DID JIM PARSONS QUIT THE BIG BANG THEORY?

A spoof article claiming that Jim Parsons had walked off the set of The Big Bang Theory following an on-set fight with Johnny Galecki was picked up by several websites on Thursday. The article appeared on a website called EmpireNews.net, which apparently has no association with EmpireOnline.com, the official site of the British movie magazine Empire. The article takes note of reports that the show’s cast is seeking fat salary increases and quotes producer Chuck Lorre as saying, "I think the monotony of playing the same stupid characters for so long, for over 150 episodes, was really getting to everyone, Parsons especially. So they all asked for a pay raise. They got it going into season 7, but this time around, for the season we’re filming, the cast, or rather their agents, really wanted more than they deserved." While some fans of the show wondered whether the report was a hoax, others took it at face value and rebelled, posting hundreds of messages on Facebook and Twitter complaining. The truth of the matter is that both Parsons and Galecki are indeed asking for big salary increases — some say as much as $1 million per episode — although neither is about to walk off the set of the series, since the show hasn’t begun producing any new episodes yet. "We’re feeling very confident that everything will work out," CBS chairman of entertainment Nina Tassler told the Hollywood Reporter. "These deals manage to get done miraculously somehow year after year."