Interesting facts about the popular webseries 'The Big Bang Theory'

Updated on July 25, 2022 18:32 PM by Dhinesh

Introduction

The Big Bang Theory is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady, and Steven Molaro, who served as the show's executive producers and head writers. It had a September 24, 2007, CBS debut, and it ran for 279 episodes over 12 seasons, ending on May 16, 2019.

The original cast of the show consisted of five people who lived in Pasadena, California: physicists Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) and Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), who share an apartment; Penny (Kaley Cuoco), a waitress and aspiring actress who lives across the hall; and Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg), an aerospace engineer, and astrophysicist Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar). Over time, supporting characters such as microbiologist Bernadette Rostenkowski (Melissa Rauch), comic book store owner Stuart Bloom, and neuroscientist Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) were elevated to prominent roles.

Produced by Warner Bros

Produced by Warner Bros. Television and Chuck Lorre Productions, the program was captured on camera in front of a live audience. Throughout its first season, it earned mixed reviews, while the second and third seasons received more positive feedback. Despite initially receiving mixed reviews, seven of the eleven seasons were among the top ten in the final season ratings, and it eventually won the top slot. From 2011 to 2014, it received nominations for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, and Parsons won the award four times for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.

The first episode of the program aired on September 24, 2007. This was the second pilot for the program that was created. For the television season of 2006–2007, a different pilot was made, although it was never broadcast. The initial unaired pilot had a different framework from the current format of the show. Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon (Jim Parsons), who is named after Sheldon Leonard, a well-known name in episodic television as a producer, director, and actor, were the only primary characters kept in both pilots. The first episode of the program aired on September 24, 2007.

Despite the fact that the first pilot was not picked up, its authors were offered the chance to remake it and create a second pilot. They enlisted the rest of the cast and changed the format of the program. Penny was put in Katie's place. Although it has never been formally released, the original unaired pilot has been making the rounds online. Chuck Lorre commented on the history of the program, "We produced the 'Big Bang Pilot' about two and a half years ago, and it sucked. But there were two extraordinary things that worked flawlessly, and those were Johnny and Jim. After a complete rewrite, we were fortunate to have Kaley, Simon, and Kunal.

James Burrows, who did not continue with the program, directed The Big Bang Theory's first and second pilot episodes. CBS ordered 13 episodes of the second pilot after it was revised on May 14, 2007. The pilot episode was freely available on iTunes before it aired on CBS. The program debuted on September 24, 2007, and on October 19, 2007, it was renewed for a full 22-episode season. The program is created by Warner Bros. Television and Chuck Lorre Productions, and it is taped in front of a live audience. On November 6, 2007, the Writers Guild of America went on strike, which suspended production.

The Program was Renewed for a Second Season

The program was renewed for a second season following the end of the strike, which began broadcasting on September 22, 2008, during the 2008–2009 season. Due to rising viewership, the program was given a two-year extension through the 2010–2011 season in 2009. Three additional seasons of the program were ordered in 2011. The program received a second three-year renewal in March 2014, extending it through the 2016–17 season. This was the second three-year renewal for the series. The show was renewed for two more seasons in March 2017, bringing its total to 12, and it will continue through the 2018–19 television season.

The Big Bang Theory stars Johnny Galecki, Sara Gilbert, Laurie Metcalf (who portrays Sheldon's mother, Mary Cooper), and Meagen Fay (who portrays Bernadette's mother), all of whom previously collaborated on the sitcom Roseanne. Lorre also contributed as a writer to the show for a number of seasons.

Science Consultants

Professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles, David Saltzberg, reviewed the scripts and contributed dialogue, equations for arithmetic, and diagrams used as props. Bill Prady, executive producer and co-creator "In order to make real progress on the boards, we're aiming to give Sheldon a real problem to solve during the first season. We put a lot of effort into doing the science correctly." With a Ph.D. in physics, David Saltzberg worked as the show's science adviser for six seasons, attending each recording. He pointed out where the writers, despite their grasp of science, had made errors in early draughts of screenplays that required the addition of scientific material.

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Theme song

The show's theme song, "The History and Formation of the Universe and the Earth," was written and recorded by the Canadian alternative rock group Barenaked Ladies. After attending one of the band's Los Angeles shows, producers Lorre and Prady invited co-lead vocalist Ed Robertson to compose a theme song for the program. Coincidentally, Robertson had just finished reading Simon Singh's book Big Bang and improvised a freestyle rap about the universe's beginnings at the concert. [Reference needed] Soon after, he received a phone call from Lorre and Prady asking him to compose the theme song. The show's theme song, "The History and Formation of the Universe and the Earth," was written and recorded by the Canadian alternative rock group Barenaked Ladies.

A full-length (1 minute, 45 seconds) recording of the song was made available for purchase on October 9, 2007. The single's cover image lists the song's title as "Big Bang Theory Theme," despite some unofficial pages referring to it as "History of Everything]. The Complete Fourth Season DVD and Blu-ray set's extra features also included a music video. Hits from Yesterday & the Day Before, the group's greatest hits CD, was published on September 27, 2011, and it had the theme. Steven Page sued his former bandmate Robertson for the song in September 2015, according to court documents obtained by TMZ. Page claimed that he was promised a 20 percent cut of the profits but that Robertson had instead kept them for himself.

Cast and Characters

The show's three major stars, Galecki, Parsons, and Cuoco, received up to $60,000 per episode for the first three seasons. In the fourth season, their pay increased to $200,000 per episode. The following three seasons saw an increase of $50,000 each, reaching a peak of $350,000 per episode in the seventh season. Bialik and Rauch renegotiated their contracts in September 2013 after being introduced to the series in 2010. Each was earning between $20,000 and $30,000 per episode under their previous contracts, but their new deals doubled that, starting at $60,000 per episode and rising to $100,000 per episode by the end of the deal, as well as giving them both an additional year.

Galecki, Parsons, and Cuoco began to get 0.25 percent of the show's back-end compensation by season seven. Galecki, Parsons, and Cuoco sought to renegotiate new contracts before the eighth season's filming started. They also wanted additional back-end money. The three actors, along with Helberg and Nayyar, sought to do so before the season's filming began. Early in August 2014, contracts were signed guaranteeing the three lead actors an estimated $1 million per episode for three years, with an option for an additional year. The agreements also include greater portions of the program, signing incentives, production agreements, and back-end advances.

A raise in Pay

To give Bialik and Rauch a raise in pay, the principal cast members (Galecki, Parsons, Cuoco, Helberg, and Nayyar) took a pay cut of 10% in March 2017. As a result, Parsons, Galecki, and Helberg received overall deals with Warner Bros. Television and were paid $900,000 each episode along with Cuoco, Helberg, and Nayyar. By the end of April, Bialik and Rauch had agreed to contracts that guaranteed them $500,000 per episode each as well as a separate development fee for each of them. The arrangement represented an improvement over the $175,000–$200,000 per episode the duo had been earning before.

Leonard Hofstadter as played by Johnny Galecki

Leonard Hofstadter as played by Johnny Galecki: a 24-year-old experimental physicist with an IQ of 173 who earned his Ph.D. Video games, comic comics, and Dungeons & Dragons are some of Leonard's hobbies. The series' straight man, Leonard lives with Sheldon Cooper in a Pasadena, California, apartment. When Leonard and Penny first meet, they instantly click, and they end up getting married.

Sheldon Cooper, played by Jim Parsons: Sheldon, a Texas native originally from Galveston, was a child prodigy with an eidetic memory who started college at the age of eleven and graduated with a Ph.D. at the age of sixteen. Despite having an IQ of 187, he is a theoretical physicist who studies string theory and quantum physics and finds it challenging to understand many commonplace features of social settings. He constantly extols his cleverness, is adamant about getting his way, and lives a very ritualized life. Despite these eccentricities, he starts dating Amy Farrah Fowler, and they eventually get married.

Howard is portrayed by Simon in this

Howard Wolowitz is portrayed by Simon Helberg. an aerospace engineer who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a master's degree. Howard, a Jew, resided with Debbie, his mother (Carol Ann Susi). Howard does not possess a doctorate, in contrast to Sheldon, Leonard, Raj, Bernadette, and Amy. He travels to orbit, where he works as a payload specialist and an astronaut. At first, Howard thinks of himself as a womanizer, but he later starts dating Bernadette, and the two eventually fall in love and are married. Because of Bernadette's large income as a pharmaceutical biochemist and Howard's unusually low income as an engineer, Howard also has a propensity to spend money on toys and quarrels with her.As Rajesh Koothrappali, Kunal Nayyar: an Indian particle physicist who was born in New Delhi.

Raj initially struggled with selective mutism, which prevented him from conversing with or being near women unless he was intoxicated. In both his connection with Howard and the group of four men, Raj regularly adopts traditional female behaviors and has highly feminine inclinations. Later, Raj dates Lucy (Kate Micucci), who has social anxiety as well, but the relationship doesn't last. He later overcomes his selective mutism and speaks to Penny without drinking. He starts seeing Emily Sweeney, and eventually, they start dating exclusively. Cinnamon, a Yorkshire Terrier, is another pet owned by Raj.