--- title: 'The Big Bang Theory' Cast Takes Pay Cut for Fellow Stars description: The five original cast members of The Big Bang Theory have reportedly taken a pay cut so that two newer cast members can get a raise canonical: https://time.com/4688290/big-bang-theory-cast-pay-cut-2/ author: Aric Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-02T13:06:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:00.656Z og:title: 'The Big Bang Theory' Original Cast Is Taking a Pay Cut for Their Co-Stars og:description: The CBS show's original stars were each earning $1 million per episode og:url: https://time.com/4688290/big-bang-theory-cast-pay-cut-2/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd1c482a0c7db492/6988bcaf0a4a2232e09cd237/big-bang-theory-cast.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: People's Choice Awards og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'The Big Bang Theory' Original Cast Is Taking a Pay Cut for Their Co-Stars twitter:description: The CBS show's original stars were each earning $1 million per episode twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd1c482a0c7db492/6988bcaf0a4a2232e09cd237/big-bang-theory-cast.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'The Big Bang Theory' Original Cast Is Taking a Pay Cut for Their Co-Stars > Sponsored content. 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It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Mar 2, 2017 1:06 PM UTC  LOS ANGELES - JANUARY 6: The cast of THE BIG BANG THEORY at the PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS 2016, from the Microsoft Theater on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016 (Photo by Francis Specker/CBS via Getty Images) LOS ANGELES - JANUARY 6: The cast of THE BIG BANG THEORY at the PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS 2016, from the Microsoft Theater on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016 (Photo by Francis Specker/CBS via Getty Images) CBS Photo Archive — CBS via Getty Images by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Mar 2, 2017 1:06 PM UTC The five original cast members of _The Big Bang Theory_ have reportedly taken a [pay cut](http://time.com/money/4687537/big-bang-theory-cast-pay-cut-for-costars/) so that two newer cast members can get a raise. The freed up funds should increase the budget for actresses Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch, who reportedly earn just $200,000 per episode, [according to Variety](http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/the-big-bang-theory-contract-mayim-bialik-melissa-rauch-1201999243/). The changes are said to go in effect for the upcoming Seasons 11 and 12. Bialik and Raunch, who both joined in the third season, have gone on to become regulars on the hit [CBS show](http://time.com/money/4538265/google-unplugged-cbs/), which kicked off its 10th season in September. If Bialik and Raunch split the $500,000 raised from the series’ five original stars, the actresses would see their salaries rise to roughly $450,000 an episode. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4688290/big-bang-theory-cast-pay-cut-2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4688290/big-bang-theory-cast-pay-cut-2/"},"headline":"'The Big Bang Theory' Original Cast Is Taking a Pay Cut for Their Co-Stars","datePublished":"2017-03-02T13:06:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:00.656Z","description":"The CBS show's original stars were earning $1 million per episode","url":"https://time.com/4688290/big-bang-theory-cast-pay-cut-2/","keywords":["motto","Television","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd1c482a0c7db492/6988bcaf0a4a2232e09cd237/big-bang-theory-cast.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aric Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd1c482a0c7db492/6988bcaf0a4a2232e09cd237/big-bang-theory-cast.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"People's Choice Awards","caption":"People's Choice Awards","creditText":"CBS Photo Archive — CBS via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4688290/big-bang-theory-cast-pay-cut-2/","name":"'The Big Bang Theory' Original Cast Is Taking a Pay Cut for Their Co-Stars"}}]}] ```