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Draft:The Big Bang Theory (franchise)

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The Big Bang Theory
Created by
Original workThe Big Bang Theory
unaired pilot (2007)
OwnerChuck Lorre Productions
Years2007–present
Films and television
Television series
Audio
Original music
Miscellaneous
SpecialUnraveling the Mystery: A Big Bang Farewell (2019)
AdaptationsThe Theorists (2010)

The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom media franchise created by Steven Molaro, Bill Prady and Chuck Lorre. It began with the Brady and Lorre television series The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019), and includes Young Sheldon (2017–2024) and Stuart, Denise & Bert (2025), both spin-offs of the first series, as well as Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage (2024–present), a spin-off of Young Sheldon. The fictional universe is informally referred to as the "Big-Bang-verse" or simply the "Bang-verse".[1][2][3]

The Big Bang Theory initially revolved around five characters: Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), both physicists at Caltech, who share an apartment; Penny (Kaley Cuoco), a waitress and aspiring actress who lives across the hall; and Leonard and Sheldon's similarly geeky and socially awkward friends and coworkers, aerospace engineer Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and astrophysicist Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar).[4][5] Over time, supporting characters were promoted to starring roles, including neuroscientist Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik), microbiologist Bernadette Rostenkowski (Melissa Rauch), and comic book store owner Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman). Young Sheldon, the prequel series, narrated by Parsons, follows a younger Sheldon Cooper (Iain Armitage) during his early life as a child prodigy, with his mother Mary (Zoe Perry), father George (Lance Barber), brother Georgie (Montana Jordan), twin sister Missy (Raegan Revord), and grandmother Connie/"Meemaw" (Annie Potts).[6][7] Over time, supporting characters were promoted to starring roles, including pastor Jeff Difford (Matt Hobby), neighbour Billy Sparks (Wyatt McClure), and Georgie's wife Mandy (Emily Osment). Its own sequel series, Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage, follows newlywed Georgie (Jordan) and Mandy (Osment) as they move in with the latter's family, the McAllisters, including father Jim (Will Sasso), mother Audrey (Rachel Bay Jones), and brother Connor (Dougie Baldwin), as well as neighbour Ruben (Jessie Prez). Stuart, Denise & Bert, a sequel to the Big Bang Theory, will follow Stuart (Bloom), his girlfriend Denise (Lauren Lapkus), and friend Bert (Brian Posehn).

The Big Bang Theory and Stuart, Denise & Bert are set in Pasadena, California, while Young Sheldon and Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage are set in the fictional town of Medford, Texas.

The The Big Bang Theory franchise has since expanded across several different mediums and multimedia platforms, with varying degrees of contributions from its cast and crew, including the Russian-language unofficial remake The Theorists, the cast of which were not informed of its unauthorised nature.[8]

Television series

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The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019)

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Main article: The Big Bang Theory

Young Sheldon (2017–2024)

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Main article: Young Sheldon

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage (2024–present)

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Main article: Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage

In January 2024, it was announced that there will be a spin-off series of Young Sheldon focused on Georgie Cooper and Mandy McAllister that will be slated for the 2024–25 season on CBS.[9]

Stuart, Denise & Bert (2025)

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On April 12, 2023, it was announced that a spin-off of the original series was in development.[10] On October 10, 2024, it was announced that the third spin-off will feature Stuart Bloom, Denise, and Bert Kibbler, with Kevin Sussman, Lauren Lapkus, and Brian Posehn reprising their roles.[11]

Adaptations

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The Theorists (2010)

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Further information: The Theorists

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.[12] 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.[13] 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.[14]

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.[15] Dmitriy Tankovich [ru] (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.[8]

Recurring cast and characters

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Further information: List of The Big Bang Theory franchise characters
List indicators

This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in multiple television series.

  • An empty, dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the television series, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
  •  E indicates an appearance not included in the theatrical cut.
  •  G indicates a guest appearance in the television series.
  •  R indicates a recurring role in the television series.
  •  V indicates a voice-only role.
  •  Y indicates a younger version of the character.
Character The Big Bang Theory Young Sheldon Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage Stuart, Denise & Bert
2007–2019 2017–2024 2024–present 2025

Main characters

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Leonard Hofstadter Johnny Galecki Isaac Harger
Sheldon Cooper Jim Parsons Iain Armitage
Jim ParsonsVG
Penny Hofstadter Kaley Cuoco Quinn Aune
Howard Wolowitz Simon Helberg Ethan Reed Stern
Raj Koothrappali Kunal Nayyar Rishabh Prabhat
Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz Melissa Rauch A. J. Coggeshall
Amy Farrah Fowler Mayim Bialik Mayim BialikVG
Lily SanfelippoY
Mary Cooper Laurie MetcalfR Zoe Perry
George Cooper Sr. Lance Barber
Georgie Cooper Jerry O'ConnellR
Montana JordanG 		Montana Jordan
Missy Cooper Courtney HenggelerR Raegan Revord
Stuart Bloom Kevin Sussman Kevin Sussman
Bert Kibbler Brian PosehnR Brian Posehn
Denise Bloom Lauren LapkusR Lauren Lapkus
Connie Tucker ("Meemaw") June SquibbG Annie Potts
Mandy McAllister Emily Osment
Jim McAllister Will Sasso
Audrey McAllister Rachel Bay Jones
Connor McAllister Joseph Apollonio Dougie Baldwin

Recurring characters

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Althea Robinson Vernee Watson-Johnson
Mrs. Wolowitz Carol Ann SusiV Pamela AdlonV
Beverly Hofstadter Christine Baranski
Arthur Jeffries/"Professor Proton" Bob Newhart
Tam Nguyen Robert Wu Ryan Phuong
Elon Musk Himself
Stephen Hawking Himself

Other media

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On March 16, 2014, a Lego Ideas project[16] portraying the living room scene in Lego style with the main cast as mini-figures reached 10,000 supporters on the platform, which qualified it to be considered as an official set by the Lego Ideas review board. On November 7, 2014, Lego Ideas approved the design and began refining it. The set was released in August 2015, with an exclusive pre-sale taking place at San Diego Comic-Con.

References

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  1. ^ Brown, Adam (June 1, 2024). "Can The Big Bang Theory Franchise Survive Without Sheldon?". MovieWeb. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
  2. ^ Abdullah, Immy (March 6, 2024). "Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik to reprise iconic Big Bang Theory roles in Young Sheldon series finale". Nine.com. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  3. ^ Smith, Jeremy (September 22, 2024). "How Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage Deals With That Major Big Bang Theory Death". Slash Film. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  4. ^ Strauss, Gary (April 11, 2007). "There's a science to CBS' Big Bang Theory". USA Today. Archived from the original on September 22, 2009. Retrieved November 7, 2008.
  5. ^ Pierce, Scott D. (October 8, 2007). "He's a genius". Deseret News. Archived from the original on May 23, 2010. Retrieved December 11, 2008.
  6. ^ "Young Sheldon (2017) s02e011 Episode Script". Springfield Scripts. Archived from the original on January 7, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  7. ^ Bhatt, Jinal (July 15, 2019). "Young Sheldon's Iain Armitage Talks About Playing The 9 YO Version Of The Most Beloved Genius on Television". Mashable India. Archived from the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  8. ^ a b "'The Theorists' actors don't want to stay with a stolen project". Xaptbir97 (in Russian). April 28, 2017. Archived from the original on May 29, 2010.
  9. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2024-01-12). "'Young Sheldon' Spinoff About Georgie & Mandy Nears CBS Series Order From Chuck Lorre, Steven Molaro & Steve Holland". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  10. ^ Hailu, Selome (April 12, 2023). "New 'Big Bang Theory' Spinoff in Development at HBO Max". Variety. Archived from the original on April 15, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
  11. ^ Otterson, Joe (October 10, 2024). "'Big Bang Theory' Spinoff in Development at Max Adds Brian Posehn, Lauren Lapkus, Kevin Sussman". Variety. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  12. ^ "'Big Bang' In Belarus: The Theft of a Sitcom (video)". February 9, 2010. Archived from the original on September 28, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  13. ^ Lyons, Margaret (February 9, 2010). "'The Theorists': 'Big Bang Theory''s big Belarusian rip-off". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 25, 2020.
  14. ^ Lorre, Chuck (February 8, 2010). "Vanity Card #277". The Official Vanity Card Archives. Chuck Lorre Productions. Archived from the original on February 13, 2010.
  15. ^ "STV canceled the pirated show 'The Theorists'". Xaptbir97 (in Russian). February 18, 2010. Archived from the original on April 12, 2010.
  16. ^ "Lego Ideas The Big Bang Theory List". Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
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