‘The Big Bang Theory’ season 8: Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar sign on; production to resume

For those wondering whether or not “The Big Bang Theory” would end up starting production on Wednesday after a week delay, we now have your official answer: It’s happening.

Sources confirm now that Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar have officially signed on to do three more seasons with the comedy after receiving a substantial pay raise from studio Warner Bros. TV. While it is not believed that they are receiving the same $1 million an episode that the original trio of Kaley Cuoco, Jim Parsons, and Johnny Galecki will, they will be paid very handsomely for their services to the show and they no longer have to worry about a holdout.

The only time over the next three seasons that we could see there being further issues with negotiations are when both Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch decide that they want to re-sign new deals. We could see both eventually angling for similar money to what Helberg and Nayyar earn per episode, given that they play about equal roles at this point in the supporting cast.

Thanks to this production delay being over, the premiere date of September 22 for new episodes is probably intact. There’s no confirmation that the show will still be 24 episodes, but we’d like to hope that it can be with just a little bit of tinkering and re-arranging of specific dates.

None of these deals necessarily guarantee that “The Big Bang Theory” will be over at season 10; this is just emblematic of how long current plans are. Come around the start of this season, we’re sure there will be further discussions on this. Note that “Two and a Half Men” is ending with its 12th, and “How I Met Your Mother” was over after nine.

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Photo: CBS