The sixth season of the American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on C ...

'' aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

from September 27, 2012 to May 16, 2013. The series crossed the 20 million viewer mark for the first time with this season's " The Bakersfield Expedition", which along with '' NCIS'', made CBS the first network to have two scripted series reach that large an audience in the same week since 2007. This success has been attributed to the sitcom's exposure in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

, its late 2010 move to a new time-slot, and the influence of showrunner

Steven Molaro Steven Molaro (born February 16, 1972) is an American television producer and writer. He has worked on such productions as '' Freddie'', '' The Class'', ''Complete Savages'', Nickelodeon's ''All That'', '' The Amanda Show'', ''Drake & Josh'', ''Z ...

(who took over from Bill Prady) on the characters' storylines.Schneider, Michael (January 28, 2013). "Bigger ''Bang'' Than Ever". ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

''. pp. 6 and 7. During the season, Kevin Sussman became a part of the main cast as Stuart Bloom.

Mark Cendrowski Mark Cendrowski is an American film and television director. He is best known as the director of most episodes of ''The Big Bang Theory''. Cendrowski is a 1981 graduate of the University of Michigan and a 1977 graduate of Notre Dame High Scho ...

was nominated for the

Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series The Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series is one of the annual Directors Guild of America Awards given by the Directors Guild of America. It was first presented at the 24th Directors Guild of Am ...

for the season premiere " The Date Night Variable".

Jim Parsons James Joseph Parsons (born March 24, 1973) is an American actor. From 2007 to 2019, he played Sheldon Cooper in the CBS sitcom '' The Big Bang Theory''. He has received various awards, including four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead ...

won the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. The award is presented to the best performance by a lead actor in a television comedy series. Beginning with the 18th Primetime Emm ...

at the

65th Primetime Emmy Awards The 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, honoring the best in prime time television programming from June 1, 2012 until May 31, 2013, were held on Sunday, September 22, 2013 at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California. CBS televised the cer ...

for the episode " The Habitation Configuration".

Mayim Bialik Mayim Chaya Bialik ( ; born December 12, 1975) is an American actress, game show host, and author. From 1991 to 1995, she played the title character of the NBC sitcom ''Blossom''. From 2010 to 2019, she played neuroscientist Amy Farrah Fowler on ...

submitted the episode " The Fish Guts Displacement" for consideration due to her nomination for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre-, or even gender-, specific. Begi ...

at the

Bob Newhart George Robert Newhart (born September 5, 1929) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery style. Newhart came to prominence in 1960 when his album of comedic monologues, ''The Button-Down Mi ...

won the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. Prior to 1988 the category was not gender specific, thus was called Outstanding Guest Performer in a Comedy Series. These awards, li ...

at the

65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards The 65th Annual Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony was held on September 15, 2013, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles. The ceremony was held in conjunction with the annual Primetime Emmy Awards and is presented in recognition o ...

for the episode " The Proton Resurgence".

Cast

Main cast

Johnny Galecki John Mark Galecki (born April 30, 1975) is an American actor. He played Leonard Hofstadter in the CBS sitcom '' The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019) for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, and David Healy in the ABC sitcoms ''Ro ...

as Dr. Leonard Hofstadter *

as Dr. Sheldon Cooper *

Kaley Cuoco Kaley Christine Cuoco ( ; born November 30, 1985) is an American actress. After a series of supporting film and television roles in the late 1990s, she landed her breakthrough role as Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom ''8 Simple Rules'' (200 ...

as Penny *

Simon Helberg Simon Maxwell Helberg (born December 9, 1980) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for playing Howard Wolowitz in the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019), for which he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Sup ...

Howard Wolowitz Howard Joel Wolowitz, M.Eng. is a fictional character on the CBS television series ''The Big Bang Theory'', portrayed by actor Simon Helberg. Among the four main male characters in the show, Howard is distinctive for being an engineer—rather ...

Kunal Nayyar Kunal Nayyar (, ; born 30 April 1981) is a British actor. He portrayed Raj Koothrappali on the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019) and voiced Vijay on the Nickelodeon animated sitcom ''Sanjay and Craig'' (2013–2016). Nayyar als ...

as Dr. Rajesh "Raj" Koothrappali *

as Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler * Melissa Rauch as Dr. Bernadette Rostenkowski Wolowitz * Kevin Sussman as Stuart Bloom

Special guest cast

* Howie Mandel as himself *

Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin (; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. As the Lunar Module ''Eagle'' pilot on the 1969 A ...

as himself *

LeVar Burton Levar Burton Jr. (born February 16, 1957) is an American actor, director, and television host, best known for playing Geordi La Forge in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994). He also played Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries ''R ...

as himself

Recurring cast

Carol Ann Susi Carol Ann Susi (February 2, 1952 – November 11, 2014) was an American actress whose career spanned 40 years. Her best known roles were probably her first and last; she debuted as the recurring character of semi-competent but likable intern Mo ...

Mrs. Wolowitz The American television sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'', created and executive produced by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, premiered on CBS on September 24, 2007, while the American comedy spin-off prequel television series ''Young Sheldon'', creat ...

* Pasha Lychnikoff as Dimitri Rezinov *

Mike Massimino Michael James Massimino (born August 19, 1962) is an American professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University and a former NASA astronaut. He is the senior advisor of space programs at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Early ...

as himself *

Margo Harshman Margo Cathleen Harshman (born March 4, 1986) is an American actress known for the roles of series regular Tawny Dean on ''Even Stevens'', Sheldon Cooper's assistant Alex Jensen on ''The Big Bang Theory'', and Timothy McGee's wife Delilah Field ...

Alex Jensen Alex Jensen (born May 16, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player, and current assistant coach for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a standout college player at the University of Utah. College ...

Wil Wheaton Richard William Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gordie Lachance in the film '' Stand by Me'', Joey Trotta in '' Toy Soldiers'', ...

as himself *

Casey Sander Clinton O. "Casey" Sander (born July 6, 1956) is an American actor known as the character "Captain" Jimmy Wennick on the short-lived TV series '' Tucker''. His television credits also include ''Criminal Minds'', ''The Golden Girls'', ''Grace Und ...

as Mike Rostenkowski *

Regina King Regina Rene King (born January 15, 1971) is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2019, ''Time'' magazine named her o ...

as Janine Davis *

John Ross Bowie John Ross Bowie (born May 30, 1971) is an American actor and comedian best known for playing Barry Kripke on ''The Big Bang Theory'' and Jimmy DiMeo on '' Speechless,'' in addition to over 100 film and TV credits. He is of no known relation to s ...

as Dr. Barry Kripke *

Kate Micucci Kate Micucci ( ; born March 31, 1980) is an American actress, comedian and musician who is half of the musical comedy duo Garfunkel and Oates. Some of her roles include Stephanie Gooch in '' Scrubs'', Ally in '' 'Til Death'', Shelley in '' Rai ...

as Lucy * Stephen Hawking as himself (voice) *

Brian Posehn Brian Edmund Posehn (; born July 6, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice actor, musician, and writer. After numerous appearances as a television guest star, Posehn acquired his first major recurring role in HBO's '' Mr. Show wi ...

as Dr. "Bert" Bertram Kibbler

Guest cast

Jan Hoag Janet A. Hoag is an American film and television actress. Career Since the beginning of the 1990s, Hoag has appeared in several television series, including ''Murder, She Wrote'', '' Step by Step'', '' Married... with Children'', ''Melrose Pl ...

as Lilian *

Ken Lerner Kenneth Lerner (born May 27, 1948) is an American television, stage and film actor. He played Principal Flutie in the first episodes of the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. Personal life Lerner was born in Brooklyn, New York, of ...

as Dr. Schneider * Janelle Marra as Claire *

Ryan Cartwright Ryan Cartwright (born 14 March 1981) is an English actor. Early life Cartwright was born on 14 March 1981 in Erdington, Birmingham, West Midlands. He has an older brother, Che Cartwright, who is also an actor. Career He began acting with th ...

as Cole * Meagen Fay as Mrs. Rostenkowski *

Dakin Matthews Melvin Richard "Dakin" Matthews (born November 7, 1940) is an American actor, playwright, theatre director, and theatrical scholar. Best known as Herb Kelcher in ''My Two Dads'' (1987–1989), Hanlin Charleston in ''Gilmore Girls'' (2000–2007) ...

as Santa *

Matt Battaglia Matteo Martin "Matt" Battaglia (born September 25, 1965) is an American producer, actor and former American football linebacker. Football career Battaglia played college football at the University of Louisville. Battaglia played at Louisville a ...

as Officer Reynolds * Josh Brener as Dale * Briana Cuoco as Gretchen * Riccardo LeBron as Tom *

as Dr. Arthur Jeffries/Professor Proton

Production

The

season finale A season finale (British English: last in the series; Australian English: season final) is the final episode of a season of a television program. This is often the final episode to be produced for a few months or longer, and, as such, will try ...

of season 5 depicted

traveling to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...

(ISS) on board a

Soyuz rocket The Soyuz (russian: Союз, meaning "union", GRAU index 11A511) was a Soviet expendable carrier rocket designed in the 1960s by OKB-1 and manufactured by State Aviation Plant No. 1 in Kuybyshev, Soviet Union. It was commissioned to launch ...

, and season 6 features him working in the ISS. Thanks to technical consulting from Astronaut

, who also plays himself on the show, the production crew was able to put together sets that realistically depict the Soyuz capsule and the ISS. A small portion of a chamber that is a model of the ISS was rented and used as the set for the ISS. "Unique camera angles and creative framing" were used to make the set look larger. To simulate

weightlessness Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight. It is also termed zero gravity, zero G-force, or zero-G. Weight is a measurement of the force on an object at rest in a relatively strong gravitational fie ...

, the production crew decided to use "long skinny platforms" to support the actors from below, rather than use tethers to suspend from above. The actors were required to act out "motions of microgravity" in order to create "theatrical authenticity".

Episodes

Ratings

Reception

The sixth season received mixed reviews compared to prior seasons. In regards to sending the Howard Wolowitz character into space, June Thomas of '' Slate'' wrote that "''The Big Bang Theory''s creators deserve praise for their willingness to shake things up. After five incredibly successful seasons of nerdy laughs, it would’ve been easy to coast. Instead, they chose to press the reset button and disrupt the familiar friendships. Still, I hope things settle down soon, because so far this season, it’s all been a bit of a bummer". Oliver Sava of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' criticized the character of Wolowitz's mother, writing that "Howard's mom has outlived her usefulness on this series, and rather than an obstacle for the character, she’s become a crutch for the writers to lean on". Jesse Schedeen of ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' criticized the storylines, writing that "The entire episode was pretty much predicated on two jokes ... But those two jokes had enough mileage in them to last a full 22 minutes".

References

;General references * * * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Bang Theory, The 2012 American television seasons 2013 American television seasons The Big Bang Theory seasons