The Big Bang Theory

This article is about the television comedy. For the scientific theory, see Big Bang. For other uses, see Big Bang Theory (disambiguation).

"TBBT" redirects here. For the Discovery Channel series, see The Big Brain Theory.

The Big Bang Theory
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Chuck Lorre Bill Prady
Directed by	Mark Cendrowski
Starring	Johnny Galecki Jim Parsons Kaley Cuoco Simon Helberg Kunal Nayyar Sara Gilbert Melissa Rauch Mayim Bialik Kevin Sussman
Theme music composer	Barenaked Ladies
Opening theme	"Big Bang Theory Theme"
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	150 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Chuck Lorre Bill Prady Steven Molaro
Producer(s)	Faye Oshima Belyeu
Editor(s)	Peter Chakos
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	18–22 minutes (without commercials)
Production company(s)	Chuck Lorre Productions Warner Bros. Television
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Picture format	HDTV 1080i
Audio format	DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Original run	September 24, 2007 (2007-09-24) – present
External links
Website

The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers. It premiered on CBS on September 24, 2007. The seventh season premiered on September 26, 2013.

The show is centered on five characters living in Pasadena, California: roommates Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper, both physicists; Penny, a waitress and aspiring actress who lives across the hall; and Leonard and Sheldon's equally geeky and socially awkward friends and co-workers, mechanical engineer Howard Wolowitz and astrophysicist Raj Koothrappali. The geekiness and intellect of the four guys is contrasted for comic effect with Penny's social skills and common sense.

Over time, supporting characters have been promoted to starring roles: Leslie Winkle, a physicist colleague at Caltech and, at different times, a lover of both Leonard and Howard; Bernadette Rostenkowski, Howard's girlfriend (later his wife), a microbiologist and former part-time waitress alongside Penny; neuroscientist Amy Farrah Fowler, who joins the group after being matched to Sheldon on a dating website (and later becomes Sheldon's girlfriend), and Stuart Bloom, the cash-strapped owner of the comic book store the characters often visit.

On January 12, 2011, CBS announced that the series had been renewed for an additional three years, extending it through the 2013–14 season.

Production

The show's initial pilot, developed for the 2006–07 television season, was substantially different from its current form. The only characters from the initial pilot that were kept for the reshot pilot for the series were Leonard and Sheldon (portrayed by Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons, respectively, and named after Sheldon Leonard). The cast was rounded off by two female leads: Canadian actress Amanda Walsh as Katie, "a street-hardened, tough-as-nails, woman with a vulnerable interior" who the boys meet after she breaks up with her boyfriend and invite to live in their apartment (Katie was replaced by Penny, portrayed by Kaley Cuoco, in the second pilot); and Iris Bahr as Gilda, a scientist colleague and friend of the boys who was threatened by Katie's presence. The initial pilot used Thomas Dolby's hit "She Blinded Me with Science" as theme music.

The series was not picked up, but the creators were given an opportunity to retool the show and produce a second pilot. They brought in the remaining cast and retooled the show to its final format. The original unaired pilot has never been officially released, but it has circulated on the Internet. On the evolution of the show, Chuck Lorre said, "We did the 'Big Bang Pilot' about two and a half years ago, and it sucked... but there were two remarkable things that worked perfectly, and that was Johnny and Jim. We rewrote the thing entirely, and then we were blessed with Kaley and Simon and Kunal." As to whether the world will ever see that original pilot, maybe on a future DVD release, Lorre said, "Wow, that would be something, we will see. Show your failures..."

The first and second pilots of The Big Bang Theory were directed by James Burrows, who did not continue with the show. The reworked second pilot led to a 13-episode order by CBS on May 14, 2007. Prior to its airing on CBS, the pilot episode was distributed on iTunes free of charge. The show premiered September 24, 2007, and was picked up for a full 22-episode season on October 19, 2007. However, production was halted on November 6, 2007, due to the Writers Guild of America strike. Nearly 3 months later, on February 4, 2008, the series was temporarily replaced by a short-lived sitcom, Welcome to the Captain. The series returned on March 17, 2008 in an earlier time slot and ultimately only 17 episodes were produced for the first season. After the strike ended, the show was picked up for a second season airing in the 2008–2009 season, premiering in the same time slot on September 22, 2008. With increasing ratings, the show received a two-year renewal through the 2010–11 season in 2009. In 2011, the show was picked up for three more seasons. The show is filmed in front of a live audience, and is produced by Warner Bros. Television and Chuck Lorre Productions.

David Saltzberg, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles, checks scripts and provides dialogue, mathematics equations, and diagrams used as props. According to executive producer/co-creator Bill Prady, "We're working on giving Sheldon an actual problem that he's going to be working on throughout the [first] season so there's actual progress to the boards ... We worked hard to get all the science right."

Several of the actors in The Big Bang Theory previously worked together on Roseanne including Johnny Galecki, Sara Gilbert, and Laurie Metcalf (who plays Sheldon's mother, Mary Cooper). Additionally, Lorre was a writer on the series for several seasons.

Theme song

Single cover for "Big Bang Theory Theme" by Barenaked Ladies (2007)

The Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies wrote and recorded the show's theme song, which describes the history and formation of the universe and the Earth. Ed Robertson, lead singer and guitarist in the band, was asked by Lorre and Prady to write a theme song for the show after the producers attended one of the band's concerts in Los Angeles. By coincidence, Robertson had recently read Simon Singh's book, Big Bang, and at the concert, he improvised a freestyle rap about the origins of the universe.^{[citation needed]} Lorre and Prady phoned Robertson shortly thereafter and asked him to write the theme song. Having been asked to write songs for other films and shows only to have them rejected in favor of other artists' songs, Robertson agreed to write the theme only after learning that Lorre and Prady had not asked anyone else.

On October 9, 2007, a full-length (1 minute and 45 seconds) version of the song was released commercially. Although some sources identify the song title as "History of Everything", the cover art for the single identifies the title as Big Bang Theory Theme. A music video was also released via special features on The Complete Fourth Season DVD and Blu-ray set. The theme was included on the band's greatest hits album, Hits from Yesterday & the Day Before, which was released on September 27, 2011.

Actors' salaries

For the first three seasons, Galecki, Parsons, and Cuoco, the three main stars of the show, received at most $60,000 per episode. The salary for the three went up to $200,000 per episode for the fourth season. According to their contracts, their per-episode pay will go up an additional $50,000 in each of the following three seasons, culminating in $350,000 per episode in the seventh season.

Main cast

Main article: List of The Big Bang Theory characters

Main characters in The Big Bang Theory. First row from left: Raj Koothrappali, Leonard Hofstadter, Penny, Sheldon Cooper and Howard Wolowitz. Second row from left: Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz and Amy Farrah Fowler.

These actors are credited in all episodes of the series:

• Johnny Galecki as Leonard Hofstadter, Ph.D. – An experimental physicist with an IQ of 173. He received his Ph.D. when he was 24 years old. He is originally from New Jersey. The straight man of the series, he shares an apartment with colleague and friend Sheldon Cooper in Pasadena. The writers immediately implied potential romance between him and neighbor Penny, and their tension is frequently explored including occasional dating. In Season 3, Leonard begins an on-again, off-again romantic relationship with Penny, although the two continue to live separately. In Season 5, Leonard and Penny get back together, and begin what they refer to as a "relationship beta test", in which either Leonard or Penny would report a "bug" to the other person, and either one would address it.
• Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper, M.A., Ph.D. – Originally from Galveston, Texas, he was a child prodigy with an eidetic memory who began college at the age of 11 (after completing the fifth grade), started graduate studies at 14, and earned a Ph.D. at 16. A theoretical physicist researching quantum mechanics and string theory, he has two master's degrees, a Ph.D., a Sc.D., and an IQ of 187. He exhibits a strict adherence to routine and a lack of understanding of irony and sarcasm; he is also uninterested in many of the romantic hijinks of his friends. Sheldon shares an apartment with Leonard Hofstadter, across the hall from Penny, and relies on both for advice in social situations. Sheldon is very egotistical, as he often boasts about his 'superior' intelligence, and sometimes underestimates that of his friends. Sheldon relies on his friends (usually Leonard) to drive him around, and he eventually tries to go for his driver's license in season 2, but fails to complete the task, as he finds many practical (even straightforward) aspects of life difficult to deal with. In the fourth season, he begins a relationship with Amy Farrah Fowler, who becomes his girlfriend during the fifth season, even though he is wary of germs and physical contact. He is a somewhat introverted and socially awkward character, except when it comes to getting his own way or belittling the accomplishments of his friends, which often comes across as petty and childlike. He can also be quite spiteful as he has no understanding of tact. When he becomes frustrated, fears he is losing an argument, or has trouble keeping a secret, he suffers from facial twitching which he finds difficult to control. Sheldon also follows an extremely ritualized way of living and has an obsession to see things completed (e.g., sitting in the same spot on the sofa or knocking on a door three times before saying the name of whom he's addressing and repeating this three times, to name a few examples).
• Kaley Cuoco as Penny – From a town outside of Omaha, Nebraska, she is an aspiring actress who lives across the hall from Sheldon and Leonard. Penny has been on casting calls and auditions but has not been very successful thus far. To pay the bills, she is a waitress and occasional bartender at The Cheesecake Factory until the seventh season. She is not a university graduate but has far more common sense and streetwise social awareness than the other main characters. There is, however, a running joke about her being slovenly and untidy. To date, her last name has not been revealed. She dated Leonard at the end of the first season, and during the third, fifth, and sixth seasons. By season four, Bernadette, Amy and Penny have formed their own group, who like to hang out in Penny's apartment or go out together. Cuoco began being credited as Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, starting with the season seven episode, "The Convention Conundrum".
• Simon Helberg as Howard Joel Wolowitz, M.Eng. – He works as an aerospace engineer. He is Jewish and lives with his mother. Unlike Sheldon, Leonard, and Raj, Howard lacks a Ph.D. He defends this by pointing out that he has a master's degree in engineering from the elite MIT and that the apparatus he designs are launched into space, unlike the purely abstract work of his friends, including going to space himself in the Season 5 finale. He exhibits a good line in Jewish humor, which Leonard and Raj seem to occasionally appreciate. Prior to dating and marrying Bernadette, he fancied himself a ladies' man and devised outrageous pick-up lines, with suitably unimpressed reactions from Penny and limited success with other women. He claims to be a polyglot. Furthermore, he speaks six different languages, including French, Russian, Mandarin, Farsi, Arabic and Klingon. He dates and later marries Bernadette Rostenkowski, and eventually moves into an apartment with her in the sixth season. In the fifth season, he trained as an astronaut, and blasted off into space in the season finale to serve as a payload specialist on the International Space Station.
• Kunal Nayyar as Rajesh Ramayan "Raj" Koothrappali, Ph.D. – Originally from New Delhi, India, he works as a particle astrophysicist at Caltech. His family is very wealthy. He communicates with his parents, Dr. and Mrs. V.M. Koothrappali, via webcam. He was very shy around women and was physically unable to talk to them for the first six seasons of the show (except for his mother and his sister), unless he drank alcohol (or at least thought he had been drinking alcohol), or had taken experimental medications provided by the pharmacology department at the university. However, he often had better luck with women than his overly-confident best friend, Howard. In the final episode of season six, Raj overcomes his inability to speak to women, and can now address females without having alcohol in his system. He has very feminine tastes and often takes on a stereotypical female role in his close friendship with Howard, but he insists that he is not gay. During the fourth season, his sister Priya (Aarti Mann) stays with him and she becomes Leonard's girlfriend (much to Raj's annoyance). In the Season 6 episode "The Tangible Affection Proof", Raj meets Lucy (Kate Micucci) in the comic book store and they begin a brief relationship. However, in the episode "The Bon Voyage Reaction", Lucy ended her relationship with Raj as she was too stressed when he wanted her to meet his friends. At the end of the episode, Raj finally spoke to Penny without drinking alcohol, after becoming heartbroken by his break-up with Lucy.

These actors were first credited as guest stars and later promoted to main cast. However, even after promotion, they are only credited in episodes in which they appear:

• Sara Gilbert as Leslie Winkle, Ph.D. (recurring season 1, starring season 2, recurring season 3) – a physicist who works in the same lab as Leonard. In appearance she is essentially Leonard's female counterpart, equipped with the black framed glasses and sweat jackets. She is an enemy of Sheldon's, due to their conflicting scientific theories. Though each considers the other to be intellectually inferior, Leslie is much wittier than Sheldon, regularly calling him "dumbass", and she usually bests him in their repartee. Leslie has had casual sex with Leonard and later Howard; in the case of the former, it reunited Gilbert and Galecki on-screen after the two played the on-screen couple of Darlene Connor and David Healy during the run of Roseanne. Gilbert was promoted to a main cast member during the second season but was demoted back to guest star status because producers could not generate enough content for the character. Gilbert left the series after season 3 concluded to focus her efforts on The Talk, on which she serves as executive producer for CBS.
• Melissa Rauch as Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz, Ph.D. (recurring season 3, starring since season 4) – a young woman who is initially a waitress and co-worker of Penny's, paying her way through graduate school microbiology studies. She defends her doctoral thesis and lands a high-paying research position at the end of season 4. Bernadette is introduced to Howard by Penny. At first they do not get along, apparently having nothing in common. When they find out that they both have overbearing mothers, they feel a connection. During season 3 they date and then break up off-screen, then get back together in season 4. They become engaged near the end of season 4, and marry at the end of season 5.
• Mayim Bialik, Ph.D. as Amy Farrah Fowler, Ph.D. (guest starring season 3, starring since mid-season 4) – a woman Raj and Howard met on an online dating site after secretly setting up an account using Sheldon's name and information. The site matches her to Sheldon, and the two share many similar traits though Amy is more interested in social and romantic interaction and is slightly more socially-aware than Sheldon. Once she and Sheldon meet, she becomes, as Sheldon puts it, a girl who is his friend, but not his "girlfriend". Their relationship slowly progresses through seasons 5 and 6. Amy also believes she and Penny are best friends ("besties", by her own definition), a sentiment that at first Penny respectfully indulges but does not share. Penny eventually becomes a real friend, overlooking Amy's Sheldon-like qualities. Amy's admiration for Penny has at times bordered on physical attraction. Amy Fowler has a Ph.D. in neurobiology, while Bialik herself has a doctorate in neuroscience; in the season 1 episode "The Bat Jar Conjecture", Raj suggests recruiting "The girl who plays TV's Blossom" (Bialik) to their Physics Bowl team.
• Kevin Sussman as Stuart Bloom (recurring seasons 2–5, starring season 6, recurring season 7) – Stuart is a mild-mannered yet under-confident individual who runs the comic book store that the guys frequently visit. He is also a nerd, but he has a talent for drawing, is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and possesses slightly better social skills than the rest of the guys. During Stuart's first appearance, the guys brought Penny along to the store and he managed to ask her on a date. They go on a few dates until Penny mistakenly calls him "Leonard", leaving him devastated. As Stuart runs a comic book store, he has vast knowledge of comic books and superheroes. In the Season 4 episode "The Toast Derivation", he implied he was in financial trouble and that the comic book store is now also his home. At Howard's bachelor party during "The Stag Convergence", Stuart uses his toasting turn to tell Howard how lucky he is and compares it to his own situation of living in the back of his comic book store. In Season 6, he is invited to be part of the guys' group while Howard is in space. Sheldon is not very accepting of this due to Stuart's art degree (which he considers inferior), but relents after Stuart offers him a 30% off discount in the comic book store.

Character	Portrayed by	Seasons
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Leonard Hofstadter	Johnny Galecki	Main
Sheldon Cooper	Jim Parsons	Main
Penny	Kaley Cuoco	Main
Howard Wolowitz	Simon Helberg	Main
Raj Koothrappali	Kunal Nayyar	Main
Leslie Winkle	Sara Gilbert	Recurring	Main	Guest
Bernadette	Melissa Rauch			Recurring	Main
Amy Farrah Fowler	Mayim Bialik			Guest	Main
Stuart Bloom	Kevin Sussman		Recurring				Main	Recurring

Recurring themes and elements

Science

Much of the show focuses on science, particularly physics. The four main male characters are employed at Caltech and have science-related occupations, as do Bernadette and Amy. The characters frequently banter about scientific theories or news (notably around the start of the show), and make science-related jokes.

Science has also interfered with the characters' romantic lives. Leslie broke up with Leonard when he sided with Sheldon in his support for string theory rather than her support for loop quantum gravity. When Leonard joined Sheldon, Raj, and Howard on a three-month Arctic research trip, it separated Leonard and Penny at a time their relationship was budding. When Bernadette took an interest in Leonard's work, it made both Penny and Howard jealous and resulted in Howard confronting Leonard, and Penny asking Sheldon to teach her physics. Sheldon and Amy also briefly ended their relationship after an argument over which of their fields was superior to the other's.

David Saltzberg, who has a Ph.D. in physics, has served as science consultant for the show for six seasons and attends every taping. While Salzberg knows physics, he sometimes needs assistance from Mayim Bialik, who has a Ph.D. in neuroscience. Salzberg sees early versions of scripts which need scientific information added to them, and he also points out where the writers, despite their knowledge of science, have made a mistake. He is usually not needed during a taping unless a lot of science, and especially the whiteboard, is involved.

Sci-fi, fantasy, comic book fandom and gaming

The four main male characters are all avid sci-fi, fantasy, and comic book fans and memorabilia collectors.

Star Trek in particular is frequently referenced and Sheldon identifies strongly with the character of Spock; when he is given a used napkin signed by Leonard Nimoy as a Christmas gift from Penny he is overwhelmed with excitement and gratitude ("I possess the DNA of Leonard Nimoy?!"). Star Trek: The Original Series cast member George Takei has made a cameo, and Leonard Nimoy made a cameo as the voice of Sheldon's vintage Mr. Spock action figure (both cameos were in dream sequences). Star Trek: The Next Generation cast members Brent Spiner and LeVar Burton have had cameos as themselves, while Wil Wheaton has a recurring role as a fictionalized version of himself. All four male characters can speak Klingon to varying degrees—the opening of the episode "The Panty Piñata Polarization" shows them playing "Klingon Boggle". In the ending of the episode "The Launch Acceleration", Amy and Sheldon were seen playing doctor with Amy dressed in a Star Trek medical uniform. In the episode "The Bakersfield Expedition", the four male leads dress up as Star Trek: The Next Generation characters for a Star Trek convention. When they return home, they hear the women discussing comic books. They believe that they have crossed into an alternate reality in which their girlfriends care for such things, and set their phasers to stun and investigate.

In addition to Star Trek, the group are also fans of Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and Doctor Who; numerous quotes from Star Wars are made and references to Battlestar Galactica can be seen in some episodes. In season two, Raj once likens Sheldon to C-3PO, an intelligent, yet semi-annoying protocol droid in the Star Wars series. In episode 5 of season 2, Sheldon wants to return a set of white Star Wars sheets to Pottery Barn as they are too exciting for sleeping in. In the episode "The Ornithophobia Diffusion", the nerds intend to watch Star Wars on Blu-ray, and Howard also exaggerates about George Lucas' controversial alterations to the films: "If we don't start soon, George Lucas is going to change it again.". In 2009, Katee Sackhoff of Battlestar Galactica appeared as herself in "The Vengeance Formulation" as Howard's fantasy dream girl. She appears again in the season 4 episode "The Hot Troll Deviation", in the same role. Leonard likes Babylon 5, but Sheldon refuses to watch it, calling it derivative. Sheldon also expresses a great liking of Joss Whedon's Firefly, as he is shown to be quite upset with the Fox network for cancelling it.

The four males are also fans of fantasy and make references to The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter novels and movies. Howard can speak Sindarin, one of the two Elvish languages from The Lord of the Rings. In one episode, they find a prop of the One Ring and they all fight over who gets to keep it, and what to do with it. Leonard once wore a Frodo Baggins costume and Raj once bought what he thought was a "hand crafted" Harry Potter wand on eBay. Raj, who is a fan of Harry Potter, makes many references to the franchise. Sheldon, in the episode "The Spoiler Alert Segmentation", gives Leonard a spoiler to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that Dumbledore dies. After getting into an argument with Leonard about the spoiler (which causes Leonard to briefly move out), Sheldon intentionally spoils Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to Leonard, in which Dobby The Elf dies. Sheldon can be seen as fond of The Lord of the Rings franchise. He has a Gollum action figure on his desk. Next to football, Sheldon knows a lot about the fantasy sport of Quidditch in Harry Potter. Leonard and Sheldon have a fantasy sword collection.

Wednesday night is the group's designated "comic book night" because that is the day of the week when new comic books are released. The comic book store in question is run by fellow geek and recurring character Stuart. On a number of occasions, the group members have dressed up as pop culture characters, including The Flash, Aquaman, Frodo Baggins, Superman, Batman, Spock, The Doctor, Green Lantern, and Thor. As a consequence of losing a bet to Stuart, the group members are forced to visit the comic book store dressed as Catwoman, Wonder Woman, Batgirl, and Supergirl. Sheldon often wears t-shirts depicting Batman, Superman, Flash, or Green Lantern. DC Comics announced that, to promote its comics, the company will sponsor Sheldon wearing Green Lantern t-shirts.

The characters are also fans of the Indiana Jones series, and were willing to spend several hours in line outside of a theater to watch a special screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark with 21 seconds of new footage.

Various games have been featured, as well as referenced, on the show (e.g. World of Warcraft, Halo, Mario, etc.), including fictional games like Mystic Warlords of Ka'a (which became a reality in 2011) and Rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock.

Leonard and Penny's relationship

One of the recurring plot lines is the relationship between Leonard and Penny. Leonard becomes attracted to Penny within seconds of seeing her in the pilot episode. The first season frequently featured Leonard's attraction to Penny as a basis for humor. Leonard and Penny go on a date that started the final episode of the first season and ended at the start of the second season; however, Penny quickly breaks up with Leonard because she is afraid that her educational attainments are not good enough for Leonard and that he may become bored in the first episode of season 2 ("The Bad Fish Paradigm"). Her excuse for breaking up with Leonard was when he showed her some brochures from a local community college and she took it as a knock against her education level and that she felt that he would only date a girl with a college education.

They both date other people throughout the second season, but clearly still have feelings for each other as when Penny admits this to herself in "The Monopolar Expedition". When Leonard returns from a 3-month expedition to the North Pole in the season 3 premiere, they commence a relationship which lasts for most of the season until Leonard tells Penny that he loves her and she realizes she cannot say it back, and she reluctantly breaks up with him after Wil Wheaton meddles with their relationship in order to beat Sheldon at bowling per "The Wheaton Recurrence".

Again, both Leonard and Penny go on to date other people; most notably with Leonard dating Raj's sister Priya for much of season 4. Penny has shown regret towards her decision to break up with Leonard by admitting to Raj that she misses Leonard in "The Roommate Transmogrification". She also exhibits jealousy towards Priya, especially after Priya demands Leonard stay away from her as in "The Prestidigitation Approximation". After dating Leonard, Penny also has negative reactions to her male dates who are not very intelligent after dating Zack in "The Lunar Excitation" (season 3).

Eventually, as the episodes rolled on, Leonard became more and more interested in Priya. However she seemed to become less and less interested in Leonard as they went on dating. Later in the fourth season, in "The Roommate Transmogrification" episode, Leonard is at Raj's apartment, making out with Priya, when her parents call from India, and she has Leonard leave the room as she answers the call. Unknowing of Leonard's presence or his secret relationship with Priya, her parents state that they will be so happy when Priya moves back to India. Leonard comes in, shouting out that he is shocked she is moving back to India, and assumes it means he and Priya are breaking up. Leonard goes home to his apartment, where Raj has been sleeping because of Leonard staying at Raj's apartment. Penny and Raj, while enjoying a friendly evening, got drunk and ended up in bed. Leonard assumes the worst when they emerge from his room, although Penny assures the group "It's not what it looks like." In the premiere of season 5 ("The Skank Reflex Analysis"), Penny learns from Raj that they did not have sex, but agrees not to tell anybody. Leonard forgives both Raj and Penny, and never learns the truth about what really happened.

In season five in "The Infestation Hypothesis", Leonard resumes his relationship with Priya online. It seems to work for Leonard, but he is conflicted when he meets Alice, a girl who is really into him, at the comic book store. Leonard decides he must be faithful to Priya, ending things with Alice. Leonard confesses to Priya about going out with Alice, only to discover that Priya has slept with an ex-boyfriend, and they break up in "The Good Guy Fluctuation".

Penny is still single and dating, though when drunk has confessed that she regrets breaking up with Leonard, as in "The Roommate Transmogrification". In "The Ornithophobia Diffusion" (season 5), Leonard and Penny go to the movies as friends. Leonard decides that since they are no longer dating he can be honest and does not have to pay for everything or do whatever Penny wants to make Penny like him and have sex with him. The two bicker all evening and sabotage each other's attempts to chat up people in the bar. Penny decides that she likes the new, more assertive Leonard. Leonard sees this as another opportunity to grovel and try to get Penny to sleep with him, so she leaves.

On the spur of the moment in "The Recombination Hypothesis", Leonard asks Penny out on a date after he imagined what getting back with her might be like. Their real date ends successfully, and they agree to try to renew their relationship slowly in "The Beta Test Initiation". They share a kiss. During her renewed relationship with Leonard she has dismissed comments about him ever leaving or dumping her or about worrying about his unfaithfulness around other women and strippers as in the episode "The Stag Convergence". After Penny suggested having sex in "The Launch Acceleration", Leonard breaks the mood by proposing to her. They later meet and Penny has the courage to tell him "no" and not break up with him as she did two years previously when he told her that he loved her in "The Wheaton Recurrence".

In the sixth season episode, "The 43 Peculiarity", Penny finally tells Leonard that she loves him. When Sheldon's assistant Alex Jensen asks Leonard out to dinner, the dynamics of their relationship is reversed with Leonard feeling good at the extra female attention and Penny insecure about their relationship. In "The Egg Salad Equivalency', when Leonard is the object of attention of both Alex and Penny, and Leonard confesses that Alex's interest makes him feel giddy, Penny feels insecure about the relationship. To deal with her insecurities, she buys a pair of "smart" glasses to look the part. Leonard finds her both smart and hot, then immediately pulls her into his bedroom. In "The Tangible Affection Proof", it is Valentine's Day, and in the middle of their dinner, Penny sees an ex-boyfriend proposing to the woman who stole him from her. Leonard then tries to propose again, but Penny stops him cold. They make up in the end, but Leonard tells Penny that if she ever wants to get married, then she should be the one to propose. Penny does ask him to be her valentine. By the season finale, "The Bon Voyage Reaction", she is secure enough in their relationship to send him off on an exciting four month expedition, missing him, but not worrying about the two of them.

Sheldon and Amy's relationship

A storyline that began in the third season finale is the relationship of Sheldon and Amy Farrah Fowler, Ph.D., a neurobiologist. Raj and Howard found her as a possible match for Sheldon through an internet dating service (without Sheldon's knowledge) in "The Lunar Excitation". By Sheldon's own admission, she is most like him by any standard to his mother in "The Zazzy Substitution". Like him, she has previously avoided relationships (whether romantic or otherwise is unclear), and only participated in the online dating herself to fulfill an agreement with her mother that she date at least once a year (in exchange, her mother does not discuss Amy's lack of a love life, plus she gains use of her mother's George Foreman Grill) as told to Penny on her date with Sheldon during "The Robotic Manipulation".

During the four months of their relationship (taking place off-screen between seasons 3 and 4), they communicated on a daily basis via text messages, email and Twitter, but never saw each other in person per "The Robotic Manipulation". Sheldon, however, did not consider Amy his girlfriend. Penny later suggests that they should go on a date and ends up driving them and having dinner with them in "The Robotic Manipulation". Penny refers to Sheldon and Amy collectively as "Shamy" in "The Shiny Trinket Maneuver", but discontinues this after Amy indicates that she dislikes that nickname.

In "The Agreement Dissection", Amy, Penny, and Bernadette decide to take Sheldon dancing. Sheldon dances only with Amy, which he does not mind. He later follows Amy back to her apartment. They talk for a few minutes before she kisses him on the lips. Instead of getting annoyed, Sheldon just says "Fascinating." This is a catalyst for later events^{[citation needed]} and clash of personalities in the relationship of the more scientific, masculine Sheldon, and the more socially open, feminine, and annoyed Amy.

In "The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition", after Amy agrees to go on a date with Stuart, Sheldon asks Amy to be his girlfriend, interrupting her date with Stuart, with the stipulation that no other changes occur in their current relationship. Amy says yes, and Sheldon then lets her and Stuart continue their date. The same night and episode, he draws up "The Relationship Agreement" to verify the ground rules of him as her boyfriend and her as his girlfriend (similar to his "Roommate Agreement" with Leonard). Amy agrees but later regrets not having a lawyer read through it.

After Penny and Bernadette go wedding shopping without Amy in "The Isolation Permutation", Sheldon comforts a depressed Amy by cuddling with her on her couch; however, Amy first suggests that they have coitus.

In the episode "The Launch Acceleration", Amy says she would like to do an experiment using her neurobiology bag of tricks to increase Sheldon’s feelings toward her. Sheldon is skeptical, but goes with it. Amy says she would like to put on some romantic dinner music, and ends up putting on the Super Mario Bros. theme song. Sheldon catches on, and calls Amy out on the fact that she is trying to engage his feelings of the happiest times of his life as he starts to hum along. This is further reinforced when she offers Sheldon his favorite drink, Strawberry Quik. She also prepared "spaghetti with little pieces of hot dog cut up" for dinner, which is Sheldon's favorite since his mother used to make it for him. Sheldon is thrilled, and says they should do this more often – instantly realizing he’s been caught in Amy's "trap" as Amy stands next to him with a big smile. At the end of the episode, they were playing doctor "Star Trek style" (Amy dressed in Star Trek attire). Amy’s actions seem to work on Sheldon, who is not happy about it but makes no attempt to stop her. In the final fifth season episode "The Countdown Reflection", Sheldon takes Amy's hand as Howard is launched into space. Amy glances over at him looking quite surprised.

In the sixth season premiere episode "The Date Night Variable", after a dinner in which Sheldon fails to live up to this expectation, Amy gives Sheldon an ultimatum that their relationship is over unless he tells her something from his heart. Sheldon gives a romantic speech about his new and conflicting emotions, only to reveal that he quoted the first Spider-Man movie. Despite this, Amy accepts it. In "The Fish Guts Displacement", Sheldon takes care of a sick Amy. Sheldon rubs VapoRub on her chest, unknowingly stimulating Amy sexually. The next day, Sheldon is angry because her throat culture showed that she was no longer sick, and that Amy was pretending to be sick after initially feeling better. Amy apologizes, but Sheldon thinks that she needs to be punished (which Sheldon thinks in terms of corporal punishment, but Amy thinks in terms of erotic spanking). The episode ends with Sheldon placing Amy across his knees for a spanking, which Amy also enjoys to some mood music.

In "The Cooper/Kripke Inversion", Penny asks Sheldon whether he would ever consider a sexual relationship with Amy. Sheldon states that he has been working on his haphephobia, and admits "it's a possibility" that he could one day get physical with Amy. In "The Tangible Affection Proof", it is Valentine's Day, and Sheldon keeps a gift that he was supposed to give Amy, but Amy gives Sheldon the perfect Valentine's Day by staying in his apartment and doing exactly what he wants to do: watch a favorite movie and have pizza. Sheldon makes Amy his emergency point of contact, which sends her to tears as she is now responsible for his well-being. In "The Love Spell Potential", the girls participate in a game of Dungeons & Dragons along with the boys. Penny says that Sheldon and Amy's game characters should "do it" in the game, believing that Sheldon and Amy would not get physical anytime soon. Bernadette then casts a love spell on both of them. Amy gets upset and leaves and Sheldon is sent to look after her. Amy tells him that their friends think that their relationship is a joke and asks him if they are ever going to get intimate. Sheldon does not think that they are a joke, explaining that he never thought about intimacy with anyone before Amy, and says he would not rule it out. Sheldon then plays out the love potion scenario with Amy, much to her delight.

Religion

Religion plays a minor role in the series. Sheldon was raised in a fundamentalist Christian household. He refers to his childhood as "hell" during his date in "The Robotic Manipulation", and a recurrent theme is his conflict with his devout mother, Mary, who is a creationist, and whose beliefs often clash with Sheldon's knowledge and understanding of evolution. In "The Lunar Excitation", Sheldon mentions his promise to his mother to attend church once a year. Further evidence of Sheldon's agnostic atheism is seen when he is heard exclaiming "Why hast thou forsaken me, o deity whose existence I doubt?" upon the discovery that his World of Warcraft account has been hacked. Another example is, according to Raj, his begging the deity in which he did not believe to kill him quickly upon getting food poisoning at the Rose Bowl. Despite this, his religious upbringing leads to moments of religious interjection when his emotions are high – on one occasion, he happily exclaims "Thank you, Jesus!" when he scores a strike in bowling, quickly adding "As my mother would say." In addition, he frequently says the word "Lord" when he is upset.

At the same time, a running gag in the series is the fact that Howard, who is Jewish and Raj, who is Hindu, frequently defy many of their respective religious customs without worry, such as their constant flouting of dietary prohibitions. They both also tend to give each other grief about them. In the episode "The Financial Permeability", Raj quotes from the book of Leviticus after Howard eats pork, and Howard counters with the fact that he keeps quiet when Raj eats a Whopper. Nevertheless, they are seen to be semi-observant. Raj, for example, occasionally mentions reincarnation and explains his belief in karma, stating that he believes it to be "practically Newtonian – for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." Howard celebrates at least some Jewish holidays, once refused to pray in a Christian church so he does not "burst into flames" and also wore tattoo sleeves instead of getting real tattoos so he "still can be buried in a Jewish cemetery".

Another frequent theme is Penny's confidence in beliefs that frequently conflict with Leonard and Sheldon's scientific beliefs and knowledge, such as ghosts, astrology, psychics and voodoo. This is first seen in her very first appearance, when she makes reference to her being a Sagittarius, to which Sheldon criticises her belief in astrology, but is most frequently seen in an episode in which she and Leonard had a falling out over the validity of psychics.

Howard's mother

In scenes set at Howard's home in which he interacts with his never-seen mother (voiced by Carol Ann Susi), he always does so via shouting conversations between the rooms in his house, and she similarly interacts with other characters in this manner, though she did appear momentarily in the overhead photo of Howard and Bernadette's wedding and from the side in "The Spoiler Alert Segmentation" episode, though her face was not shown. She reflects the Jewish mother stereotype in some ways, such as being overly controlling of Howard's adult life and sometimes trying to make him feel guilty about causing her trouble. She is dependent on Howard, as she requires him to help her with her wig and makeup in the morning. Howard in turn is attached to his mother to the point where she still cuts his meat for him, takes him to the dentist, does his laundry and "grounds" him when he returns home after briefly moving out. Until Howard's marriage to Bernadette in the fifth season finale, Howard's former living situation led Leonard's psychiatrist mother to speculate that he may suffer from some type of pathology, and Sheldon to refer to their relationship as Oedipal. Her tendency to communicate with Howard by shouting between rooms has led Bernadette and Raj to do impressions of her, and Bernadette to attempt to communicate with her in one episode by imitating her style of shouting.

Vanity card

Like most shows created by Chuck Lorre, The Big Bang Theory ends by showing a vanity card written by Lorre after the credits, followed by the Warner Bros. Television closing logo. These cards are archived on Lorre's website.

Reception

Critical reception

Season 1 of The Big Bang Theory received a score of 57/100 from review aggregator Metacritic, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Tom Shales of The Washington Post gave the show a positive review, saying "Big Bang is the funniest new sitcom of the season". Robert Bianco of USA Today also gave the show a positive review, saying "This may not be the sitcom breakthrough for which we've all been hoping, but Lorre has produced a first episode that leaves you eager to try the second". Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times gave a mixed review, stating "It's just the same joke endlessly repeated – the everyday translated into geek-speak, and the obscure and difficult treated as if it were common knowledge". Mike Duffy of the Detroit Free Press gave a negative review, stating "This is by far the least charming—the lame, leering sitcom tales of two brainiac losers goofily smitten by the babelicious girl next door. It's about as witty as a pocket protector".

James Chamberlin of IGN gave season 2 an 8.4 out of 10 score, saying, "This may be a show about nerds, but you don't have to be a brainiac to enjoy it." Amanda Sloane Murray, writing for the same website, gave season three nine out of 10, describing it as "more intelligent than most sitcoms in recent memory". The American Film Institute ranked season three one of the 10 best television seasons of 2009.

Leigh H. Edwards of PopMatters gave season 4 and 8/10, commenting "The comic commentary may be poking gentle fun at nerds, but the real target of the show’s sharp satire is the arbitrary, self-serving stupidity of mainstream culture".

Tom Gliatto of People remarked of season 5, "It's bright and obvious as a cartoon yet written with a clean, precise patter of jokes. It's also very well cast".

Kate Ward of Entertainment Weekly gave season 6 a 91/100, remarking "Bialik manages to steal scenes from Parsons as if she's been with the crew since, well, the big bang". Robert Bianco continued to give a positive review, noting "When it comes to making viewers catch their breath from laughing, no show tops Big Bang, and that's an ability that should never be undervalued in a comedy. Bang is one of those rare series where just thinking about some of the plots is enough to make you laugh all over again".

U.S. standard ratings

The Big Bang Theory has been highly rated since its premiere. When the third season premiered on September 21, 2009, The Big Bang Theory ranked as CBS's highest-rated show of that evening in the adults 18–49 demographic (4.6/10) along with a then-series-high 12.83 million viewers. After the first three seasons aired at different times on Monday nights, CBS moved the show to Thursdays at 8:00 ET for the 2010–2011 schedule, to be in direct competition with NBC's Comedy Block. During its fourth season, it became television's highest rated comedy, just barely beating out eight-year champ Two and a Half Men. However, in the age 18–49 demographic (the show's target age range), it was the second highest rated comedy, behind ABC's Modern Family. The fifth season opened with viewing figures of over 14 million.

The sixth season boasts some of the highest-rated episodes for the show so far, with a then-new series high set with "The Bakersfield Expedition" (Season 6, Episode 13), with 20 million viewers, a first for the series, which along with NCIS, made CBS the first network to have two scripted series reach that large an audience in the same week since 2007. In the sixth season, the show became the highest rated and viewed scripted show in the 18–49 demographic, trailing only NBC's Sunday Night Football coverage, and was third in total viewers, trailing NCIS and Sunday Night Football. Season seven of the show opened strong, continuing the success gained in season six, with the second episode of the premiere, "The Deception Verification", setting the new series high in viewers with 20.44 million.

Showrunner Steve Molaro, who took over from Bill Prady with the sixth season, credits some of the show's success to the sitcom's exposure in off-network syndication, particularly on TBS, while Michael Schneider of TV Guide attributes it to the timeslot move two seasons earlier. Chuck Lorre and CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler also credit the success to the influence of Molaro, in particular the deepening exploration of the firmly established regular characters and their interpersonal relationships, such as the on-again, off-again relationship between Leonard and Penny. Throughout much of the 2012–13 season, The Big Bang Theory placed first in all of syndication ratings, receiving formidable competition from only Judge Judy and Wheel of Fortune (first-run syndication programs). By the end of the 2012–13 television season, The Big Bang Theory had dethroned Judge Judy as the ratings leader in all of syndicated programming with 7.1, Judy descending to second place for that season with a 7.0.

Season	Timeslot (ET)	Season premiere	Season finale	TV season	No. of episodes	Rank	Avg. viewers (in millions)	Most watched episode	Viewers (millions)
1	Monday 8:30 P.M. (September 24 – November 12, 2007) Monday 8:00 P.M. (March 17 – May 19, 2008)	September 24, 2007	May 19, 2008	2007–08	17	68	8.31	"The Dumpling Paradox"	9.68
2	Monday 8:00 P.M. (September 22, 2008 – May 11, 2009) Monday 9:30 P.M. (February 9, 2009)	September 22, 2008	May 11, 2009	2008–09	23	44	10.00	"The Maternal Capacitance"	13.11
3	Monday 9:30 P.M. (September 21, 2009 – May 24, 2010) Monday 9:00 P.M. (May 3, 2010)	September 21, 2009	May 24, 2010	2009–10	23	12	14.14	"The Precious Fragmentation"	16.32
4	Thursday 8:00 pm	September 23, 2010	May 19, 2011	2010–11	24	15	13.14	"The Robotic Manipulation"	14.04
5		September 22, 2011	May 10, 2012	2011–12	24	8	15.82	"The Friendship Contraction"	16.54
6		September 27, 2012	May 16, 2013	2012–13	24	3	18.68	"The Bakersfield Expedition"	20.00
7		September 26, 2013	TBD	2013–14	24	N/A	N/A	"The Deception Verification"	20.44

UK distribution and ratings

The show made its UK debut on Channel 4 on February 14, 2008 bringing in an average audience of 1.0 million viewers. The second episode, shown the following week, also received 1.0 million. For the third episode an average of 1.1 million tuned in. The show is also shown as a 'first-look' on Channel 4's digital offshoot E4, and brings in 400,000 viewers on average. The fifth episode received 880,000 viewers. After the first five episodes, the average number of viewers continues to hover around the 1 million mark. Episode 13 was watched by 1.3 million viewers and was the most watched episode.

In December 2008, Virgin Media made the first nine episodes of the first season available to watch on its TV Choice On Demand service, and the rest of Season 1 was made available in January 2009.

As of December 5, 2009, all 23 episodes of Season 2 were also made available on Virgin Media TV Choice On Demand Service, but both seasons have now been removed.

Season 3 began airing on E4 and E4 HD on December 17, 2009 at 9:00 p.m. but was on hiatus between February 25, 2010 until May 6, 2010 when the final 11 episodes of the season aired.

Season 4 began airing on E4 on November 4, 2010 at 9:00 p.m. It drew 877,000 viewers, with a further 256,000 watching on the E4+1 hour service. This gave the show an overall total of 1.13 million viewers, making it E4's most watched program for that week. E4 broke season four after 12 episodes in January 2011. Season four returned on E4 from June 30, 2011 for the remaining episodes.

Season 5 began airing in 2012 at 8:00 p.m. as part of E4 Comedy Thursdays, as a lead-in to Perfect Couples. Episode 19, the highest-viewed episode of the season, attracted 1.4 million viewers.

Season 6 premiered on E4 on November 15, 2012 with 1.89 million viewers and a further 469,000 on the time shift channel, bringing the total to 2.31 Million – E4's highest viewing ratings of 2012, and the highest the channel has received since June 2011.

Canadian ratings

The Big Bang Theory started off quietly in Canada, but managed to garner major success later on in further seasons. The Big Bang Theory is telecast throughout Canada via the CTV Television Network in simultaneous substitution with cross-border CBS affiliates. Now immensely popular in Canada, The Big Bang Theory is also rerun daily on the Canadian cable channel The Comedy Network.

The season 4 premiere garnered an estimated 3.1 million viewers across Canada. This is the largest audience for a sitcom since the series finale of Friends. The Big Bang Theory has pulled ahead and has now become the most-watched entertainment television show in Canada.

Episodes

Main article: List of The Big Bang Theory episodes

Seasons		Episodes	Originally aired		DVD release date			Nielsen ratings
			Season premiere	Season finale	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4	U.S. viewers (millions)	Rank	18–49 rating/share (rank)
	1	17	September 24, 2007 (2007-09-24)	May 19, 2008 (2008-05-19)	September 2, 2008	January 12, 2009	April 3, 2009	8.31	68	3.3/9 (TBA)[citation needed]
	2	23	September 22, 2008 (2008-09-22)	May 11, 2009 (2009-05-11)	September 15, 2009	October 19, 2009	March 3, 2010	10.00	44	3.8/10 (TBA)[citation needed]
	3	23	September 21, 2009 (2009-09-21)	May 24, 2010 (2010-05-24)	September 14, 2010	September 27, 2010	October 13, 2010	14.12	12	5.3/13 (5)
	4	24	September 23, 2010 (2010-09-23)	May 19, 2011 (2011-05-19)	September 13, 2011	September 26, 2011	October 5, 2011	13.14	13	4.4/13 (7)
	5	24	September 22, 2011 (2011-09-22)	May 10, 2012 (2012-05-10)	September 11, 2012	September 3, 2012	October 3, 2012	15.82	8	5.5/16 (5)[citation needed]
	6	24	September 27, 2012 (2012-09-27)	May 16, 2013 (2013-05-16)	September 10, 2013	September 2, 2013	September 18, 2013	18.68	3	6.2/19 (2)
	7	24	September 26, 2013 (2013-09-26)	TBA	TBA	September 1, 2014 (2014-09-01)	TBA	TBD	TBD	TBD

Broadcast

The Big Bang Theory premiered in the United States on September 24, 2007 on CBS. The series debuted in Canada on CTV in September 2007. The Canadian network Vrak.TV began airing a version of the series dubbed in French on August 28, 2012. On March 12, 2008, Nine Network in Australia debuted the series. Broadcast of Big Bang Theory on Irish networks 3e and RTÉ Two began September 9, 2008. On February 14, 2008, the series debuted in the United Kingdom on channels E4 (HD) and Channel 4. New Zealand network TV2 started broadcasting the series September 17, 2008.

DVD/Blu-ray releases

DVD and Blu-ray release dates for The Big Bang Theory

Name	Release dates			Ep #	Additional Information
	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
The Complete First Season	September 2, 2008	January 12, 2009	April 3, 2009	17	The three-disc box set includes all 17 episodes. The one extra feature is an 18-minute short entitled "Quantum Mechanics of The Big Bang Theory: Series Cast and Creators on Why It's Cool to Be a Geek". Running Time: 355 minutes.
The Complete Second Season	September 15, 2009	October 19, 2009	March 3, 2010	23	The four-disc box set includes all 23 episodes. Special features include a gag reel, "Physicist to the Stars: Real-Life Physicist/UCLA professor David Saltzberg's consulting relationship to the Show", and "Testing the Infinite Hilarity Hypothesis in relation to the Big Bang Theory: Season 2's Unique Characters and Characteristics". Running Time: 481 minutes.
The Complete Third Season	September 14, 2010	September 27, 2010	October 13, 2010	23	The three-disc box set includes all 23 episodes. Special features include a set tour with Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar, an inside look on the third season and a gag reel. This is the first time a season of the show was released on Blu-ray Disc in a two-disc set, in conjunction with the DVD release. Running Time: 472 minutes.
The Complete Fourth Season	September 13, 2011	September 26, 2011	October 5, 2011	24	The three-disc box set includes all 24 episodes. Special features include the story behind the show's theme song with Barenaked Ladies, along with the music video for the theme song, cast interviews with each other, and a gag reel. Running time: 529 minutes. Also available on Blu-ray as a two-disc set, with an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the taping of "The Wildebeest Implementation".
The Complete Fifth Season	September 11, 2012	September 3, 2012	October 1, 2012	24	The three-disc box set includes all 24 episodes. Special features include "The Big Bang Theory at 100", a featurette on the show's 100th episode, "The Big Bang Theory's Laws of Reflection", "Professors of Production", and a gag reel. Running time: 552 minutes. Also available on Blu-ray/DVD combo pack with UltraViolet download.
The Complete Sixth Season	September 10, 2013	September 2, 2013	September 18, 2013	24	The three-disc box set contains all 24 episodes. Special features include "The Big Bang Theory: The Final Comedy Frontier", where astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Mike Massimino join the cast to analyze Howard's space mission, "Houston, We Have a Sitcom", "Electromagnetism: The Best Relationship Moments in Season 6", "The Big Bang Theory at Paleyfest 2013", and a gag reel. Running time: 477 minutes. Also available on Blu-ray/DVD combo pack with UltraViolet download.

• Despite the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth seasons receiving Blu-ray releases in conjunction with their DVD releases, the first and second seasons were only available on DVD upon their time of release. Warner Bros. has since released the first two seasons on Blu-ray/DVD combo packs with UltraViolet downloads on July 10, 2012. All of the episodes from seasons 1 & 2 on Blu-ray received newly remastered surround-sound audio, with the first season sporting a never-before-seen gag reel, which was not included during the initial first season DVD release.

Scientist cameos

See also: List of The Big Bang Theory characters#Notable guest stars appearing as themselves

As the theme of the show revolves around science, many distinguished and high profile scientists have appeared as guest stars on the show. Famous astrophysicist and Nobel laureate George Smoot had a cameo appearance in episode 17 "The Terminator Decoupling", of the second season. Theoretical physicist Brian Greene also appeared on the show in "The Herb Garden Germination", episode 20 of the fourth season. Astrophysicist and science populizer Neil deGrasse Tyson appeared in "The Apology Insufficiency", episode 7 of the fourth season. Cosmologist Stephen Hawking made a short guest appearance in the fifth-season episode "The Hawking Excitation" on April 5, 2012. In the episode he meets Sheldon Cooper and points out a mistake in Sheldon's new Higgs boson analysis. Hawking also speaks on the phone at the end of the episode "The Extract Obliteration" with Sheldon, but is not seen on-camera. In the end of season 5 and the beginning of season 6 NASA astronaut Michael J. Massimino was featured as himself multiple times in the role of Howard's fellow astronaut.

Online media

Warner Bros. Television controls the online rights for the show. Full episodes are available at tv.com, while short clips and recently aired full episodes are available on cbs.com. In Canada, recent episode(s) and pictures are available on CTV.ca. After the show has aired in New Zealand the shows are available in full online at TVNZ's on demand web service.

Syndication

In May 2010, it was reported that the show had been picked up for syndication, mainly among Fox's owned and operated stations and other local stations, with Warner Bros. Television's sister cable network TBS holding the show's cable syndication rights. Broadcast of old shows began airing in September 2011. TBS now airs the series in primetime on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, with evening broadcasts on Saturdays (TBS's local sister station in Atlanta also holds local weeknight rights to the series). Although details of the syndication deal have not been revealed, it was reported the deal "set a record price for a cable off-network sitcom purchase". CTV holds national broadcast syndication rights in Canada, while sister cable network The Comedy Network holds cable rights.

Awards and nominations

In August 2009, the sitcom won the best comedy series TCA award and Jim Parsons (Sheldon) won the award for individual achievement in comedy. In 2010, the show won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Comedy, while Parsons won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. On January 16, 2011, Parsons was awarded a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical, an award that was presented by co-star Kaley Cuoco. On September 18, 2011, Parsons was again awarded an Emmy for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. On January 9, 2013, the show won People's Choice Award for Favorite Comedy for a second time.

Awards and nominations for The Big Bang Theory

Year	Award show	Category	Result	Recipient(s)
2008	1st EWwy Awards	Best Actor in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Jim Parsons
		Best Actress in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Kaley Cuoco
		Best Comedy Series	Nominated	Cast and Crew
2009	61st Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Jim Parsons
		Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Christine Baranski
		Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera Series	Nominated	Crew
	25th TCA Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Comedy	Won	Cast and Crew
		Individual Achievement in Comedy	Won	Jim Parsons
	Satellite Awards 2009	Best Television Comedy or Musical Series	Nominated	Cast and Crew
		Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical Series	Nominated	Jim Parsons
	American Film Institute	The Best 10 Television Programs of the Year	Won	Cast and Crew
	2nd EWwy Awards	Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	Won	Kaley Cuoco
		Best Comedy Series	Nominated	Cast and Crew
2010	36th People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Comedy	Won
		Favorite TV Comedy Actor	Nominated	Jim Parsons
	26th TCA Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Comedy	Nominated	Cast and Crew
		Individual Achievement in Comedy	Nominated	Jim Parsons
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Comedy	Nominated
		Choice TV Actor: Comedy	Nominated	Jim Parsons
		Choice TV Actress: Comedy	Nominated	Kaley Cuoco
		Choice Scene Stealer: Male	Nominated	Johnny Galecki
		Choice Scene Stealer: Male	Nominated	Simon Helberg
	62nd Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera Series	Nominated	Cast and Crew
		Outstanding Makeup for a Multi-Camera Series or Special (Non-Prosthetic)	Nominated	Cast and Crew
		Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Won	Jim Parsons
		Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Christine Baranski
		Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Series	Nominated	Cast and Crew
	3rd EWwy Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Kunal Nayyar
		Best Comedy Series	Won	Cast and Crew
2011	68th Golden Globe Awards	Best Series – Musical or Comedy	Nominated
		Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy	Won	Jim Parsons
	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Comedy	Nominated
		Favorite TV Comedy Actor	Nominated	Jim Parsons
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV: Comedy	Nominated
		Choice TV: Actor Comedy	Nominated	Jim Parsons
		Choice TV: Actress Comedy	Nominated	Kaley Cuoco
	63rd Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Johnny Galecki
		Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Won	Jim Parsons
		Outstanding Comedy Series	Nominated
	1st Critics' Choice Awards	Best Comedy Series	Nominated
		Best Actor	Won	Jim Parsons
2012	69th Golden Globe Awards	Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy	Nominated	Johnny Galecki
	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Comedy	Nominated
		Favorite TV Comedy Actor	Nominated	Jim Parsons
		Favorite TV Comedy Actress	Nominated	Kaley Cuoco
	18th Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Cast
	Kerrang! Awards	Best TV Show	Nominated
	CBS Fan Awards	Best Meltdown Moment	Won	"The Recombination Hypothesis"
		Best Catchphrase	Won	"Bazinga"
		Favorite ROTFL Moment	Won	"The Transporter Malfunction"
		Best Dramatic Pause	Won	"The Friendship Contraction"
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV: Comedy	Nominated
	28th TCA Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Comedy	Nominated
		Individual Achievement in Comedy	Nominated	Jim Parsons
	64th Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Comedy Series	Nominated
		Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Jim Parsons
		Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Mayim Bialik
		Multi Camera Picture Editing in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Peter Chakos
		Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control	Nominated	Cast and Crew
	Satellite Awards 2012	Best TV Comedy	Won
		Best Actor in a Comedy Series	Won	Johnny Galecki
		Best Actor in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Jim Parsons
		Best Actress in a Comedy Series	Won	Kaley Cuoco
		Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Mayim Bialik
	2nd Critics' Choice Awards	Best Comedy Series	Nominated
		Best Actor	Nominated	Jim Parsons
2013	39th People's Choice Awards	Favorite Network TV Comedy	Won
		Favorite TV Comedy Actor	Nominated	Jim Parsons
		Favorite TV Comedy Actress	Nominated	Kaley Cuoco
	19th Screen Actors Guild Awards	Male Actor in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Jim Parsons
		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Cast
	70th Golden Globe Awards	Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy	Nominated	Jim Parsons
		Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Television Series Musical or Comedy	Nominated	Cast
	65th Annual Directors Guild of America Award	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series	Nominated	Mark Cendrowski "The Date Night Variable"
	18th National Television Awards	Situation Comedy	Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV: Comedy	Nominated
		Choice TV: Actor Comedy	Won	Jim Parsons
		Choice TV: Actress Comedy	Nominated	Kaley Cuoco
	3rd Critics' Choice Awards	Best Comedy Series	Won
		Best Actor In A Comedy Series	Nominated	Jim Parsons
		Best Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series	Won	Simon Helberg
		Best Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series	Won	Kaley Cuoco
		Best Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series	Nominated	Melissa Rauch
		Best Guest Performer In A Comedy Series	Nominated	Bob Newhart
	29th TCA Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Comedy	Won
	CBS Fan Awards	Best Tell it Like It Is	Nominated	"The Tenure Turbulence"
		Best Butt-Kicking Moment	Nominated	"The Re-Entry Minimization"
		Best Chemistry	Nominated	"The Holographic Excitation"
	65th Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Comedy Series	Nominated
		Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series	Won	Jim Parsons
		Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series	Nominated	Mayim Bialik
		Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series	Won	Bob Newhart
		Outstanding Art Direction For A Multi-Camera Series	Nominated	Crew for: "The Date Night Variable" "The Bakersfield Expedition" "The Love Spell Potential"
		Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing For A Comedy Series	Nominated	Peter Chakos "The Love Spell Potential"
		Outstanding Hairstyling For A Multi-Camera Series Or Special	Nominated	Crew for: "The Bakersfield Expedition"
		Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control For A Series	Won	Crew for: "The Higgs Boson Observation"
	Kids' Choice Awards Brazil	Favorite Character	Nominated	Sheldon Cooper
2014	40th People's Choice Awards	Favorite Network TV Comedy	Won
		Favorite TV Comedy Actor	Nominated	Jim Parsons
		Favorite TV Comedy Actress	Won	Kaley Cuoco
	71st Golden Globe Awards	Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Television Series Musical or Comedy	Nominated	Cast
		Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy	Nominated	Jim Parsons
	20th Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Cast
		Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Jim Parsons
		Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series	Nominated	Mayim Bialik
	National Television Awards	Best Comedy	Nominated

The Theorists controversy

Through the use of his vanity cards at the end of episodes, Lorre alleged that the program had been plagiarized by a show produced and aired in Belarus. Officially titled Теоретики (The Theorists), the show features "clones" of the main characters, a similar opening sequence, and what appears to be a very close Russian translation of the scripts. Lorre expressed annoyance and described his inquiry with the Warner Brothers legal department about options. The television production company and station's close relationship with the Belarus government was cited as the reason that any attempt to claim copyright infringement would be in vain because the company copying the episodes is operated by the government.

However, no legal action was required to end production of the other show: as soon as the word got out that the show was unlicensed, the actors quit and the producers cancelled it. Dmitriy Tankovich (who plays Leonard's counterpart, "Seva") said in an interview: "I'm upset. At first, the actors were told all legal issues were resolved. We didn't know it wasn't the case, so when the creators of The Big Bang Theory started talking about the show, I was embarrassed. I can't understand why our people first do, and then think. I consider this to be the rock bottom of my career. And I don't want to take part in a stolen show".

See also

• Television portal

External links

• Media related to The Big Bang Theory at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Vanity Cards Archive for The Big Bang Theory
• The Big Bang Theory at the Internet Movie Database