It’s a wrap! After prolonged negotiations with Warner Brothers, Big Bang stars Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco have all signed three-year contracts with the show and are estimated to start earning salaries of $1 million per episode.
That figure is more than three times their previously reported salaries of $300,000 per episode and places the stars among the ranks of the stars of Friends, who allegedly made that amount per episode in the show’s final season.
This is also great news for Cuoco, who is now the second highest-paid actress in Hollywood, next to Sofia Vergara.
The salary bump is well-deserved, especially considering that the show’s seventh season finale this past May was the most watched season finale ever, at 16.3 million viewers.
The world can’t get enough of the show and it’s not hard to see why. The cast is smart, funny and oh-so endearing. It’s not rocket science: Audiences love The Big Bang Theory and here are 12 reasons why:
1. The unconventional couples
Leonard and Penny are Beauty and the Geek. Sheldon and Amy make an intellectually superior couple, fumbling their way through the nervous beginnings of what is sure to be a lasting relationship. Wolowitz and Bernadette are too perfect for words! His piano tribute to her this last season literally brought me to tears.
2. A tribute to comedy and movie fans everywhere
Are you a Trekkie? How about an Indiana Jones fan? Do you attend Comic-Con in full costume? If so, you’ll see a little bit of yourself in the proud nerds of The Big Bang Theory and will love every minute of it.
3. Soft kitty
Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur.
Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr.
This song, meant to soothe Sheldon while he’s sick, has been sung to me while I’m nursing alcohol-related illnesses. I can fully vouch for its effectiveness. It’s magic!
4. Drunk Raj
It is so much fun to watch Raj get drunk, which he has to do pretty much any time he wants to flip his personality switch from wallflower to Don Juan.
5. The sworn enemy
Wil Wheaton, you’ve foiled Sheldon once again! He’ll get his revenge one day, but until then, this hilarious duo continues to provide endless entertainment for anyone who’s ever had a sworn enemy.
6. Choo-choo trains
You just don’t see trains getting the mention they deserve in pop culture nowadays. The Big Bang Theory takes it back, as Sheldon the conductor shares his never ending enthusiasm for locomotives.
7. There’s a sense of order to things
From the infamous roommate agreement to Thai takeout night, there’s a sense of order to everything on the show and we can all appreciate that.
8. No dream is too big
Want to be an astronaut? Go for it. Want to make a discovery that will change the course of this earth? It’s up to you!
On a show in which having “only” a master’s degree is cause for ridicule, there’s no dream too big and no one word with too many syllables — the bigger the better!
9. Sheldon’s knock
Nowadays, so many people forget their manners that it’s nice to have someone who knows to knock at all times before entering a room — three times, in a distinctive manner that makes oneself known and declares exactly who is being sought, to be precise.
There would be a lot less ambiguity in door reception if we all learned to knock like Sheldon.
10. The celebration of friendship
Penny and Amy have a bond that can’t even be captured by portrait; their “bestie” relationship is one of a kind.
And, Leonard is such a good friend that he chauffeurs Sheldon everywhere, plus, he tolerates things like couch-cushion claiming. People love quirky friendships, and it’s a recipe for success where TV sitcoms are concerned.
11. The mothers
Every interesting person on this show has an even more interesting mother. From Sheldon’s mom, the kind and religious woman who raised a scientific genius, to the bellowing and overbearing mother who raised Wolowitz, there’s never a dull moment where mums on the show are concerned.
12. We can’t get enough of the nerdiness
Television is full of beautiful people and vapid models. The Big Bang Theory provides a refreshing break from that.
While Cuoco is “traditionally” beautiful, the other characters are meant to look like normal people. What sets them apart is their brains. Intelligence is sexy, and as Big Bang proves, it is certainly entertaining.