$1 Million Per Episode – Stars of Big Bang Theory Looking for a Big Pay Increase
Actor Jim Parsons poses with the Best Actor in a Comedy Series for "The Big Bang Theory" at the 4th annual Critics' Choice Television Awards in Beverly Hills, California June 19, 2014. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

'The Big Bang Theory' stars Jim Parsons (Sheldon Cooper), Johnny Galecki (Leonard Hofstadter) and Kaley Cuoco (Penny) secured new contracts to continue their appearance in the show of the wildly popular geek-comedy show. According to reports, the trio will be paid $1 million per episode for the next three years, through 8th to 10th seasons of the show and the deal will reach $90M for each over that span.

Doing the math, that’s $30M each year for two geeks and one wannabe-actress/waitress.

In other news, the two other geeks in the show, Simon Helberg (Howard Wolowitz) and Kunal Nayyar (Raj Koothrappali) also received a hefty extension reportedly around $70M over the same span (or roughly $970K per episode or $23.33M per year).

For the sake of simple math, we are just going to consider their annual (season) salary and compare them to the richest sportsmen in American sports.

Why not? These TV superstars are now paid like their sports superstars counterparts so it’s worth an effort comparing their annual salary to what these sportsmen are making.

Also, Jim Parsons is a big sports fan, so much so that he begged Dwight Howard on YouTube to join the his home team Houston Rockets when he was a free agent. (Sheldon/Parsons can also make another YouTube video calling out Dwight Howard and his measly $21.43M contract with the Rockets.)

Video evidence here:

(YouTube/ NbaHighlights93)

In the world of American TV this puts them in FRIENDS-zone. For the young ones, Friends (1994-2004) was the original comedy show that captured the world’s attention and it’s no surprise that the TBBT quintuple is being paid the same respect—and similar American dollars.

The respective leagues/teams do not usually divulge the salary figures of their players but then again there are lots of Web sites that dedicate pages to estimated/reported salaries (all figures below courtesy of spotrac.com). Here’s what every top average salaries look like if these BBT stars played in their respective leagues.

The Big Bang Theory Stars vs. NFL Stars (Average Salary per Season)
1. Sheldon/Leonard/Penny (Big Bang Theory) - $30M
2. Raj/Howard (Big Bang Theory) - $23.33M
3. Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers) - $22M
4. Colin Kaepernick (San Francisco 49ers) - $20.75M
5. Matt Ryan (Atlanta Falcons) - $20.75M
6. Joe Flacco (Denver Broncos -$20.1M
7. Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints) - $20M

The Big Bang Theory Stars vs. NBA Stars (Average Salary per Season)
1. Sheldon/Leonard/Penny (Big Bang Theory) - $30M
2. Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks) - $24.81M
3. Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers) - $24.25M
4. Chris Bosh (Miami Heat) - $23.74M
5. Raj/Howard (Big Bang Theory) - $23.33M
5. Dwight Howard (Houston Rockets) - $21.89M
6. Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers) - $21.46M
7. LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) - $21.10M

The Big Bang Theory Stars vs. NHL Stars (Average Salary per Season)
1. Sheldon/Leonard/Penny (Big Bang Theory) - $30M
2. Raj/Howard (Big Bang Theory) - $23.33M
3. Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) - $9.53M
4. Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins) - $9.5M
5. P.K. Subban (Montreal Canadians) - $9M
6. Sidney Crosby (Pittsburg Penguins) - $8.7M
7. Corey Perry (Aneheim Ducks) - $8.62M

The Big Bang Theory Stars vs. MLB Stars (Average Salary per Season)
1. Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers) - $30.71M
2. Sheldon/Leonard/Penny (Big Bang Theory) - $30M
3. Justin Verlander (Detroit Tigers) - $25.71M
4. Matt Cain (San Francisco Giants) - $25.5M
5. Ryan Howard (Philadelphia Phillies) - $25M
6. Josh Hamilton (Los Angeles Angels) - $25M
7. Felix Hernandez (Seattle Mariners) - $25M
14. Raj/Howard (Big Bang Theory) - $23.33M

To conclude, only Major League Baseball (MLB) can compete with the trio Sheldon/Leonard/Penny with Clayton Kershaw set to earn $30.71M average salary in his deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. A dozen other MLB stars have annual average salary greater than the Jewish and Indian pair. For the other three leagues—National Basketball Association (NBA), National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Football League (NFL), Sheldon/Leonard/Penny would be the highest paid stars.

In short, The Big Bang Theory, thanks to Sheldon, Leonard, Penny, Raj and Howard, rules even the most popular American sports.