The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom from Chuck Lorre Productions. It is distributed by Warner Bros. Television and airs in the United States on the CBS network. It premiered in September 2007 and has been renewed through a fourth season.
Leonard and Sheldon are brilliant physicists, the kind of "beautiful minds" that understand how the universe works. But none of that genius helps them interact with people, especially women. All this begins to change when a free-spirited beauty named Penny moves in next door. Sheldon, Leonard's roommate, is quite content spending his nights playing Klingon Boggle with their socially dysfunctional friends, fellow CalTech scientists Wolowitz and Koothrappali. However, Leonard sees in Penny a whole new universe of possibilities... including love.
Contents |
Production History
The show was originally developed to air during the 2006/07 television season, but that show was very different from the show that eventually aired. Only Jim Parsons & Johnny Galecki were part of the original cast. A different actress played Penny, who was a darker & meaner character. CBS passed on the pilot but gave the creators a chance to rework the show. The creators brought Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg & Kunal Nayyar into the retooled show. The rest, as they say, is history.
The pilot we now know as the first episode of The Big Bang Theory was shot in February 2007, although scenes were re-shot in August. Production of the show started in August 2007, 9 episodes were produced before production was suspended in November 2007 because of the Writers Strike. Production resumed in February 2008 after the strike ended.
Season 2 of The Big Bang Theory went into production in August 2008 and ended in April 2009.
Broadcast History
CBS is the original network of The Big Bang Theory, airing the show in the United States. The show premiered in September 2007 at 8:30, following How I Met Your Mother and preceding Two and a Half Men. In January 2008, The Big Bang Theory went off-air as a result of the Writers Strike, a month later the show was renewed and resumed production when the strike ended. In March 2008, The Big Bang Theory returned at 8:00, having swapped time-slots with How I Met Your Mother. The Big Bang Theory airs at 8:00 to this day. In March 2009, the show was renewed through to its fourth season, along with a 3-year renewal for Two and a Half Men.
International Broadcast
Channel 4 and sister-net E4 air the show in the United Kingdom, Channel 4 picked-up the show in June 2007 at the L.A. International Screenings, an event where distributors sell their shows to international outlets.
CTV and sister-net A Channel air the show in Canada. CTV also bought the show at the L.A. Screenings, they had planned to air the show on CTV first in 2008 but decided to air the show from September '07 on A Channel.
RTE 2 air the show in the Republic of Ireland.
Nine Network air the show in Australia.
TV2 air the show in New Zealand.
Pro Sieben air the show in Germany.
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
Warner Channel air the show across South & Central America.
TNT air the show in Spain
DVD Releases
The release of the Season 1 DVD in the U.S. & Canada was announced in May 2008, the DVD was released September 2nd, 2008. It includes all 17 episodes of Season 1, along with a special feature of interviews with the cast & creators of The Big Bang Theory.
The DVD has since been released internationally; it was released in South & Central American countries in December 2008, the United Kingdom & Ireland in January 2009, New Zealand in April 2009 and Australia in June 2009.
Resources
Main title sequence deconstructed video
