Is this the last season of The Big Bang Theory? We examine ALL the evidence 

By using this site you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with our cookie policy.

This website uses cookies. Learn more.

TV guide: What you should watch this week

Carpool Karaoke gets its own series on Apple Music

Revealed: How much the Big Bang Theory cast get paid Revealed: How much the Big Bang Theory cast get paid

Big Bang Theory poll: Would you watch without Sheldon? Big Bang Theory poll: Would you watch without Sheldon?

Could The Big Bang Theory REALLY lose Sheldon? Could The Big Bang Theory REALLY lose Sheldon?

Big Bang Theory\'s Kaley Cuoco bares boob in NSFW photo Big Bang Theory\'s Kaley Cuoco bares boob in NSFW photo

Freaky first Rings trailer arrives to haunt your dreams Freaky first Rings trailer arrives to haunt your dreams

Huw Edwards changed the game last night on News at Ten Huw Edwards changed the game last night on News at Ten

Is this the final Big Bang Theory season? Is this the final Big Bang Theory season?

This Morning\'s 14 naughtiest and cheekiest moments ever This Morning\'s 14 naughtiest and cheekiest moments ever

Aww, Holly looks SO young in This Morning throwback vid Aww, Holly looks SO young in This Morning throwback vid

10 huge stars you had no idea appeared on Star Trek 10 huge stars you had no idea appeared on Star Trek

Cold Feet writer: \'Helen Baxendale refused a crap part\' Cold Feet writer: \'Helen Baxendale refused a crap part\'

Watch the filthy Maltesers ad everybody\'s talking about Watch the filthy Maltesers ad everybody\'s talking about

11 greatest ever Only Fools and Horses moments 11 greatest ever Only Fools and Horses moments

remains the most popular show on TV around the world. Love it or hate it, it\'s huge.

Despite this, rumours keep rumbling along that its 10th run may be its last – but could that really happen? If you\'re in the "love" camp, just keep singing \'Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty\' and have a warm beverage to make you feel better. 

The show\'s stars, including Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco, will be at the end of their contracts with season 10, so time is running out to decide its overall future. Let\'s delve into the evidence to see what\'s most likely to happen. (Or scroll right to the bottom to make your voice heard in our poll: would you watch the show without its main stars?)

Just like at the end of season 7, ALL of the main cast are at the end of their contracts by season 10\'s close. This means it\'s time to renegotiate deals for Sheldon, Leonard, Penny, Raj, Howard, Amy and Bernadette. And that essentially means more money.

10 huge stars you had no idea appeared on Star Trek

Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco currently get $1 million per episode (that\'s serious

more, that would actually surpass the amounts earned by Jennifer Aniston and co.

Meanwhile, Kunal Nayyar and Simon Helberg currently earn around $750,000 per episode, and astoundingly, Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch earn "just" $100,000. 

With that massive difference between salaries, you\'d think the biggest question marks would hover over Bialik and Rauch, and perhaps Nayyar and Helberg. Although the other three are arguably the biggest stars of the show, 

much of a gulf could chafe with their co-stars.

Just before season 8, production was halted to figure out all the contracts. But at least this time, they have already shot a few episodes of season 10, so it\'s not as if they can just stop midway through (but who knows?).

On one hand, they could leave contract negotiations until the whole season wraps, but that could be a risk, on a creative level at least. What if all the cast leave and then the show just ends with no resolution after 10 years? Fans would be furious. Though that kind of end wouldn\'t be as bad as creator Chuck Lorre\'s other show,

about planning the show\'s ending, showrunner Steve Molaro said: "The more the better. If I had a couple of episodes of advance warning, I\'m confident we could do something meaningful, but hopefully it won\'t come to that."

Ideally, contracts would be signed before the end of the season\'s production. So, probably around Christmas time. Otherwise, they\'re in danger of ruining the whole show\'s legacy.

When questions surrounding contract deals arose this week, Molaro was asked whether we could live in a world where

For some reason, this led many to assume this mean Sheldon, Penny and Leonard would all leave – but if anyone it would be Amy and Bernadette marching, due to the actors\' awful pay gap.

Molaro admitted it would "certainly be different and weird" if some of the characters left. But it\'s happened before. Again, just look at

. At one stage, you could never imagine the show without Charlie Sheen, but it limped on with Ashton Kutcher, and without even the half man Angus T Jones.

had at least four of the main characters – who are much more popular and iconic than

– then you\'d think that CBS would at least attempt to keep it going. Plus...

American networks aren\'t like the BBC or even ITV. They\'re not as limited with cash, and once they\'ve got themselves a hit, they make sure they cling on to it as long as humanly possible. Even if it means the show itself turns from gold into shite.

producers will no doubt get out as many chequebooks as they can to keep as many of them on. Even if they end up having to do a mini reboot, there\'s no way they\'d just let it suddenly go at the height of its powers.

There\'s not really any other comedy that achieves the ratings

was the most-watched non-sporting broadcast in the US with an average of over 20m viewers. The closest comedy is ABC\'s

At a time when TV ratings are nowhere near as big as they used to be, CBS will surely keep flogging its horse for as long as figures are high.

Despite all this talk of the cast potentially leaving, why would they?

continued until its 10th season, and it no doubt would have carried on longer if its stars didn\'t become too big for a TV show in an age where TV was playing second fiddle to movies. Nowadays, TV is a much bigger deal, and has a much bigger audience thanks to streaming services.

Back then, TV actors like Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry were looking to become film stars. Although Jim Parsons and co have appeared in a few films, it\'s unlikely that they\'ll have the same sort of success on the big screen.

If anything, they might want to just have the time to do something else. Nayyar has appeared in the West End, Rauch has starred in her own well-received indie film, Helberg got great reviews for

. It\'s amazing that any of them have found the time to do anything else.

Kunal himself didn\'t seem to have an answer when speaking to Digital Spy at London Comic-Con, saying: "Look – next season, as it stands on our contract, could be the last season of

To be completely honest… I know people are gonna want to know what happens after season 10. I don\'t know what\'s going to happen."

But, he seemed pretty happy with the show a few months before, telling

I\'ll keep doing it for as long as they will have me. We could all have walking sticks doing

season 20. I think realistically there\'s less time left now than there was on the show before. Maybe it will go to 11, 12 or 13. I will do it as long as I can. But I think it is somewhere in that range."

, he was equally as happy with the show: "Do you know something that I don\'t? We are having a great time doing the show, so I mean, you know we will keep going if people will have us." 

Parsons was a tad more wistful about the show\'s end, but still relatively happy with how things were going, telling Variety: "I am painfully aware that if things keep going the way they\'re going – and by that I mean as a cast we have a good time together, which I think we\'ll manage, but more importantly the stories are still so enjoyable to be a part of and the writers are still so enthusiastic about character and plot points – if that just continues on through the end, I predict I will feel really good about wherever we wrap it up, as in, \'We left it all out there, we did what we were supposed to do,\' and whatever." 

From looking at all the evidence so far, the answer is no. There\'s no real reason to suggest that

The majority of the cast seem to enjoy making it, the producers and writers seem to know what they\'re doing, and the show is simply way too big and important for it to suddenly die.

We will be very surprised if CBS decided to can it midway through a season, though we wouldn\'t be too surprised if the show had some kind of cast departure-enforced revamp for season 11.

Luke Cage cast, plot, release date and everything you need to know about the next Marvel and Netflix team-up

#StarTrek50: 10 huge stars you had no idea appeared on Trek

Revealed: How much the Big Bang Theory cast get...

Big Bang Theory poll: Would you watch without...

Could The Big Bang Theory REALLY lose Sheldon?

Big Bang Theory\'s Kaley Cuoco bares boob in NSFW...

Lady Gaga\'s comeback single \'Perfect Illusion\' is...

Huw Edwards changed the game last night on News at Ten

This Morning\'s 14 naughtiest and cheekiest moments ever

Randy dogs! Vagina facials! Raging hangovers!

Aww, Holly looks SO young in This Morning throwback vid

Strictly\'s Laura Whitmore: \'Giovanni\'s working me hard\'

Star Trek\'s cast wish the Enterprise a happy birthday

William Shatner, Patrick Stewart & more honour show.

JJ Abrams is going back to TV... with Meryl Streep!

It\'s a little closer to home than Jakku.

This Gilmore Girls revival pic is beautiful and tragic

The Big Bang Theory season 9 episode 23 review: A Kardashian gag is the best bit this week

Big Bang Theory is actually revealing Penny\'s mum this season - but which TV legend has bagged the role?

BBC Three\'s Defying the Label season to examine life with disability

Aliona Vilani reveals this season of Strictly Come Dancing was her last

The Big Bang Theory season 9 episode 9 review: \'The Platonic Permutation\' is a load of Musk

Agents of SHIELD ends season 2: This is the show fans wanted all along