The fifth season of the American sitcom The
Big Bang Theory was originally aired on CBS
from September 22, 2011 to May 10, 2012 over
24 episodes.
Cast
Dr. Leonard Hofstadter, portrayed by Johnny
Galecki, is an experimental physicist with
an IQ of 173 who received his Ph.D when he
was 24 years old. He shares an apartment with
colleague and friend, Sheldon Cooper. He and
Penny dated at one point during the series,
but they broke up during season 3. They start
dating again in season 5, though their relationship
is rocky.
Dr. Sheldon Cooper, portrayed by Jim Parsons,
is a theoretical physicist. Originally from
East Texas, he was a child prodigy, starting
college at the age of 11, right after completing
the fifth grade. He received the Stevenson
award when 14 and received his Ph.D when he
was 16. He has an IQ of 187 and exhibits a
strict adherence to routine; a lack of understanding
of irony, sarcasm, and humor; and a complete
lack of humility or basic empathy. He is dating
Amy Farrah Fowler, when he asked her to be
his girlfriend.
Penny, portrayed by Kaley Cuoco, is a waitress
who lives across the hall from Sheldon and
Leonard. She has aspirations to an acting
career, but has not been particularly successful
thus far, only boasting a few small roles
as well as a part in a hemorrhoid commercial.
She and Leonard dated during season 3 and
broke up. In the finale episode of Season
4, she was thought to have slept with Raj
after drinking, but Raj revealed to her they
did not. During season 5, Penny begins to
date Leonard again though their relationship
is rocky. Her last name has never been revealed.
Howard Wolowitz, portrayed by Simon Helberg,
is an aerospace engineer. He is Jewish, and
lives with his mother. Unlike Sheldon, Leonard,
and Raj, Howard lacks a Ph.D. He defends this
by pointing out that he has a master's degree
in Engineering from MIT and the equipment
he designs is actually built and launched
into space, unlike the purely abstract work
of his friends. He provides outrageous pick-up
lines and fancies himself a ladies man with
suitably unimpressed reactions from Penny.
Though he finds that he has limited success
with other women at first, he begins dating
Bernadette in season 3, but they break up.
They get back together in the Season 4 episode
"The Hot Troll Deviation", become engaged
in the episode "The Herb Garden Germination"
and are married in the last episode of this
season. At the end of the season, he goes
on a Russian Soyuz rocket to the International
Space Station.
Dr. Rajesh "Raj" Koothrappali, portrayed by
Kunal Nayyar, is an astrophysicist originally
from New Delhi, India. Known commonly as "Raj",
he works alongside Sheldon exploring the string
theory implications of gamma rays from dark
matter annihilations. He is very shy around
women and is physically unable to talk to
them unless he drinks alcohol. His sister,
Priya, dates Leonard in season 4 and part
of season 5.
Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler, portrayed by Mayim
Bialik, is a neurobiologist. Raj and Howard
meet her on an online dating site using a
fake account for Sheldon. She is very similar
to Sheldon, except that she is more open to
social interaction and thus more susceptible
to conventional behavior. She becomes close
friends with Sheldon, prompting regular assertions
from him that she is a girl and is his friend,
but she is not his girlfriend. She finally
became his girlfriend when Sheldon decides
to change the course of their relationship
after he becomes jealous when Amy goes out
on a date with comic book store owner Stuart
Bloom. Amy also forms a quirky friendship
with Penny, whom Amy frequently refers to
as her "bestie" and becomes Bernadette's Maid
of Honor at her and Howard's wedding.
Dr. Bernadette Rostenkowski, portrayed by
Melissa Rauch, is a microbiologist. Bernadette
is introduced to Howard by Penny while the
two were working together at the Cheesecake
Factory. At first she and Howard do not get
along, as they appear to have nothing in common.
When they find out that they both have overbearing
mothers, however, they feel a connection.
She was upgraded to main cast status in the
episode "The Hot Troll Deviation", in which
she and Howard revisit their previously unsuccessful
relationship. She and Howard get engaged,
and much comical fodder is created through
similarities between Bernadette and Mrs. Wolowitz.
She marries Howard at the end of this season.
Production
Several high-profile celebrities appear in
the season. In "The Transporter Malfunction",
actor Leonard Nimoy appears as a voice actor,
playing an action-figure Spock that Sheldon
imagines talking to him. In the following
episode, "The Hawking Excitation", cosmologist
Stephen Hawking appears as a guest star. Astronaut
Mike Massimino appears in "The Friendship
Contraction" and "The Countdown Reflection".
Stephen Hawking went on to appear in the season
6 episode "The Extract Obliteration" and the
season 7 episode "The Relationship Diremption".
Mike Massimino later appeared in the season
6 episodes "The Decoupling Fluctuation" and
"The Re-Entry Minimization".
The season finale depicts Howard Wolowitz
traveling to the International Space Station
on board a Soyuz rocket. Thanks to technical
consulting from Astronaut Mike Massimino,
who also plays himself on the show, the production
crew was able to put together sets that realistically
depicts the Soyuz capsule and the ISS. The
Soyuz capsule was constructed based on photos
from NASA, the Kansas Cosmosphere for dimensions,
and scavenged parts from an aerospace junkyard
in Los Angeles.
Release
Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of seven critics
gave the season a positive review.
Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club gave the season
a B+ rating. He described Raj as the "weak
link of the show" as he has not "[evolved]
like the rest of the cast" and is "trapped
in season one mode". Sava gave high ratings
to episodes where Raj did not feature prominently,
such as "The Pulled Groin Extrapolation" or
"The Russian Rocket Reaction" and described
"The Wiggly Finger Catalyst" as "one of the
series' worst", giving it a D+ rating. Sava's
favorite relationship on the series is between
Amy and Penny.
Jenna Busch of IGN disliked the previous season
but said that season 5 "is far more balanced";
Busch gave season 5 episodes ratings between
5.5 and 9, with an average rating of 8.0.
She also noted that the show has "matured"
by included other women in the main cast.
Tom Gliatto from People gave the season 3
out of 4 stars, stating that it is "bright
and obvious as a cartoon, yet written with
a clean, precise patter of jokes".
Awards
At the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards, The Big
Bang Theory was nominated for Outstanding
Comedy Series, but Modern Family on ABC won.
The show was also nominated for Outstanding
Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control
for a Series and Outstanding Multi-Camera
Picture Editing For A Comedy Series.
Jim Parsons was nominated for Outstanding
Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for "The Werewolf
Transformation", but lost out to Jon Cryer.
Mayim Bialik was nominated for Outstanding
Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for
"The Shiny Trinket Maneuver", but lost out
to Julie Bowen.
Distribution
The season premiered on CBS on September 22,
2011. It was released on DVD with an aspect
ratio of 16:9 format on September 11, 2011
in Region 1, on September 2, 2012 in Region
2 and October 3, 2012 in Region 4. The episodes
can also be streamed on Netflix or purchased
on Amazon Instant Video or the iTunes store
in the US.
Episodes
Penny regrets her sleeping with Raj and has
become very good friends with Leonard, Leonard
breaks up with Priya, Amy pushes Sheldon in
their relationship eventually becoming boyfriend
and girlfriend, Penny and the other women
become a clique of their own, Howard prepares
for his wedding and going into space to the
International Space Station and Leonard asks
Penny out as they begin "Leonard and Penny
2.0".
Ratings
U.S. Nielsen ratings
Canadian ratings
Australian ratings
This season began airing on the Nine Network
on October 10, 2011 at 7:30 pm.
Notes
a Due to an error in Australian ratings data,
"The Skank Reflex Analysis" and "The Infestation
Hypothesis" were averaged with repeat episodes
that aired the following night for the weekly
rankings. As a result, both episodes' ratings
significantly decreased to 1.225 million and
1.321 million viewers respectively. Based
on the original unadjusted figures, the episodes
would have ranked first and third for the
week. These were unadjusted preliminary figures.
UK ratings
The season aired Thursday nights at 8pm on
E4. All viewing figures and ranks are sourced
from BARB.
^ a b Viewers in millions
^ a b Rank for individual channels only
References
