The eighth season of the American television

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady for CBS. It aired from September 24, 2007, to May 16, 2019, running for 12 seasons and 279 episodes. The show originally centered on five charact ...

'' aired on

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

from September 22, 2014 to May 7, 2015. The series returned to its regular Thursday night time slot on October 30, 2014 after '' Thursday Night Football on CBS'' ended.

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

submitted the episode " The Prom Equivalency" for consideration due to her nomination for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

at the

67th Primetime Emmy Awards The 67th Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in US prime time television programming from June 1, 2014, until May 31, 2015, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ceremony was held on Sunday, September 20, 2015, at the Mi ...

Christine Baranski Christine Jane Baranski (born May 2, 1952) is an American actress. She received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Maryann Thorpe in the sitcom ''Cybill'' (1995–1998). Baranski is als ...

submitted the episode " The Maternal Combustion" for consideration due to her nomination for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. Prior to 1989, the category was not gender-specific, and, thus, was called Outstanding Guest Performer in a Comedy Series. It is ...

at the

67th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards The 67th Annual Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony was held on September 12, 2015, at the Microsoft Theater in Downtown Los Angeles. The event was broadcast in the U.S. by FXX on September 19, 2015. The ceremony was in conjunction w ...

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 ...

, the voice of the never-seen Mrs. Wolowitz, died of cancer at age 62 on November 11, 2014. In the season's fifteenth episode, " The Comic Book Store Regeneration", Howard Wolowitz receives a phone call that his mother died while visiting family in Florida.

Production

In March 2014, the series was renewed for an eighth,

ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...

and tenth season through the 2016–17 television season. In February 2014, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves announced that the first six episodes of the eighth season would air on a different night due to CBS acquiring the rights to ''

Thursday Night Football ''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to ...

'' games. In May 2014, CBS announced at its annual upfront presentation, that the series would begin its eighth season on Mondays, before returning to the Thursday slot once the football games end.

Delay

Production for the season was expected to begin on July 30, 2014, however the start was delayed due to the five main cast members' desire to renegotiate new contracts, with Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco seeking approximately $1 million per episode, as well as more backend money. Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar negotiated together, separate from Galecki, Parsons and Cuoco's negotiations. Production was officially delayed on July 30, due to the contract negotiations, and was rescheduled for August 6, 2014. On August 4, Galecki, Parsons and Cuoco signed new contracts, worth $1 million per episode for three years, with the possibility to extend for a fourth year. The deals also include larger pieces of the show, signing bonuses, production deals and advances towards the back-end. The following day, Helberg and Nayyar renegotiated their contracts, giving them a per-episode pay in the "mid six-figure range", up from around $100,000 per episode they each received in years prior. The first table read for the eighth season took place on August 6.

Cast

Main cast

Johnny Galecki John Mark Galecki (born April 30, 1975) is an American actor, In television, he played Leonard Hofstadter on ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019) and List of Roseanne and The Conners characters#David Healy, David Healy in ''Roseanne'' (1992–1 ...

as Dr. Leonard Hofstadter *

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

as Dr. Sheldon Cooper *

Kaley Cuoco Kaley Christine Cuoco ( ; born November 30, 1985) is an American actress. She starred as Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom '' 8 Simple Rules'' (2002–2005), Penny on the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019), and as the title ch ...

Penny A penny is a coin (: pennies) or a unit of currency (: pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. At present, it is ...

Simon Helberg Simon Maxwell Helberg (born December 9, 1980) is an American actor and comedian. From 2007 to 2019, he played Howard Wolowitz on the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019), and won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Support ...

Howard Wolowitz Howard Joel Wolowitz, M.Eng. is a fictional character and one of the protagonists on the 2007–2019 CBS television series ''The Big Bang Theory'' created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady and portrayed by actor Simon Helberg. Among the four main mal ...

Kunal Nayyar Kunal Nayyar (, ; born 30 April 1981) is an actor. He gained recognition with his portrayal of Raj Koothrappali on the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019), and voiced Vijay on the Nickelodeon animated sitcom '' Sanjay and Craig'' ( ...

as Dr. Rajesh "Raj" Koothrappali *

as Dr.

Amy Farrah Fowler Amy Farrah Fowler, Ph.D. is a fictional character in the CBS television series ''The Big Bang Theory'', portrayed by Mayim Bialik. Amy is a neuroscientist who is the love interest of Sheldon Cooper ( Jim Parsons) and subsequent wife in the se ...

Melissa Rauch Melissa Ivy Rauch (; born June 23, 1980) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz on the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'' from 2009 to 2019, for which she was nominated for the Critics Choice ...

as Dr. Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz *

Kevin Sussman Kevin Sussman (born December 4, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He played Walter on the ABC comedy-drama ''Ugly Betty'' and Stuart Bloom on the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory''. Starting with the sixth season of ''The Big Bang Theory ...

as Stuart Bloom

Special guest cast

Billy Bob Thornton Billy Bob Thornton (born August 4, 1955) is an American actor, filmmaker, singer and songwriter. He received international attention after writing, directing and starring in the independent film, independent Drama (film and television), drama f ...

as Dr. Oliver Lorvis *

LeVar Burton Levardis Robert Martyn Burton Jr. (born February 16, 1957) is an American actor, director, and television host. He played Geordi La Forge in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994), Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries ''Roots'' (1977 ...

as himself *

Nathan Fillion Nathan Christopher Fillion (born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian and American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on ''Firefly'' and its film continuation '' Serenity'', and Richard Castle on ''Castle''. , he sta ...

as himself *

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. He came to prominence with the low-budget buddy comedy film ''Clerks (film), Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, co-produced, and acted i ...

as himself (voiceover)

Recurring cast

as Mrs. Wolowitz *

Regina King Regina Rene King (born January 15, 1971) is an American actress, director and producer. She has received 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 *

Michael 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 life ...

as himself * Laura Spencer as Emily Sweeney *

John Ross Bowie John Ross Bowie (born May 30, 1971) is an American actor and comedian. He is 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 appeared in ''What t ...

as Dr. Barry Kripke *

Brian George Brian George (born 27 July 1952) is a British actor. He is known for his roles as Pakistani restaurateur Babu Bhatt in ''Seinfeld'' (1989–1998), the Indian gynecologist father of Raj Koothrappali in ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019), th ...

as Dr. V.M. Koothrappali *

Alice Amter Alice Amter (born 11 May 1966) Mrs. Koothrappali *

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

as himself *

Laurie Metcalf Laura Elizabeth "Laurie" Metcalf (born June 16, 1955) is an American actress and comedian. Known for her complex and versatile roles across the stage and screen, she has received various accolades throughout a career spanning more than four d ...

as Mary Cooper *

as Dr. Beverly Hofstadter *

Stephen Hawking Stephen William Hawking (8January 194214March 2018) was an English theoretical physics, theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between ...

as himself

Guest cast

Stephen Root Stephen Root (born November 17, 1951) is an American actor. He has starred as Jimmy James on the NBC sitcom ''NewsRadio'' (1995–1999), as Milton Waddams in the film ''Office Space'' (1999), and voiced Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland on the a ...

as Dan * Kara Luiz as Jeanie * Paul Wilson as Professor Sharpe * Angela Relucio as Hostess * Max Adler as The Zombie *

Tate Ellington James Tate Ellington (born April 17, 1979) is an American actor. He portrayed Aidan Hall, the best friend of Tyler Hawkins (Robert Pattinson) in the 2010 romantic drama film '' Remember Me''. Early life and education Ellington is from Madison, M ...

as Mitchell *

Matt Bennett Matthew H. "Matt" Bennett (born November 13, 1991) is an American actor and DJ. He is known for playing Robbie Shapiro in the Nickelodeon sitcom ''Victorious''. His film roles include '' The Virginity Hit'', ''Bridesmaids'', ''Me and Earl and t ...

as Josh *

Sara Erikson Sara Erikson is an American television and film actress. Career Erikson is known for her recurring role as Robyn Marquette, Vince's scheming ex-girlfriend and co-worker in ''What I Like About You (TV series), What I Like About You'', and vari ...

as Gwen *

Kelli Goss Kelli Goss is an American film and television actress. She began her career appearing in a recurring roles in the Nickelodeon comedy series ''Big Time Rush'' (2010–13) and on the CBS daytime soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'' (2013–15 ...

as Chelsea

Episodes

Ratings

Reception

The eighth season received mixed reviews. MaryAnn Sleasman of TV.com praised character developments, and wrote that "there's a lot to be excited about with regard to this coming season" with some of the central characters more comfortable around each other. Emily Gould of ''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

'' criticized the humor, writing that "I watched all seven episodes that had aired so far this season and didn't so much as expel air forcefully from my nose in response to any of the jokes". Oliver Sava of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an 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 created in ...

'' also criticized the humor, writing that "A lot of the jokes are tired and the plotlines are standard sitcom material, but if it's worked for seven seasons, why switch it up now?"

References

;General references * * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Bang Theory, The The Big Bang Theory seasons 2014 American television seasons 2015 American television seasons