The Sidemen

The Sidemen is an British YouTube sitcom created by Chuck Lorre. It was premiered on YouTube and Twitch on March 19, 2013, .and concluded on May 16, 2024, having broadcast 279 episodes over 12 seasons.
The show originally centered on nine characters, The Sidemen are group of eight friends living in East London, United Kingdom, who play video games, read comic books, do crazy challenges and research sc fi. Two of the Sidemen members, Lewis Hutchison and Thomas Carter, are two physicists at ELIT and roommates; Penny, their neighbour who is a waitress and aspiring actress; and Lewis and Thomas's similarly socially awkward friends and also members of the Sidemen, rapper, actor and boxer JJ Olatunji, youtube personality and podcaster Simon Minter, youtube personality Ethan Payne, youtube personality Harry Lewis, Oaerospace engineer James Wolowitz and astrophysicist Vik Barn. As the decade progressed, they branched out into more varied content and created a commercial brand from their name. Since January 2018, they have uploaded weekly videos to their group channel under the banner of "Sidemen Sunday".
Over time, several supporting characters have been introduced and promoted to starring roles, including singer and artist Talia Mar, Instagram model, Tik Toker and horse breeder Faith Kelly, model and streamer Katie Cain, neuroscientist Amira Moore and microbiologist Bernadette Robertson. The series also features numerous supporting characters, each of whom plays a prominent role in a story arc. 
In 2018 a spin off called The Sidemen Show aired with association with Antenna Pictures, and executive produced by Jago Lee, Dan Lubetkin, Austin Long, and James Tooley, with Craig Pickles serving as the series director and Iain Glen narrating. The series sees the Sidemen take on stunts and challenges around the world alongside celebrity guests, including Steve-O, Steve Aoki, Jack Whitehall, Kristian Nairn, Jme, Bear Grylls, Nicole Scherzinger, and Sergey Volkov.
In 2023, the series spawned a prequel series, Young Thomas, based on Thomas Carter's childhood growing up in the 1990s; who tries to fit into a world full of more socially normal people, including his own family and friends, who do not quite understand how to deal with his unique intellectual capabilities and social ineptitude. it also airs on YouTube and Twitch. The series is premiered as a special preview on January 5, 2023, and was picked up for a full season that began airing weekly from March 5, 2023. 
== Production ==
Series' logo used for print
The show's pilot episode premiered on September 24, 2007. This was the second pilot produced for the show. A different pilot was produced for the 2006–07 television season but never aired. The structure of the original unaired pilot was different from the series' current form. The only main characters retained in both pilots were Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon (Jim Parsons), who are named after Sheldon Leonard, a longtime figure in episodic television as a producer, director, and actor. A minor character, Althea (Vernee Watson), appeared in the first scene of both pilots that was retained generally as-is. The first pilot included two female lead characters - Katie, "a street-hardened, tough-as-nails woman with a vulnerable interior" (played by Canadian actress Amanda Walsh), and Gilda, a scientist colleague and friend of the male characters (played by Iris Bahr). Sheldon and Leonard meet Katie after she breaks up with a boyfriend, and they invite her to share their apartment. Gilda is threatened by Katie's presence. Test audiences reacted negatively to Katie, but they liked Sheldon and Leonard. The original pilot used Thomas Dolby's hit "She Blinded Me with Science" as its theme song.
Although the original pilot was not picked up, its creators were given an opportunity to retool it and produce a second pilot. They brought in the remaining cast and retooled the show to its final format. Katie was replaced by Penny (Kaley Cuoco). The original unaired pilot has never been officially released, but it has circulated on the Internet.[citation needed] On the evolution of the show, Chuck Lorre said, "We did the 'Big Bang Pilot' about two and a half years ago, and it sucked ... but there were two remarkable things that worked perfectly, and that was Johnny and Jim. We rewrote the thing entirely, and then we were blessed with Kaley and Simon and Kunal." As to whether the world will ever see the original pilot on a future DVD release, Lorre said, "Wow, that would be something. We will see. Show your failures..."
The first and second pilots of The Big Bang Theory were directed by James Burrows, who did not continue with the show. The reworked second pilot led to a 13-episode order by CBS on May 14, 2007. Prior to its airing on CBS, the pilot episode was distributed on iTunes free of charge. The show premiered on September 24, 2007, and was picked up for a full 22-episode season on October 19, 2007. The show is filmed in front of a live audience, and it is produced by Chuck Lorre Productions and Warner Bros. Television. Production was halted on November 6, 2007, due to the Writers Guild of America strike. Nearly three months later, on February 4, 2008, the series was temporarily replaced by a short-lived sitcom, Welcome to The Captain. The series returned on March 17, 2008, in an earlier time slot, and ultimately only 17 episodes were produced for the first season.
After the strike ended, the show was picked up for a second season, airing in the 2008–2009 season, premiering in the same time slot on September 22, 2008. With increasing ratings, the show received a two-year renewal through the 2010–11 season in 2009. In 2011, the show was picked up for three more seasons. In March 2014, the show was renewed again for three more years through the 2016–17 season. This marked the second time the series gained a three-year renewal. In March 2017, the series was renewed for two additional seasons, bringing its total to 12, and running through the 2018–19 television season.
Several of the actors on The Big Bang Theory previously worked together on the sitcom Roseanne, including Johnny Galecki, Sara Gilbert, Laurie Metcalf (who plays Sheldon's mother, Mary Cooper), and Meagen Fay (who plays Bernadette's mother). Additionally, Lorre was a writer on the series for several seasons.
=== Science consultants ===
David Saltzberg, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles, checked scripts and provided dialogue, mathematics equations, and diagrams used as props. According to executive producer/cocreator Bill Prady, "We're working on giving Sheldon an actual problem that he's going to be working on throughout the [first] season so there's actual progress to the boards ... We worked hard to get all the science right." Saltzberg, who has a Ph.D. in physics, served as the science consultant for the show for six seasons and attended every taping. He saw early versions of scripts that needed scientific information added to them, and he also pointed out where the writers, despite their knowledge of science, had made a mistake. He was usually not needed during a taping unless a lot of science, and especially the whiteboard, was involved.
Saltzberg sometimes needed assistance on biology from Mayim Bialik, who has a Ph.D. in neuroscience.
=== Theme song ===
Single cover for "Big Bang Theory Theme" by Barenaked Ladies (2007)
The Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies wrote and recorded the show's theme song, which describes the history and formation of the universe and the Earth. Co-lead singer Ed Robertson was asked by Lorre and Prady to write a theme song for the show after the producers attended one of the band's concerts in Los Angeles. Coincidentally, Robertson had recently read Simon Singh's book Big Bang, and at the concert he improvised a freestyle rap about the origins of the universe.[citation needed] Lorre and Prady phoned him shortly thereafter and asked him to write the theme song. Having been asked to write songs for other films and shows, but ending up being rejected because producers favored songs by other artists, Robertson agreed to write the theme only after learning that Lorre and Prady had not asked anyone else.[citation needed]
On October 9, 2007, a full-length (1 minute and 45 seconds) version of the song was released commercially. Although some unofficial pages identify the song title as "History of Everything," the cover art for the single identifies the title as "Big Bang Theory Theme." A music video also was released via special features on The Complete Fourth Season DVD and Blu-ray set. The theme was included on the band's greatest hits album, Hits from Yesterday & the Day Before, released on September 27, 2011. In September 2015, TMZ uncovered court documents showing that Steven Page sued[needs update] former bandmate Robertson over the song, alleging that he was promised 20 percent of the proceeds, but that Robertson has kept that money for himself
== Cast ==
=== Main Characters ===
* Lewis Hutchison - a experimental physicist with an IQ of 163. Originally from Birmingham, he received his PhD at age 19, spending at least some of his time at University of Birmingham. Lewis is a nerd who loves video games, comic books, and Dungeons & Dragons. Lewis is the founder of the Sidemen and straight man of the group and shown to be most social and successful with women. He shares an apartment in with Thomas. Lewis is smitten with his new neighbour Penny when they first meet, and they eventually marry.
* Thomas Carter - is a theoretical physicist, possessing a B.S, M.S, M.A, Ph.D, Sc.D, IQ of 197, and eidetic memory. He is the smartest member of the Sidemen and was born in Northern Ireland, he was a child prodigy and received his PhD at age 16. He is very hot-tempered and is determined to have his own way. He is very egotistical and snooty as he continually boasts of his intelligence and has an extremely ritualized way of living. In seasons 1–9, he shares an apartment with best friend and fellow physicist Dr. Lewis Hutchinson. Despite his lack of social graces, he does care about his friends and family and begins a relationship with Amira Moore, and they eventually marry.
* Penny - is the main female protagonist of the series. An aspiring actress from Leeds, Yorkshire. Penny moves in across the hall from Thomas and Lewis. She waits tables and occasionally tends the bar at The Cheesecake Factory. After giving up hope of becoming a successful actress, Penny becomes a pharmaceutical sales representative. Penny becomes friends with Talia, Katie, Faith, Bernadette and Amira, and they often hang out in each other's apartments. Penny and Lewis form a relationship and eventually marry.
*JJ Olatunji - is better known as KSI is a YouTuber, musician, rapper, actor, professional boxer and the most popular member of the Sidemen. JJ’s persona tends to be very laid-back and outgoing but is sometimes shown to have a pretty big ego. However, he does genuinely care and emphasize with his friends and family. Like Lewis, he shown be very successful with women as he had multiple relationships and has even rumoured that he got a girl pregnant (which was proven to be false). He is of Nigerian heritage.
* Simon Minter - is a YouTube personality and the oldest member of the Sidemen. He is well known for his tall, slender appearance and his kind, sarcastic, witty persona. He is close with JJ as they share a flat and known each other for a along time since their teen years''. In Season 2, Simon moved into the original Sidemen House with three other members of the Sidemen and moved out in 2019. In Season 5, he starts a relationship with Talia Mar and later get engaged.
*Ethan Payne - is a YouTube personality and the most heaviest and easily-amused of the Sidemen. He is quite moody, kind and outspoken and was widely known for his uncontrollable high-pitched laughter and is usually the butt of the many recurring jokes, which in the past heavily involved homosexuality or his weight. He lost about lost over 25 kilograms in weight and became a fitness frantic and began dating Faith Kelly in season 9. Ethan announced that his partner, Faith, was pregnant and revealed they were having a baby girl and was born on September 25 2022.
* Harry Lewis - is a YouTube personality and the youngest member of the Sidemen. Harry was born in Guernsey, but grew up in Alderney - one of the Channel Islands - until age 8 when his family moved back to Guernsey. Harry is shown to be the most fearless and energetic of the Sidemen and is described by Ethan and Simon as very "kid-like" and having a "lack of care for the world". He is currently in a relationship with Katie Cain.
* James Wolfowitz - is a YouTube personality and aerospace engineer and the only member of the Sidemen to not have a PhD which Thomas mocks him for. He got his master's degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He lives with his overbearing mother, Debbie Wolfowitz. James is Jewish and is best known for his sex addicted, perverted nature and flirts with every hot woman he sees. He goes into space, training as an astronaut and serving as a payload specialist. He later starts dating Bernadette, and they get engaged and married have two kids.
* Vik Barn - is a YouTube personality, particle astrophysicist and the nicest and quietest member of the Sidemen. Originally from India. Vik had selective mutism, rendering him unable to talk to or be around women unless under the influence of alcohol. He comes from a wealthy family in India, and often communicates with his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Barn, via webcam. He later speaks to Penny without alcohol, overcoming his selective mutism. despite his shy nature, he has had success with women and has been in multiple relationships and dates.
These characters were first credited as guest stars and later promoted to main cast:
* Lily Powell - PhD (main: season 2; recurring: season 1; guest: seasons 3 & 9) is an experimental physicist who shares her lab with Lewis. In appearance, she is essentially Lewis's female counterpart, equipped with black-framed glasses and sweat jackets. She suffers from lazy eye. She is one of Thomas's archenemies due to their conflicting scientific ideas and takes every opportunity to insult Thomas for mistreating her.
*Seana Cuthbert - (main: season 1 & 2; recurring: season 3; guest: seasons 6) is JJ's ex girlfriend who he dated from season 1 to 3, with the two making several videos together in the early years of his channel. Seana continued to be brought up in Sidemen videos in the following years, and she was mentioned in Harry's first diss-track during the "Sidemen Beef" in Season 5.
* Talia Mar - (guest star season 3-4, season 5-present) A young women who is a songwriter and singer one of Penny's friends. In season 5 Talia began dating Simon Minter after they met at Wireless festival, saying: “She was there with a brand and I was there with my mates.” In season 10 it was announced the couple were engaged via Instagram. Talia attended the prestigious performing arts school, the BRIT School, with which she has credited her theoretical knowledge of music.
* Faith Kelly - (guest star season 3-4, season 5-present) a young women, model, fitness and TikTok influencer. She first appeared in season 3 when she was introduced as one of Penny's friends, she and Ethan developed feelings for each other in Season 4-8 while Ethan was in a relationship with Emily Geere shortly after they broke up they began dating. In season 10, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child together. Their daughter was born in September 2022.
* Katie Cain - (guest star season 3-4, season 5-present): A young women, a streamer and model. Cain first appeared when she began dating Harry and became well-known as the man’s girlfriend. Katie is a sweet and good-natured person, and devoted girlfriend of Harry. Like her boyfriend she is also from Guernsey
* Bernadette Robertson - (guest star season 3-4, season 5-present) : A young woman who initially is a co-worker at The Cheesecake Factory with Penny to pay her way through graduate school, where she is studying microbiology. Bernadette is introduced to James by Penny; at first, they do not get along, apparently having nothing in common. They date and later get engaged and married. She was revealed to be pregnant in 2021 and she and James give to a baby girl. Although generally a sweet and good-natured person, Bernadette has a short fuse and can be vindictive and lash out when provoked.
* Amira Moore - (guest star season 3-4, season 5-present) : A young woman selected by an online dating site as Thomas's perfect mate. While she and Thomas initially share social cluelessness, after befriending the girls, she eventually becomes more interested in social and romantic interaction. Amira starts dating Thomas because "she likes a project"; Amira tolerates his selfish and egotistical behaviour as she has a keen astuteness which allows her to read between the lines when they first meet; Amira immediately works out Thomas for who he really is. Her relationship with Thomas slowly progresses to the point at which Thomas considers her his girlfriend, and eventually, they get married. Amira believes she and Penny are best friends, a sentiment that Penny does not initially share. Amira has a Ph.D. in neurobiology.
=== Scientist cameos ===
See also: List of The Sidemen characters § Guest stars appearing as themselves
As the theme of the show revolves around science, many distinguished and high-profile scientists have appeared as guest stars on the show. Famous astrophysicist and Nobel laureate George Smoot had a cameo appearance in the second season. Theoretical physicist Brian Greene appeared in the fourth season, as well as astrophysicist, science popularizer, and physics outreach specialist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who also appeared in the twelfth season.
Cosmologist Stephen Hawking made a short guest appearance in a fifth-season episode; in the eighth season, Hawking video conferences with Sheldon and Leonard, and he makes another appearance in the 200th episode. In the fifth and sixth seasons, NASA astronaut Michael J. Massimino played himself multiple times in the role of Howard's fellow astronaut. Bill Nye appeared in the seventh and twelfth seasons.
== Episodes ==
Season	Episodes	Episodes	Originally aired 	Originally aired	Rank	Avg. viewers
(millions)
Season	Episodes	Episodes	First aired 	Last aired 	Rank	Avg. viewers
(millions)
1 	18 	18 	October 19, 2012 	May 10, 2013 	6 	16.30
2 	26 	26 	September 24, 2013 	May 16, 2014 	5 	14.37
3 	26 	26 	September 26, 2014 	June 24, 2015 	8 	11.45
4 	26 	26 	September 5, 2015 	June 13, 2016 	12 	9.45
5 	30 	30 	September 7, 2016 	May 19, 2017 	8 	9.21
6 	30 	30 	September 29, 2017 	May 9, 2018 	8 	13.8
7 	30 	 	September 22nd 2018	May 17, 2019 	10 	11.3
8 	30 	 	September 19th 2019	May 19, 2020 	10 	9.89
9 	28 	 	September 19th 2020	July 2021 	8 	12.6
10 	28 	 	September 13th 2021	June 2022 	8 	11.8
11 	26 	 	September 9th 2022 	June 2023 	6 	15.9
12 	26 	 	September 11th 2023	June 2024 	7 	12.8
== Recurring themes and elements ==
=== Science ===
Much of the series focuses on science, particularly physics. The four main male characters are employed at Caltech and have science-related occupations, as do Bernadette and Amy. The characters frequently banter about scientific theories or news (notably around the start of the show), and make science-related jokes.
Science has also interfered with the characters' romantic lives. Leslie breaks up with Leonard when he sides with Sheldon in his support for string theory rather than loop quantum gravity. When Leonard joins Sheldon, Raj, and Howard on a three-month Arctic research trip, it separates Leonard and Penny at a time when their relationship is budding. When Bernadette takes an interest in Leonard's work, it makes both Penny and Howard envious and results in Howard confronting Leonard and Penny asking Sheldon to teach her physics. Sheldon and Amy also briefly end their relationship after an argument over which of their fields is superior.
=== "Nerd" media ===
Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Wil Wheaton has a recurring role as a fictional version of himself on the show.
The four main male characters are all avid fans of nerd culture. Among their shared interests are science fiction, fantasy, comic books, and collecting memorabilia.
Star Trek in particular is frequently referenced, and Sheldon identifies strongly with the character of Spock, so much so that when he is given a used napkin signed by Leonard Nimoy as a Christmas gift from Penny, he is overwhelmed with excitement and gratitude ("I possess the DNA of Leonard Nimoy?!"). Star Trek: The Original Series cast members William Shatner and George Takei have made cameos, and Leonard Nimoy made a cameo as the voice of Sheldon's vintage Mr. Spock action figure. Star Trek: The Next Generation cast members Brent Spiner and LeVar Burton have had cameos as themselves, while Wil Wheaton has a recurring role as a fictionalized version of himself. Leonard and Sheldon have had conversations in Klingon.
They are also fans of Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and Doctor Who. James Earl Jones, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill make guest appearances. In the episode "The Ornithophobia Diffusion", when there is a delay in watching Star Wars on Blu-ray, Howard complains, "If we don't start soon, George Lucas is going to change it again" (referring to Lucas' controversial alterations to the films). In "The Hot Troll Deviation", Katee Sackhoff of Battlestar Galactica appeared as Howard's fantasy dream girl. The characters have different tastes in franchises, with Sheldon praising Firefly but disapproving of Leonard's enjoyment of Babylon 5. With regard to fantasy, the four make frequent references to The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter novels and movies. Additionally, Howard can speak Sindarin, one of the two Elvish languages from The Lord of the Rings.
Wednesday night is the group's designated "comic book night" because that is the day of the week when new comic books are released. The comic book store is run by fellow geek and recurring character Stuart. On a number of occasions, the group members have dressed up as pop culture characters, including The Flash, Aquaman, Frodo Baggins, Superman, Batman, Spock, The Doctor, Green Lantern, and Thor. As a consequence of losing a bet to Stuart and Wil Wheaton, the group members are forced to visit the comic book store dressed as Catwoman, Wonder Woman, Batgirl, and Supergirl. DC Comics announced that, to promote its comics, the company will sponsor Sheldon wearing Green Lantern T-shirts.
Various games have been featured, as well as referenced, on the series (e.g. World of Warcraft, Halo, Mario, Donkey Kong, etc.), including fictional games like Mystic Warlords of Ka'a (which became a reality in 2011) and Rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock.
=== Lewis and Penny's relationship ===
One of the recurring plot lines is the relationship between Leonard and Penny. Leonard becomes attracted to Penny in the pilot episode, and his need to do favors for her is a frequent point of humor in the first season. Meanwhile, Penny dates a series of muscular, attractive, unintelligent, and insensitive jocks. Their first long-term relationship begins when Leonard returns from a three-month expedition to the North Pole in the season 3 premiere. However, when Leonard tells Penny that he loves her, she realizes she cannot say it back, and they break up. Both Leonard and Penny go on to date other people, most notably with Leonard dating Raj's sister Priya for much of season 4. This relationship is jeopardized when Leonard comes to falsely believe that Raj has slept with Penny, and it ultimately ends when Priya sleeps with a former boyfriend in "The Good Guy Fluctuation".
Penny, who admits to missing Leonard in "The Roommate Transmogrification", accepts his request to renew their relationship in "The Beta Test Initiation". After Penny suggests having sex in "The Launch Acceleration", Leonard breaks the mood by proposing to her. Penny says "no" but does not break up with him. She stops a proposal a second time in "The Tangible Affection Proof". In the sixth-season episode, "The 43 Peculiarity", Penny finally tells Leonard that she loves him. Although they both feel jealousy when the other receives significant attention from the opposite sex, Penny is secure in their relationship, even when he leaves on a four-month expedition to the North Sea in "The Bon Voyage Reaction". After he returns, the relationship blossoms over the seventh season. In the penultimate episode "The Gorilla Dissolution", Penny admits that they should marry and when Leonard realizes that she is serious, he proposes with a ring that he has been carrying for years. Leonard and Penny decide to elope to Las Vegas in the season 8 finale, but beforehand, wanting no secrets, Leonard admits to kissing another woman, Mandy Chow (Melissa Tang) while on the expedition. Despite this, Leonard and Penny finally marry in the season 9 premiere and remain happy. By the Season 9 finale, Penny and Leonard decide to have a second wedding ceremony for their family and friends, to make up for eloping. In season 10, Sheldon moves into Penny's old apartment with Amy, allowing Penny and Leonard to finally live on their own as husband and wife.
In season 12, Penny announces that she does not want to have any children and Leonard reluctantly supports her decision. Later, her old boyfriend Zack and his new wife want Leonard to be a surrogate father to their kid since Zack is infertile. Penny reluctantly agrees to let Leonard donate his sperm. However, when she tries to seduce Leonard despite knowing he has to be abstinent for a few days, her visiting father, Wyatt, points out to Penny that her own actions suggest she is more conflicted over having kids than she lets on, and she admits she feels bad about letting him and Leonard down if she never has children. He says that despite her flaws, parenthood is the best thing that ever happened to him and he does not want her to miss out, but that he will support her no matter what she does. Leonard eventually changes his mind, not wanting a child in the world that he cannot raise. In the series finale, Penny is pregnant with Leonard's baby, and she has changed her mind about not wanting children.
=== Thomas and Amira's relationship ===
In the third-season finale, Raj and Howard sign Sheldon up for online dating to find a woman compatible with Sheldon, and they discover neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler. Like Sheldon, she has a history of social ineptitude and participates in online dating only to fulfill an agreement with her mother. This spawns a story line in which Sheldon and Amy communicate daily while insisting to Leonard and Penny that they are not romantically involved. In "The Agreement Dissection", Sheldon and Amy talk in her apartment after a night of dancing and she kisses him on the lips. Instead of getting annoyed, Sheldon says "fascinating" and later asks Amy to be his girlfriend in "The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition". The same night he draws up "The Relationship Agreement" to verify the ground rules of him as her boyfriend and vice versa (similar to his "Roommate Agreement" with Leonard). Amy agrees but later regrets not having had a lawyer read through it.
In "The Launch Acceleration", Amy tries to use her "neurobiology bag of tricks" to increase the attraction between herself and Sheldon. Her efforts appear to be working because Sheldon is not happy, but he makes no attempt to stop her. In the fifth-season finale, "The Countdown Reflection", Sheldon takes Amy's hand as Howard is launched into space. In the sixth-season premiere, "The Date Night Variable", after a dinner in which Sheldon fails to live up to this expectation, Amy gives Sheldon an ultimatum that their relationship is over unless he tells her something from his heart. Amy accepts Sheldon's romantic speech even after learning that it is a line from the first Spider-Man movie. In "The Cooper/Kripke Inversion", Sheldon states that he has been working on his discomfort about physical contact and admits that "it's a possibility" that he could one day have sex with Amy. Amy is revealed to have similar feelings in "The Love Spell Potential". Sheldon explains that he never thought about intimacy with anyone before Amy.
"The Locomotive Manipulation" is the first episode in which Sheldon initiates a kiss with Amy. Although initially done in a fit of sarcasm, he discovers that he enjoys the feeling. Consequently, Sheldon slowly starts to open up over the rest of the season, and he starts a more intimate relationship with Amy. However, in the season finale, Sheldon leaves town temporarily to cope with several changes and Amy becomes distraught. However, 45 days into the trip, Sheldon gets mugged and calls for Leonard to drive him home, only to be confronted by Amy, who is upset over not being contacted by him in weeks. When Sheldon admits he did not call her because he was too embarrassed to admit that he could not make it on his own, Amy accepts that he is not perfect. In "The Prom Equivalency", Sheldon hides in his room to avoid going to a mock prom reenactment with her. In the resulting standoff, Amy is about to confess that she loves Sheldon, but he surprises her by saying that he loves her too. This prompts Amy to have a panic attack.
In the season-eight finale, Sheldon and Amy get into a fight about commitment on their fifth anniversary. Amy tells Sheldon that she needs to think about the future of their relationship, unaware that Sheldon was about to propose to her. Season nine sees Sheldon harassing Amy about making up her mind until she breaks up with him. Both struggle with singlehood and trying to be friends for the next few weeks until they reunite in episode ten and have sex for the first time on Amy's birthday. In season ten, Amy's apartment is flooded, and she and Sheldon decide to move in together into Penny's apartment as part of a five-week experiment to determine compatibility with each other's living habits. It goes well and they decide to make the arrangement permanent.
In the Season 11 premiere, Sheldon proposes to Amy and she accepts. The two get married in the eleventh-season finale.
=== "Soft Kitty" ===
Main article: Soft Kitty
The song "Soft Kitty" is described by Sheldon as a song sung by his mother when he was ill. Its repeated use in the series popularized the song. A scene showing the origin of the song in Sheldon's childhood is depicted in an episode of Young Sheldon, which aired on February 1, 2018. It shows Sheldon's mother, Mary, singing the song to her son, who has the flu.
=== James's mother ===
In scenes set at Howard's home, he interacts with his rarely-seen mother (voiced by Carol Ann Susi until her death) by shouting from room to room in the house. She similarly interacts with other characters in this manner. She reflects the Jewish mother stereotype in some ways, such as being overly controlling of Howard's adult life and sometimes trying to make him feel guilty about causing her trouble. She is dependent on Howard, as she requires him to help her with her wig and makeup in the morning. Howard, in turn, is attached to his mother to the point where she still cuts his meat for him, takes him to the dentist, does his laundry and "grounds" him when he returns home after briefly moving out. Until Howard's marriage to Bernadette in the fifth-season finale, Howard's former living situation led Leonard's psychiatrist mother to speculate that he may suffer from some type of pathology and Sheldon to refer to their relationship as Oedipal. In season 8, Howard's mother dies in her sleep while in Florida, which devastates Howard and Stuart, who briefly lived with Mrs. Wolowitz.
=== Apartment building elevator ===
In the apartment building where Sheldon, Leonard, and Penny (and later Amy) live, the elevator has been out of order throughout most of the series, forcing characters to have to use the stairs. Stairway conversations between characters occur in almost every episode, often serving as a transition between longer scenes. The Season 3 episode, "The Staircase Implementation" reveals that the elevator was broken when Leonard was experimenting with rocket fuel. In the penultimate episode of the series, the elevator is returned to an operational state, causing Sheldon some angst, until he realizes that the fixed elevator reverted things to the "status quo".
== Broadcast ==
The Big Bang Theory premiered in the United States on September 24, 2007, on CBS. The series debuted in Canada on CTV in September 2007. On February 14, 2008, the series debuted in the United Kingdom on channels E4 and Channel 4. In Australia the first seven seasons of the series began airing on the Seven Network and 7mate from October 2015 and also gained the rights to season 8 in 2016, although the Nine Network has rights to air seasons nine & ten. On January 22, 2018, it was announced that Nine had acquired the rights to Season 1–8.
=== Syndication ===
In May 2010, it was reported that the show had been picked up for syndication, mainly among Fox's owned and operated stations and other local stations, with Warner Bros. Television's sister cable network TBS holding the show's cable syndication rights. Broadcast of old shows began airing in September 2011. TBS now airs the series in primetime on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, with evening broadcasts on Saturdays (TBS's former local sister station in Atlanta also holds local weeknight rights to the series). Although details of the syndication deal have not been revealed, it was reported the deal "set a record price for a cable off-network sitcom purchase". CTV holds national broadcast syndication rights in Canada, while sister cable network The Comedy Network holds cable rights.
=== Online media ===
Warner Bros. Television controls the online rights for the show. Full episodes were available at tv.com, while short clips and recently aired full episodes were available on cbs.com and later in its run CBS All Access. In Canada, recent episode(s) and pictures are available on CTV.ca. Additionally in Canada, the first six seasons are available for streaming on Bell Media's CraveTV. After the show has aired in New Zealand the shows are available in full online at TVNZ's on demand web service.
In 2020, the show became available in the United States on HBO Max
== Offshoots ==
=== Plagiarized series ===
Through the use of his vanity cards at the end of episodes, Lorre alleged that the program had been plagiarized by a show produced and aired in Belarus in 2010. Officially titled Теоретики [ru] (The Theorists), the show features "clones" of the main characters, a similar opening sequence, and what appears to be a very close Russian translation of the scripts. Lorre expressed annoyance and described his inquiry with the Warner Bros. legal department about options. The television production company and station's close relationship with the Belarus government was cited as the reason that any attempt to claim copyright infringement would be in vain because the company copying the episodes is operated by the government.
However, no legal action was required to end production of the other show: as soon as it became known that the show was unlicensed, the actors quit and the producers canceled it. Dmitriy Tankovich (who plays Leonard's counterpart, "Seva") said in an interview, "I'm upset. At first, the actors were told all legal issues were resolved. We didn't know it wasn't the case, so when the creators of The Big Bang Theory started talking about the show, I was embarrassed. I can't understand why our people first do, and then think. I consider this to be the rock bottom of my career. And I don't want to take part in a stolen show".
=== Spin-off series ===
Main article: Young Sheldon
In November 2016, it was reported that CBS was in negotiations to create a spin-off of The Big Bang Theory centered on Sheldon as a young boy. The prequel series, described as "a Malcolm in the Middle-esque single-camera family comedy" would be executive-produced by Lorre and Molaro, with Prady expected to be involved in some capacity, and intended to air in the 2017–18 season alongside The Big Bang Theory. The initial idea for the series came from Parsons, who passed it along to The Big Bang Theory producers. In early March 2017, Iain Armitage was cast as the younger Sheldon, as well as Zoe Perry as his mother, Mary Cooper. Perry is the real-life daughter of Laurie Metcalf, who portrays Mary Cooper on The Big Bang Theory.
On March 13, 2017, CBS ordered the spin-off Young Sheldon series. Jon Favreau directed and executive produced the pilot. Created by Lorre and Molaro, the series follows 9-year-old Sheldon Cooper as he attends high school in East Texas. Alongside Armitage as 9-year-old Sheldon Cooper and Perry as Mary Cooper, Lance Barber stars as George Cooper, Sheldon's father; Raegan Revord stars as Missy Cooper, Sheldon's twin sister; and Montana Jordan stars as George Cooper Jr., Sheldon's older brother. Jim Parsons reprises his role as adult Sheldon Cooper, as narrator for the series. Parsons, Lorre, Molaro and Todd Spiewak also serve as executive producers on the series, for Chuck Lorre Productions and Warner Bros. Television. The show's pilot episode premiered on September 25, 2017. Subsequent weekly episodes began airing on November 2, 2017, following the broadcast of the 237th episode of The Big Bang Theory.
Armitage appeared on the series' 265th episode, "The VCR Illumination", by way of a videotape recorded by the younger Sheldon and viewed by the current-day Sheldon.
On January 6, 2018, the show was renewed for a second season. On February 22, 2019, CBS renewed the series for both the third and fourth seasons.