The Big Bang Theory

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For the cosmological model, see Big Bang.
The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory Title Card
Format Sitcom
Created by Chuck Lorre
Bill Prady
Starring Johnny Galecki
Jim Parsons
Kaley Cuoco
Simon Helberg
Kunal Nayyar
Opening theme "The Big Bang Theory" by Barenaked Ladies
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 17 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive
producer(s)		 Chuck Lorre
Bill Prady
Lee Aronsohn
Producer(s) Steve Molaro
Mike Collier
Faye Oshima Belyeu
Associate
producer(s)		 Toti Levine
Kristy Cecil
Co-producer(s) Joe Bella
Mary T. Quigley
Peter Chakos
Editor(s) Peter Chakos
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time 22 minutes (without commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel CBS
Picture format 480i (SDTV),
1080i (HDTV)
Original run September 24, 2007 – present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Big Bang Theory (or TBBT) is an American situation comedy, which premiered on CBS on September 24, 2007. The show is created and executive produced by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady. The series is about two socially inept prodigies in their 20s who are living across the hall from a beautiful, socially adept girl with an average intellect.

It is produced by Warner Bros. Television and Chuck Lorre Productions, and taped in front of a live studio audience.[1]

Contents

[edit] Cast

[edit] Production history

The pilot episode, simply titled Pilot, directed by James Burrows[2], led to a 13-episode order on May 14, 2007.[3]

On October 19, 2007 the show was picked-up for a full 22-episode season, the first comedy of the 2007/08 season. [4]

Production on the show was halted on November 6, 2007 due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.[5]

On February 14, 2008, CBS officially picked up The Big Bang Theory for a second season along with eleven other shows for the 2008-2009 television season[6]

The show returned on March 17, 2008 with an earlier time slot[7] and nine new episodes.[8]

[edit] Theme song

The band Barenaked Ladies sing the theme song, which describes developments the human race underwent since the dawn of time. During the theme, visual illustrations of such developments are shown and as the last line of the theme is played, it cuts to a scene of the cast eating a take-out, with the title card superimposed over them.

On October 9, 2007 the Barenaked Ladies released a full length (1 minute 45 seconds) version of the song.[9]

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of characters from The Big Bang Theory

[edit] Episodes

Further information: List of The Big Bang Theory episodes

[edit] DVD Releases

The complete first season is expected to release on DVD on September 2, 2008 in the US, Amazon.com has already listed the item.

Name Episodes # US Release Date Additional Information DVD Extras
The Complete First Season[1] 17 September 2, 2008 Running Time: 374 Minutes Quantum Mechanics of The Big Bang Theory: Series Cast and Creators on Why It’s Cool to Be a Geek

[edit] Ratings

[edit] U.S. standard ratings

In the following summary, "rating" is the percentage of all households with televisions that tuned to the show, and "share" is the percentage of all televisions in use at that time that are tuned in. "18-49" is the percentage of all adults aged 18-49 tuned into the show. "Viewers" are the number of viewers, in million, watching at the time. "Rank" how well the show did compared to other TV shows aired that week.

Unless otherwise cited, the overnight rating, share, 18-49 and viewing information come from Your Entertainment Now.[10] The weekly ranks come from The Programming Insider,[11] unless otherwise referenced.

# Episode Air Date Timeslot Rating Share 18-49 Viewers Weekly Rank
1 "Pilot" September 24, 2007 8:30 P.M. 6.0 9 3.7/9 (#3) 9.57 (#3) #37
2 "The Big Bran Hypothesis" October 1, 2007 5.5 8 3.4/8 (#2) 8.58 (#2) #44
3 "The Fuzzy Boots Corollary" October 8, 2007 5.3 8 3.4/8 (#2) 8.36 (#2) #44
4 "The Luminous Fish Effect" October 15, 2007 5.4 8 3.2/8 (#3) 8.15 (#4) #49
5 "The Hamburger Postulate" October 22, 2007 5.6 8 3.5/9 (#2) 8.72 (#2) #44[12]
6 "The Middle-Earth Paradigm" October 29, 2007 5.7 8 3.6/9 (#2) 8.92 (#2) #45
7 "The Dumpling Paradox" November 5, 2007 6.1 9 3.8/9 (#2) 9.67 (#2) #38
8 "The Grasshopper Experiment" November 12, 2007 5.9 9 3.8/9 (#2) 9.39 (#2) #36[13]
9 "The Cooper-Hofstadter Polarization" March 17, 2008 8:00 P.M. 5.5 9 3.7/11 (#2) 9.10 (#2) #23
10 "The Loobenfeld Decay" March 24, 2008 5.3 9 3.4/10 (#2) 8.63 (#2) #28
11 "The Pancake Batter Anomaly" March 31, 2008 5.5 9 3.1/9 (#2) 8.68 (#2) #33
12 "The Jerusalem Duality" April 14, 2008 4.7 8 2.9/8 (#2) 7.69 (#3) #34
13 "The Bat Jar Conjecture" April 21, 2008 4.7 8 2.9/8 (#2) 7.51 (#4) #42
14 "The Nerdvana Annihilation" April 28, 2008 5.0 8 3.0/9 (#2) 8.16 (#4) #34[14]
15 "The Pork Chop Indeterminacy" May 5, 2008 4.7 8 2.8/9 (#2) 7.56 (#3) #44 [15]
16 "The Peanut Reaction" May 12, 2008 5.0 8 2.9/9 (#3) 7.88 (#3) #38[16]
17 "The Tangerine Factor" May 19, 2008 4.7 8 2.7/8 (#3) 7.36 (#3) #52[17]

[edit] Seasonal ratings

Seasonal ratings based on average total viewers per episode of The Big Bang Theory on CBS:

Season Timeslot (EDT) Season Premiere Season Finale TV Season Rank Viewers
(in millions)
1 Monday 8:30 P.M. (September 24 - January 28, 2008)
Monday 8:00 P.M. (March 17, 2008 - May 19, 2008)		 September 24, 2007 May 19, 2008 2007-2008 69[18] 8.3[19]

[edit] UK ratings

The show made its terrestrial debut on Channel 4 on 14 February 2008 and brought 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 the preceding evening and brings in 400,000 viewers on average. The 5th episode received 880,000 viewers. After airing the first 5 episodes, the average is still hovering around 1 million. Episode 13 was watched by 1.3 million viewers and was the most watched episode to date on Thursday 15th May 2008.[20]

[edit] International Broadcasting

The show is also broadcast in Canada on A-Channel,[21] in India on Zee Cafe, in Latin America on Warner Channel and in Sweden on Kanal 5. It premiered in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2008 on Channel 4. It will be broadcasting in Australia on the Nine Network and in Germany on Pro7.[22]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Details, Artwork & Press Release for 1st Season. TVOnMedia.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-24.
  2. ^ The Big Bang Theory at The Futon Critic.
  3. ^ "CBS PICKS UP 'BANG,' 'POWER' PLUS FOUR DRAMAS", The Futon Critic, 2007-05-14. 
  4. ^ Breaking News - Cbs Gives Freshman Comedy "The Big Bang Theory" And Drama "The Unit" Full Season Orders | Thefutoncritic.Com
  5. ^ Production Stops on at least 6 Sitcoms. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  6. ^ CBS Picks Up 11 Series. The Futon Critic (2008-02-15). Retrieved on 2008-02-15.
  7. ^ The Futon Critic; CBS (2008-02-20). ""THE BIG BANG THEORY" AND "HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER" TO SWAP TIME PERIODS". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  8. ^ CBS Sets Series Return Dates. Retrieved on 2008-02-13.
  9. ^ Barenaked Ladies. Big Bang Theory Theme. Amazon Digital Services, Inc..
  10. ^ Your One Stop Shop For All Things Entertainment. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
  11. ^ Berman, Marc. Weekly Results (The Programming Insider). Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
  12. ^ The Hamburger Postulate, Weekly Rank (ABC Media Net)
  13. ^ ABC Medianet
  14. ^ ABC Medianet
  15. ^ ABC Medianet
  16. ^ ABC Medianet
  17. ^ ABC Medianet
  18. ^ ABC Medianet
  19. ^ ABC Medianet
  20. ^ Overnights 2008-02-14. Channel 4 Sales (2008-02-15). Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
  21. ^ The Big Bang Theory Big Bang explodes onto Canadian TV
  22. ^ Ruoff, Markus. "«Aliens in America» & «Bang Theory» bei ProSieben", Quotenmeter.de, 2008-03-25. Retrieved on 2008-04-05. 

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
v • d • e
The Big Bang Theory
Production: Episode list • DVD releases • Season 1 • Season 2
Main characters: Leonard • Sheldon • Penny • Howard • Rajesh
Actors: Johnny Galecki • Jim Parsons • Kaley Cuoco • Simon Helberg • Kunal Nayyar