The Big Bang Theory

For the pseudoscientific theory see: Big Bang theory

The Big Bang Theory is a liberal sitcom by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, that is aired on CBS.

The serial does not show a traditional family, but instead shows characters rooming together, with the characters Leonard and Penny Hofstadter, Sheldon and Amy Cooper, and Bernadette and Howard Wolowitz the only married characters (the latter four being the only ones to actually have something akin to a traditional religious wedding [and even there, only Bernadette and Howard actually have an official religious wedding, as Sheldon and Amy's wedding barely possessed one religious reference via the officiate, Mark Hamill, due to Sheldon's mother insisting on it], as the former two had a Vegas wedding), and of the three weddings, Howard and Bernadette's, then Leonard and Penny's (revealed in the series finale), have resulted in a pregnancy, with Howard reacting in a horrified manner and Sheldon suggesting that the rest of them get vasectomies to ensure it doesn't happen to them.

In addition the series sometimes mocks religion (with series creator Chuck Lorre, who has a low opinion of religion, depicting Mary Cooper, the mother of the atheistic Sheldon, as an "unenlightened" Bible-believing conservative), and generally gives the assumption made since the Enlightenment that Christianity and Science are divorced from each other, ignoring that it was in fact Christianity that was the reason Science in its current form was even discovered. Also, Sheldon, who works as a theoretical physicist at the California Institute of Technology, possesses a genius-level IQ and has an eidetic memory, believes himself to be superior in intellect and in other ways to everyone else and always believes he is "right" all the time and almost never admits when he is wrong, displaying traits of arrogance and narcissism (probably even narcissistic personality disorder) as well as a lack of common sense and flashes of childish behavior at times, often arguing simply for the sake of arguing because he wants to have his way, to be "right" and to have the last word. Sheldon also displays jealousy toward Howard's profession of engineering and often belittles that field, doing so by pointing out that Howard only has a master's degree in engineering (compared with Sheldon's doctorate in theoretical physics) and by making contemptuous and dismissive remarks about that field (despite the fact that, unlike theoretical physics, engineering has more practical real-world applications and more people are employed in engineering-related jobs than in anything related to theoretical physics). He also makes similar contemptuous remarks about Geology, even claiming a few points that it is not a real science and having an intense bitter rivalry with the Geology department.

In many episodes, the show's writers tended to write for Sheldon as if they were writing for a homosexual character (owing to the fact that Sheldon's portrayer, Jim Parsons, is openly homosexual in real life), even though Lorre had previously officially claimed that Sheldon was assumed by the other characters to be asexual, as well as later seasons having Sheldon entering an on-again-off-again relationship with Amy Farrah Fowler, to whom Sheldon later became engaged after proposing to her in the Season Eleven premiere, then officially married in the Season Eleven finale. The writers of The Big Bang Theory also wrote for the character of Raj Koothrappali (Leonard, Sheldon and Howard's friend and colleague) to an even greater extent as though he were a homosexual (or more accurately as a "metrosexual", since he makes clear that he is straight and has had romantic relationships with women, although he is into many of the things that women are, such as buying fashion accessories and skin care/grooming products more commonly used by women [which he excuses by claiming such products to be "unisex"], making and consuming food items that generally appeal more to women, reading female-centric books, watching female-centric movies and TV shows like Sex and the City, watching female-centric TV channels like the Oprah Winfrey Network and being in touch with his feelings and emotions as most women are - all traits which have drawn mocking quips from his friends and have had his family questioning his sexuality as well, all suspecting Raj of being a closeted homosexual).

A prequel spinoff of this series, titled Young Sheldon, debuted with the series pilot which aired on September 25, 2017, followed by its regular run beginning on November 2, and focuses on Sheldon as a young boy growing up with his family in Texas in the 1980s/1990s, with narration provided by Parsons in-character as the adult Sheldon. The show's twelfth and final season debuted on September 24, 2018 (which also falls on the same date the show premiered in 2007) and concluded with its final two episodes on May 16, 2019.

Cast

Main cast

Actor	Role	Duration	Notes
Johnny Galecki	Dr. Leonard Hofstadter	Seasons 1–12
Jim Parsons	Dr. Sheldon Cooper	Seasons 1–12
Kaley Cuoco	Penny Hofstadter	Seasons 1–12
Simon Helberg	Howard Wolowitz	Seasons 1–12
Kunal Nayyar	Dr. Raj Koothrappali	Seasons 1–12
Mayim Bialik	Dr. Amy Cooper	Seasons 4–12	Guest star in Season 3
Melissa Rauch	Dr. Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz	Seasons 4–12	Recurring in Season 3

See also

• Essay:Worst Liberal TV Shows