilarious about the folks who cry about BBT - they take it so seriously because it hits a lot closer to home than they would like folks to believe and they simply don't have the ability to laugh at themselves.

Did folks criticize Mary Tyler Moore Show for not being an accurate enough representation of life in a network news room? Probably, if they worked in one and didn't have a sense of humor.

As to TFA, I'm very glad for them - they earned this - this show is going to bring in billions because of the syndicated deal, the hell is merchandised out of it as well (I was at a LCBS yesterday and they had an entire section of BBTS merch), and they are getting a small cut now. Is everyone on TV overpaid to some extent, sure. But comparatively, these are not outrageous salaries, particularly in this current climate of a hit TV show being as rare as it is, particularly on networks. If the entire industry is going to rake in such money, I'm glad that the folks in front of the camera who are largely responsible for my enjoyment of the show as opposed to executives who just sit and approve shit.

Re:Nerd Blackface

[Maxo-Texas]

Perhaps for the young and healthy.

For the unhealthy, suicide can be a logical exit.

Geeky, if you were going to be in severe pain for the rest of your life and drugs wouldn't help- you wouldn't be able to sleep more than 2 hours at a stretch without being woken up by the pain-- how long before suicide would seem like a rational way out.

Not everyone's pain is physical.

Re:Nerd Blackface

[mythosaz]

Remember. There is selection bias.

Live studio audiences for {Network_Comedy_Show} is composed primarily of uberfans from flyover states on vacation in sunny California, those willing to wait hours in line just to gush over seeing a C-list celebrity do a cameo with Kaley Cuoco 40 times until they get it right from all angles.

Of course they laugh like hyenas. The stand-up comedian that warms them up doesn't hurt either.

I had a friend attend a BBT taping. He reported it was the funniest thing he had ever seen -- but of course he went to the taping, because he thinks the BBT is the funniest thing, so... there you go.

Re:Nerd Blackface

[radarskiy]

If you were paying attention you would notice that they are not making fun of nerd culture as distinct from not-nerd culture. The basis of the humorous situations typically turn out to be the kind of things that really happen to anyone: poor communication in relationships, one spouse making significantly more money than another, existential crises over career shifts, overbearing parents, etc. The closest they get to a distinct nerd situation is when the PhDs mock Wolowitz for only having a Master's degree.

There may be the meta-criticism that they are mocking nerds for not recognizing that their problems as problems anybody could have... then again *you* failed to recognize this as well.

Re:Nerd Blackface

[nine-times]

That's a great, clever argument, since it basically closes off my options. No matter what I say, you can just respond, "Oh you, you're such a Sheldon! That's exactly what he'd say!" In reality, you're only illustrating the sort of dumb ideas that the show inspires. It makes people think they understand-- like I said, in about the way that a bunch of rich white suburban teenage boys, a couple of decades ago, might think that they understood inner city black culture because they bought a Starter jacket and listened to Vanilla Ice. And it's not a "no true scottsman" argument and more than it would be to say, "in fact, Vanilla Ice was not a true inner-city black person".

But fundamentally, it's not a "no true geek" argument. Really, it's a "these characters are weak, poorly written, and representative of nothing" argument. It's a "I've tried watching this show, and found it painfully unfunny" argument.

Over paid

[geekoid]

for what they do. VASTLY overpaid.

Shouldn't they be starving to death?

[denzacar]

After all... it's a show about and for people and culture who promote file sharing. Sorry, piracy.

Checking Piratebay it is obvious that it is heavily shared, with thousands of seeds.
Why isn't this show being canceled due to everyone involved with making of it dying from starvation?
I was told that sharing... sorry, pirating of video directly hurts people who make these shows.
I demand that someone does something about it!

Like... take them all behind the shed and shoot them in the head.

I'd love to be wrong, but ...

[xfizik]

Given that the show is going into season 8, I wouldn't be too surprised if it went downhill from here, like it usually happens to long running sitcoms. It's not like money will reflect the quality of acting.

Yawn

[wcrowe]

I don't get the controversy. I like the show. It makes me laugh. I don't care what the actors get paid. It's none of my business. I think the comparisons to "black face" are in error. Poking fun at people because of their behavior is not the same as poking fun at people because of their skin color. It's just a sitcom. They come and go. It hasn't jumped the shark yet (not for me, anyway). When it does I'll probably stop watching. And if CBS should cancel it tomorrow, I won't care. My life does not revolve around characters on a tv show, nor does it revolve around the actors and writers. They're getting $1million per show... yawn.

Re:They are the rich

[sycodon]

And the show really isn't that funny.

Penny has nice tits though.

Re:They are the rich

[TeknoHog]

Only Penny is ever in need of cash.

OMG, so that's why they named her Penny, rather than something like Trillian.

Re:They are the rich

[Anonymous Coward]

The difference - to me anyway - is that fake tits look good under clothes but when you unwrap them they look wrong, move wrong - and most important of all - feel wrong. It's like getting a beautifully wrapped present with a cheap toy inside. Disappointing.

Wrong measure

[Camael]

You are using the wrong measure.

The cast of BBT are not being paid that much because they are good at acting.
They are being paid that much because collectively, they enable the BBT show to continue being produced, which show generates substantial amounts of income for their corporate overlords through advertising, merchandising, syndication and whatnot.

The "hundreds of thousands" of other better actors you allude to sadly do not have this earning potential and hence, do not have this kind of paycheck.

Quality of acting is irrelevant.