The eighth season of CBS’s hit comedy series “The Big Bang Theory” has started production, following the cast’s agreement to new contract deals, reports EW.com’s Inside TV.

Warner Bros. said that production was starting today, Aug. 6, after the conclusion of contract negotiations with stars Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco. While co-stars Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar were also in talks earlier this week, Warner Bros.’ statement suggests they have concluded negotiations, the story adds.

According to Deadline.com’s Nellie Andreeva, “Playing hardball in seeking parity with co-stars Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco seems to have paid off for Helberg and Nayyar. I hear each of them netted more than $70 million over the life of the three-year deals for Seasons 8-10, or 72 episodes.”

Andreeva’s report adds: “I hear that the quintet all have parity on the back-end participation (more than a point each), which is very valuable, and that Helberg and Nayyar will catch up with their counterparts on per-episode fees in Season 10.”

Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco had secured deals that will pay each of them at least $90 million, including $1 million each per episode.

Andreeva notes, “In the final hours of negotiations, Helberg and Nayyar’s team was able to sweeten the studio’s final offer that had been for each actor to get 75% of the compensation secured by Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco. There had been some rumblings that, in light of the difficult negotiations, the studio was exploring continuing the series without Helberg and Nayyar, but insiders stress that that was more of a negotiating tactic than a realistic possibility.”