The 2018-2019 TV season has seen news of two long-running sitcoms coming to an end, but there's one that just scored a huge renewal. Unlike The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family, CBS' Mom has no end in sight thanks to a renewal. In fact, the renewal is for more than one season!
Yes, Mom has been renewed for two more seasons, bringing the total count up to eight, and that's not the only good news. Anna Faris and Allison Janney, who have starred on the comedy since it premiered back in 2013, both signed on to return for Season 7 and Season 8. Season 6 is still running on CBS.
Mom currently ranks as the third most-watched comedy in broadcast television, coming in behind two other CBS series: The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon. Could the upcoming end of Big Bang mean a boost for Mom next season? Comedy fans will need somewhere else to go for laughs, and Mom surely averages more than 10 million viewers per episode for a reason.
The big renewal comes only a couple of months after reports circulated that Mom could end after Season 6 due to contract negotiations as Anna Faris (who is openly thrilled to have gotten a boob job) and Allison Janney's initial deals were up.
It was rumored at the time that Anna Faris and Allison Janney were looking for bigger salary increases than CBS was willing to agree to, even though CBS reportedly wanted at least one more season. Faris and Janney were hardly the first CBS actresses holding out for higher pay per episode, and it was difficult to guess if they would be as successful as the women of The Big Bang Theory.
CBS has not commented on how much of a pay increase Anna Faris and Allison Janney received for Seasons 7 and 8 of Mom, but Deadline reports that their new salaries are upward of $350,000 per episode, and that they have pay parity. Their current pay is allegedly under $200,000, making it entirely possible that their new contracts will double what they take home for their work. The actresses also reportedly increased their participation on the backend of the show.
All things considered, I'm not surprised that CBS would go the extra mile to keep Mom on the air for at least another couple of years. The ratings have been largely consistent in Season 6, and the end of The Big Bang Theory could leave a comedy void if Mom also came to an end. More than 100 episodes have aired, and deals were struck for syndication on TV Land, CMT, and Tribune broadcast stations.
Mom is a complex comedy that can deliver emotionally powerful storylines as well as laughs in every episode. The characters deal with problems of addiction on top of all the other challenges of daily life, and they've experienced great loss. Fans can now rest easy that the show won't get the axe for at least another two seasons.
New episodes of Mom air Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS. If you're still looking for additional viewing options this year, take a peek at our midseason TV premiere schedule.
