In September 2007, Cuoco began starring in the CBS sitcom "The Big Bang Theory", playing Penny, a Cheesecake Factory employee and aspiring actress who lives across the hall from physicists Dr. Leonard Hofstadter and Dr. Sheldon Cooper. Prior to the 2010–2011 season, she earned US$60,000 an episode for the series, the same as her co-stars. In 2010, the cast negotiated a raise for each actor to make US$200,000 per episode. As of August 2014, Cuoco and her co-stars from "The Big Bang Theory" Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons each earned an estimated US$1 million per episode.