The Big Bang Theory: 10 Problems It Faces Moving Forward
Why the next two seasons of The Big Bang Theory are Schrödinger's Sitcom..
Well, that's the end of The Big Bang Theory for... just under four months. Wow, the US really cranks these things out fast.
Season 10 ended on a high note, with the return of Season 1 character Ramona Nowitzki (Riki Lindhome), and Sheldon finally proposing to Amy two years after he originally planned to. But the question is: what happens now? And for all the Sheldon's out there, yes we know answer to that is "Amy will either say yes or no".
The Big Bang Theory remains a popular if polarising comedy (much like the recently cancelled 2 Broke Girls), but after ten years, 231 episodes, and with at least another 48 on the horizon; serious cracks are starting to show, and there will be some obstacles to overcome. But that's to be expected. A live-action sitcom rarely goes on for this long and it tends to be a much more limiting format than drama.
As well as ridiculous amounts of money, prolonged success brings problems. And charging headfirst into its eleventh season, The Big Bang Theory should tread carefully in these almost completely uncharted waters. While you try to work out that horribly mixed metaphor that would make Sheldon's head explode, these are some of the problems that the show faces in its tenth year...
10. The Financial Juxtaposition
You know a show is a monster hit when… well, when the ratings show that, we suppose. But another pretty big indicator is when the stars start earning ridiculous amounts of money. And The Big Bang Theory ticks that box pretty handily with the original five cast members now earning $900,000 an episode, and Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik being rumoured to have closed new deals for up to $500,000 an episode.
Taking other costs into account, the per episode budget for The Big Bang Theory is nearly on par with the first season of Game Of Thrones. But hey, that’s American TV. The budgets are as high as the actors. Or maybe that was just Two And A Half Men. But throwing that kind of money around may not be the best course of action
Much like Friends before it, The Big Bang Theory has reached a point where it’s basically too big to fail. But at the same time, the second half of Season 10 saw a noticeable ratings slip, with gaps of up to five million between the best and worst performing episodes.
This could just be a blip but if the viewing figures start to fall consistently, the show has a problem. The actors’ contracts are locked in for two years. Viewing figures, advertising revenue, and overall budget aren’t. Which could mean that the show will have to trim the fat elsewhere to compensate.