The Big Bang Theory

An American comedy show full of practical jokes and funny tees, concerns two male Caltech prodigies in their twenties, one an experimental physicist and the other a theoretical physicist, who live across the hall from an attractive blonde waitress with show-biz aspirations.

It was first developed for the 2006-2007 television season, was fundamentally different to the show we see today. Only Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki were part of the original pilot, and the character now played by Kaley Cuoco was much meaner to the geeks. CBS did not pick the show up but gave creator and executive producer Bill Prady and Chuck Lorre a second chance. They brought in Kaley Cuoco, along with Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar, and retooled the show.

The second pilot of The Big Bang Theory was directed by award-winning television directing veteran James Burrows, who decided not to stay with the show. This reworked 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 September 24, 2007, and was picked-up for a full 22-episode season order on October 19, 2007.

However, production was halted on November 6, 2007 by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. As the strike ended, the show returned on March 17, 2008 with an earlier time slot and nine new episodes.

The second season premiered, in the same slot, on September 22, 2008. During the course of this season, the show bucked the trend of many other returning shows and saw its ratings grow, leading to a two-year renewal through what would be the 2010-11 season.

David Saltzberg, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles, checks scripts and provides dialogue, math equations and diagrams used as props. He says he's more consultant than contributor. Executive producer/co-creator Bill Prady said, "In fact, 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."

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