History of the show
The Big Bang Theory is a sitcom that was created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady. The pilot episode aired on September 24th 2007. There was a unofficial pilot before which never aired and the series didn't get picked up but the creators were given the chance to create a new pilot where they brought back Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki back and rewrote the pilot. The show airs on E4 on a Thursday at 8:00pm. The show is filmed before a live studio audience.
The show has five main actors:
Johnny Galecki who plays Leonard Hofstadter
Leonard wears usal clothes like t-shirts with casual jackets. The clothes he wears dosen't give the audience a clue to his occupation. Also his clothes are the type that men in their 30's wear.
Jim Parsons who plays Sheldon Cooper
Sheldon wears usual clothes like shirts, t-shirts and jeans. They often have designs on them like batman, superman. Audiences will be able to tell what his interests are e.g. comic books.
Kaley Cuoco who plays Penny
Penny wears clothes that are fashionable or " girly " clothes. This would show she is into fashion and has a liking for clothes and shoes.
Simon Helburg who plays Howard Wolowitz
Howard wears turtle necks tops and shirts you would consider 60's style clothes. He also wears belt buckles that have pacman,superman and batman to show what he is into.
This is an example of a belt buckle that he wears on the show. It is a NES Controller.
Kunal Nayer who plays Rajesh Koothrappali
Raj wears clothes that ar not typical of an Indian. He wears shirts that are considered 70's style like tank tops, sweater vests. This shows he tries to consider himself of being cool because he has problems talking to women.
Additional actors include:
Melissa Rauch who plays Bernadette Rostenkowski Wolowitz (recurring season 3 , starring since season 4)
Bernedette wears bright fashionable clothes. She wears a lab coat when she works which would show she works in science. Her clothes aren't as fashionable as Penny but they are more fashionable than Amy's clothes because they have more bright colours in them.
Mayim Bialik who plays Amy Farrah Fowler (recurring season 3, starring since mid season 4)
Amy's sterotype is considered as "frumpy" because she wears boring clothes which is different to what the other female characters wear. Like Bernedette she wears a lab coat when she works which would show she works in science.
Kevin Sussman who plays Stuart Bloom recurring seasons 2-5, starring since season 6)
Age
The age rating of the audience for the show would be 15 - 50 because there isn't any violence or explicit content in it.
Gender
Both genders would enjoy this because there is a good mix of male and female characters in it. In the early seasons there is more male characters but as the seasons go on more female characters get introduced. In the show they have female characters who have a range of chacteristics (Penny is the typical girl who likes shopping, Amy is portrayed as a woman who is more interested in her work but as the series have gone on the writers have softened and broadened her character because of hanging around with Penny and Bernadette. One relationship that is on-going throughout the series is between Leonard and Sheldon because Sheldon sets the rules like sitting in the same spot on the couch and deciding what food they order for takeaways.
Social Class
The show isn't aimed at any class so all social classes can enjoy this show.
Lifestyle
The main male characters are into sci - fi (Star Trek) and comic books. The female characters are shown doing more leisure activities like nights in together.
Relationships are a common theme throughout the series like the relationship between the four male characters also the relationships between the characters Leonard and Penny who have a on off relationship while Howard and Bernadette by contrast have a stable relationship and have recently got married.
Location
The show is popular in the U.S because it is set there (Pasadena, Los Angeles, California) and it is popular worldwide.
Narrative
The narrative structure of The Big Bang Theory is multi-strand as it focuses on a number of characters. Also it can be open as there is an ongoing story throughout the series.
Characters
To make the characters appeal to the audience the characters have realistic personalities e.g. Sheldon The Geek.
Style
The style of the Big Bang Theory is that it is an American sitcom which would feel different to a British sitcom because American sitcoms have a different sense of humor to British sitcoms.
Camera Work
In The Big Bang Theory the show uses multi camera which they use to change the angles of a scene.
The show has sounds that you can hear in everyday life like the sounds coming from computer games or the sounds you can hear in the restaurant.
Music
The intro and outro is the only piece of music used in the show. The intro is done by the Bare-naked Ladies
Mise-En-Scene
In this scene you can see that all the characters have equal framing and that no one is dominant over anyone else. The camera angle is a wide shot because the need to get all the characters in shot. The clothes that the characters are wearing might give a clue as to their personalities of the characters. The set of shows a busy apartment with books cluttered on shelves and with boxes of comic books on the table in front of them. There is also a fair amount of lighting.
Iconography
The audience who watch this show will be able to determine what the characters are like because of the style of clothing they wear e.g. one of the cast members sometimes wears shirts that have recognisable symbols on them like the Flash or Green Lantern so people will be able to tell what that character likes and what he is in to. Also the furniture they have in the apartment can be recognisable because the styles don't match so people will be able to tell that they are not bothered of the style of the furniture is.
Graphics
The graphic of the Big Bang Theory would be the intro and outro because it is a sitcom. Also there is a graphic to show a transition of scene and after the adverts to welcome you back to the show.
Reasons For Liking It
One of the reasons why I enjoy the show because of the characters personalities. My favourite character of the series is Sheldon because of his personality and I like how he has his own spot on the couch and chooses what take away the other characters get.
