The Big Bang Theory Site
Episode 2.13 Name Posted 8th January 2009
CBS has not yet announced Episode 2.13, airing January 19th, but we do know that it will be titled "The Friendship Algorithm".
New episodes return Monday, January 12th, with "The Killer Robot Instability" but there will be a rerun on Monday, January 26th.
Happy New Year! Posted 31st December 2008
The Big Bang Theory Site would like to wish everybody a very happy New Year. We hope you have a safe & happy year.
We look forward to reporting all the Big Bang Theory news for you over the next 12 months.
2009: A Look Ahead Posted 23rd December 2008
This year, 2008, was a good a year for The Big Bang Theory. It has grown its audience to over 10 million, and is regularly being mentioned in the press. What then does the year 2009 hold for the show?
Firstly, the remaining 13 episodes of Season 2 will air between January & May. We can probably look forward to a Season 2 DVD in September, before the very-likely 3rd season begins. With the ratings this show has achieved recently a 3rd season is pretty certain. Big Bang has not only improved its own ratings, but has helped the lead-out How I Met Your Mother do better as well. We will not know for certain for another few months, but it's very likely, in our view, that the show will be back.
There is, however, some less good news, and it's called House. FOX will be moving the popular drama House to 8/7c on Mondays, up against Big Bang & Mother. Those shows took on the ratings behemoth Dancing with the Stars and survived, but House poses a different - and tougher - problem. While Dancing gets huge audience figures, the show attracts older viewers; House, however, has a younger audience; these are the people who would might otherwise be watching Big Bang. What all that means is Bang's ratings will fall when House goes up against it. They're vying for the same audience. The news doesn't get much better later on in the year either, Dancing with the Stars returns in the spring and will conspire with Daylight Savings Time to lower the viewing figures further. DST means fewer people will be watching TV at 8PM and that smaller audience will now have even more shows to choose from. We predict ratings will fall back to 9 million from January, perhaps to 8 million as the year rolls on. Some of Bang's success over the last couple of weeks has simply been lack of competition. CBS will, of course, be expecting all this, so it shouldn't worry us too much for the show's future, 9 million would still be a good audience.
On the show next year, we know Sheldon will get a nemesis, played by John Ross Bowie. We also know, as that part of that storyline, there will be robot wars & some geeky trash-talk as well!
That is the end of our look into 2009. Hopefully, you are now more aware of what Big Bang can expect in 2009. This will probably be the final post of this year, so we'd like to wish you a very Merry Christmas, a happy holiday season, and a safe & happy New Year!
Episode 2.12 Announced Posted 22nd December 2008
CBS has announced Episode 2.12, "The Killer Robot Instability", which will air January 12th, 2009.
"The Killer Robot Instability" - When Penny's comment about Wolowitz's love life sends him into a depressed stupor, his friends lose their most important team-mate in an upcoming fighting robot competition, on THE BIG BANG THEORY, Monday, Jan. 12 (8:00-8:30 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
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 Episode |
The Killer Robot Instability |
Year in Review: 2008 Posted 22nd December 2008
At the start of this year, The Big Bang Theory was not in production and was off-air, because of the Writers' Strike of 07-08. The ratings before the strike were good, but not great. The strike, having taken the show off air for months, threatened the shows future. Would audiences return when the show did? In 2007, CBS head Les Moonves hinted that The Big Bang Theory would be renewed, and in February it was - as the strike ended, and production of the show resumed. Having been off-air for months, and only been on-air for 2 months before that, viewers could be forgiven for forgetting all about the show. The show would swap time-slots with How I Met Your Mother when it returned March 19th. Big Bang would lead the Monday night comedy block, but the 8/7c time-slot is watched by fewer viewers, would the slot hurt the show? Many feared it would be terrible for the show.
When the show returned to the airwaves, the ratings for the show were quite good, but they were not spectacular. A second season was guaranteed, but future seasons? Not unlikely, but the show would have to perform better to make its future secure. In May, the final episode of Season 1 aired, and it was announced Big Bang would be released on DVD in September, in time for the second season premiere.
The second season of Big Bang began September 22nd and the ratings for the first episode were strong. As the season continued in the Fall the ratings continued to be strong. Then, the 6th episode of the season aired and the ratings reached new levels, suddenly the show was catching on and gaining viewers. The rising success would not stop there, every new episode since then performed at least as well, with many setting new highs. Viewers were suddenly arriving in droves. The 10 million viewers mark, which seemed nothing more than an aspiration just months before was quickly forgotten about as the show went on to break the 11 million viewers mark. The ratings were no longer adequate, good, or great; they were fantastic!
Not only did millions of new viewers tune into the show in the final part of this year, so too did the press. Coverage of Big Bang sky-rocketed since the show broke the 10m mark, with it even featuring in The Wall Street Journal.
What is amazing is how quickly the show has blossomed. Just 2 months ago the show was a little show with decent ratings, now it is potentially the next big thing. The show, which wasn't regularly featured in the media, now appears regularly and is appearing in publications as prestigious as The Wall Street Journal.
So, what does the future hold for The Big Bang Theory? Find out tomorrow as we publish our look into 2009, and what it will mean for The Big Bang Theory.
Casting Call Posted 19th December 2008
A casting call has been put out for Episode 2.13, this of course reveals details on the episode. If you do not wish to read the spoilers, look away now.
[MILDRED] 60+. This elderly female customer is shopping at a mall bookstore when she is approached by Sheldon (Jim Parsons)...CO-STAR
[JEREMY] Legal 18 to play 17-18 years old. He is an employee at the mall bookstore who helps Sheldon locate books on how to make friends...CO-STAR
[REBECCA] To Play 5-7 years old. This little girl makes friends with Sheldon at the mall bookstore...CO-STAR
The smartest man in television? Posted 17th December 2008
Could Chuck Lorre be the smartest man in television? That is the question New York Magazine asks in a feature on Mr. Lorre, the co-creator of Two and a Half Men and the new hit The Big Bang Theory. The article's main subject is the TV Week feature that listed the 25 smartest people on television, in which Mr. Lorre finished 20th. That intellectual league table became the subject of the vanity card on this week's Big Bang. In the end the feature does not declare him the intellectual supremo of the television pack, but they do say they shall be paying more attention to CBS Mondays.
Since The Big Bang Theory broke 10 million viewers the press coverage of the show has markedly increased. In the last couple of weeks we have seen features in USAToday, TV Guide, the prestigious Wall Street Journal and now New York Magazine. As more and more viewers are beginning to take notice of the show, so too are the journalists.
Biggest Bang Ever (again!) Posted 16th December 2008
The Big Bang Theory posted its highest ratings ever last night. It broke the 11 million viewers mark and beat all its previous highs in the demographics.
The Big Bang Theory was first in households (6.8/11), viewers (11.42m), adults 25-54 (4.9/12), adults 18-49 (4.2/11) and adults 18-34 (3.5/10). The Big Bang Theory's best delivery ever in households, viewers, adults 18-34, adults 18-49 and adults 25-54.
Holiday Reruns Posted 16th December 2008
The holiday season is upon us and with it comes reruns. Here is a list of the upcoming broadcasts.
Monday, December 22nd - 2.01 The Bad Fish Paradigm.
Monday, December 29th - 2.02 The Codpiece Topology.
Thursday, January 1st 2009 - 2.03 The Barbarian Sublimation.
Monday, January 5th - 2.04 The Griffin Equivalency.
New shows will return January 12th!
SAG rift might avert strike Posted 15th December 2008
The Screen Actors Guild is suffering an internal rift that might avert a costly actors' strike. The union's New York board publicly came out against striking, causing the union to call an emergency national meeting. The union will vote on whether to strike over demands for greater profits for actors from new media distribution of their work.
The prospect of a strike has highlighted differences within the SAG union and the entertainment industry as a whole. Many actors think that during a recession is not the right time to stage a strike that would halt the production of movies and many TV shows.
Many actors have spoken out against a strike include Danny DeVito (Taxi), Rhea Perlman (Cheers), Mike Farrell (M*A*S*H), and former SAG president Richard Masur.
The alternative actors' union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, has already accepted a new contract for its members. The producers' union, Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, is understandably against the strike and is appealing to actors to vote against the strike.
With so much public opposition to a strike, along with many who oppose it privately, it could be that the SAG would lose the vote on the strike, but it is cautioned that the SAG would not be pushing for a vote if it did not believe it would win it.
The strike would deal a swift blow to the entertainment industry that suffered a lengthy and costly strike last year, the estimated cost of the 3 month strike is put as high as $2.5 billion. The Writers' Strike damaged many TV shows by pulling them off air for months, the Strike was blamed for the death of many shows such as Bionic Woman or Pushing Daisies.
Any strike would be devastating for the economy of California, already suffering because of the general economic climate.
The SAG will send out ballots on January 2nd, votes will be counted by January 23rd.
DVD price war in Britain Posted 11th November 2008
A price war has broken out between major online retailers in Britain over the price of the upcoming Season 1 DVD of The Big Bang Theory set to be released in January of next year. When we first announced the release, back at the end of October, Amazon.co.uk were selling the DVD for over £18, nearly £3 above what rival HMV were selling it for, but now Amazon has crunched the price down to £15.98 coming in below the then-best-priced HMV, while Play.com has kept its original price of £16.99. Another site, however, has blown them all out of the water. Zavvi, the new name for Virgin Megastores, is selling the DVD for just £15 - including free delivery.
Visit Zavvi.co.uk to pre-order your copy. Visit Amazon.co.uk or visit HMV.com.