The Big Bang Theory
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This article is about the sitcom. For the cosmological model, see Big Bang. For other uses, see Big Bang Theory (disambiguation).
| 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 |
| Theme music composer | Barenaked Ladies |
| Opening theme | "Big Bang Theory Theme"[1][2] |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 99 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Chuck Lorre Bill Prady Steven Molaro |
| Producer(s) | Faye Oshima Belyeu |
| Editor(s) | Peter Chakos |
| Location(s) | Studio 25, Warner Brothers Studios Burbank, California |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 19-22 minutes (without commercials) |
| Production company(s) | Chuck Lorre Productions Warner Bros. Television |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) |
| Audio format | Dolby Digital 5.1 |
| Original run | September 24, 2007 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Set in Pasadena, California, the show is centered on five characters: experimental physicist Leonard Hofstadter and theoretical physicist Sheldon Cooper, two roommate geniuses who work at the California Institute of Technology; Penny, a blonde waitress and aspiring actress who lives across the hall; and Leonard and Sheldon's equally geeky and socially awkward co-workers and friends Howard Wolowitz, an aerospace engineer and non-PhD from MIT, and Rajesh Koothrappali, an astrophysicist also working at Caltech. The geekiness and intellect of the four guys is contrasted for comic effect with Penny's social skills and common sense.[4][5] Three other supporting characters have also been promoted to main cast status for a few episodes: Leslie Winkle, a Caltech colleague and, at different times, a lover of both Leonard and Howard; Bernadette Rostenkowski, a doctoral candidate (later doctor) in microbiology, part-time waitress alongside Penny, and Howard's love interest and fianceé; and Amy Farrah Fowler, a neurobiologist whose personality is very similar to Sheldon's, and who later becomes close friends with Penny and girlfriend of Sheldon.
The show is produced by Warner Bros. Television and Chuck Lorre Productions.[6] In August 2009, the sitcom won the best comedy series TCA award and Jim Parsons won the award for individual achievement in comedy.[7] 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.[8] On January 16, 2011, Parsons was awarded a Golden Globe by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association 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.
When the third season premiered on September 21, 2009, it 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.[9] On May 19, 2010, it was announced that CBS would be moving the show to Thursdays at 8:00 ET for the 2010–2011 schedule. On January 12, 2011, CBS announced that the show had been renewed for an additional three years, extending it through the 2013–2014 season.[10] The fifth season premiered on September 22, 2011, in its usual time slot with two back-to-back episodes.[11][12]
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[edit] 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). 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 effectively replaced by Penny in the second pilot);[13][14] 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, 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 DVD, Lorre said "Wow that would be something, we will see. Show your failures..."[15]
David Saltzberg, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles, checks scripts and provides dialogue, math equations, and diagrams used as props.[4] 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."[5]
Several of the actors in The Big Bang Theory worked together previously 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.
[edit] Theme song
On October 9, 2007, a full-length (1 minute and 45 seconds) version of the song, named "The History of Everything", was released commercially.[27] In a 2010 issue of TV Guide, the show’s opening title sequence ranked No. 6 on a list of television's top 10 credits sequences, as selected by readers.[28]
[edit] Production costs
For the first three seasons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, and Jim Parsons, 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 pay will go up an additional $50,000 per episode in each of the following three seasons, culminating in $350,000 per episode in the seventh season.[29][30][edit] Main cast
Main article: List of The Big Bang Theory characters
[edit] Original
- Johnny Galecki[31] as Leonard Hofstadter, Ph.D. – An experimental physicist with an IQ of 173, he received his Ph.D. when he was 24 years old. The straight man of the series, he shares an apartment with colleague and friend Sheldon Cooper. The writers immediately implied potential romance between him and neighbor Penny, and their sexual tension is frequently explored.
- Jim Parsons[32] as Sheldon Cooper, Ph.D., Sc.D. – Originally from East 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 focusing on quantum mechanics and string theory, he has a master's degree, a Ph.D. an Sc.D., and an IQ of 187. He exhibits a strict adherence to routine; a lack of understanding of irony and sarcasm; he is also uninterested in many of the romantic hijinks of Leonard, Howard, and Raj. Sheldon shares an apartment with Leonard Hofstadter, across the hall from Penny, and relies on both for advice in social situations. In the fourth season, he begins a relationship with Amy Farrah Fowler, the result of a blind date arranged by his friends Howard and Raj.
- Kaley Cuoco[33] as Penny – The "born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska" blonde who lives across the hall from Sheldon and Leonard. She is pursuing a career in acting, and 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. To date, her last name has not been revealed. She dated Leonard during the third season.[34]
- Simon Helberg[35] as Howard Wolowitz, M.Eng.[36] – He works as an aerospace engineer. He is Jewish, and lives with his mother. His father left when he was 11, and, to date, he has never learned why. 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 MIT and that the apparatus he designs are launched into space, unlike the purely abstract work of his friends. He provides outrageous pick-up lines and fancies himself a ladies' man with suitably unimpressed reactions from Penny; however, he has shown limited success with other women. He claims to be a polyglot. He dates and later becomes engaged to Bernadette Rostenkowski.
- Kunal Nayyar[37] as Rajesh Koothrappali, Ph.D. – Originally from New Delhi, India, and works as a particle astrophysicist at Caltech.[38] His family is very well off. He communicates with them via webcam. He is very shy around women and is physically unable to talk to them unless he drinks alcohol (or thinks he has been drinking alcohol). However, he has often had better luck with women than his overly-confident best friend Howard. His parents, Dr. and Mrs. V.M. Koothrappali, are seen via webcam. During the fourth season, his sister Priya (Aarti Mann), who is the only girl he can openly speak in front of without the addition of alcohol, became Leonard's girlfriend.
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