Title: Big Bang Theory: Season 4
Starring: Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar
Director: Mark Cendrowski
Released: 13th September 2010
Duration: 21 minutes (x 23 episodes)
Certificate: 15
Well here we are at season four of Big Bang Theory already. It only seems a short while ago that this show exploded onto our TV screens, but they have already found a way into our living rooms and our hearts.
Four seasons of any TV show is impressive… so many fail after the pilot episode and never get made into a show at all… then many fail at the second hurdle and are not renewed for a second season, but here we have a show that has already got to a fourth season very quickly indeed. It was also renewed for a third and fourth season at the same time which is very unusual but really highlights the belief that the TV station and the producers clearly had in the show. They knew it could be a big hit and they knew it could be successful, and they were right!
All of which is doubly impressive because The Big Bang follows the ongoing adventures and trial and tribulations of genius flatmates Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon (Jim Parsons). These guys are physicists with IQ ratings that we can only dream of… Sheldon: 187, Leonard: 173.
Leonard has finally (for the time being) given up on chasing and dating his beautiful, next-door neighbour, Penny, (Kaley Cuoco) and has found a new love interest in the shapely shape of Priya – Raj’s sister.
What got me hooked on the series was the fact that it’s so cleverly written. Of course like most viewers I don’t understand the vast majority of the scientific stuff but it’s clearly well researched and the friendships and characters are so well thought out. After the first season the show did get funnier as it began to really hit it’s stride (although to be fair the storylines and characters were as fully formed as I’ve even seen for a initial season) and indeed season four just sees the show getting funnier and funnier.
The characters are all very likable and the acting for every one of them just seems perfect and brilliantly observed even down to the supporting characters who regularly change around keeping everything fresh.
Once again Jim Parsons is the real stand out as Sheldon although that’s not to under appreciate the other lead characters played by Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco (Penny), Simon Helberg (Howard Wolowitz), or Kunal Nayyar as the lovable Raj Koothrappali. Yet it’s Parsons that really has to do a lot of work. His observations of his character and the ability to perform with such nuance and attention to detail to become Sheldon Cooper – someone displaying traits of having an obsessive–compulsive personality disorder, a genuine narcissistic personality disorder as well as someone suffering from mysophobia and hypochondria is simply amazing, not to mention his and all of the actors abilities to be able to learn the lines which are quite extraordinary.
The characters are without doubt what gives the show its heart and likeability. And sure enough season five is already showing in the US (or filming at least I’m not sure) so it’ll not be too long before we see new episodes over here as well… be sure to get through all of season 4 on DVD or Blu-ray of course! Buy your season 4 or boxset of seasons 1-4 now.
