The ninth season of the American television sitcom The Big Bang Theory aired on CBS from September 21, 2015 to May 12, 2016.
The series returned to its regular Thursday night time slot on November 5, 2015 after Thursday Night Football on CBS ended.
Laura Spencer was promoted to the main cast during this season after being a recurring cast member for two seasons.
Production In March 2014, the series was renewed for an eighth, ninth and tenth season through the 2016–17 television season.
Like the previous season, the first six episodes of the ninth season aired on a different night due to CBS acquiring the rights to Thursday Night Football games. In May 2015, CBS announced at its annual upfront presentation, that the series would begin its ninth season on Mondays, before returning to the Thursday slot once the football games ended.
Filming for the ninth season began on August 5, 2015, according to posts on Twitter by several of the cast members including Melissa Rauch and Kunal Nayyar.
Laurie Metcalf reprised her role as Sheldon's mother Mary in the first and twenty-fourth episodes, and Keith Carradine returned as Penny's father Wyatt in the third episode.
Sheldon's maternal grandmother Constance, whom he calls "Meemaw", made her first long-awaited appearance in the fourteenth episode and was portrayed by June Squibb and Leonard's father Alfred also made his first long-awaited appearance in the twenty-fourth episode and was played by Judd Hirsch.
This was the first season to feature every main cast member of the show, including former main cast member Sara Gilbert, who made a guest appearance in the 200th episode.
Cast
Main cast Johnny Galecki as Dr. Leonard Hofstadter Jim Parsons as Dr. Sheldon Cooper Kaley Cuoco as Penny Simon Helberg as Howard Wolowitz Kunal Nayyar as Dr. Rajesh "Raj" Koothrappali Mayim Bialik as Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler Melissa Rauch as Dr. Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz Kevin Sussman as Stuart David Bloom Laura Spencer as Dr. Emily Sweeney
Recurring cast Laurie Metcalf as Mary Cooper John Ross Bowie as Dr. Barry Kripke Wil Wheaton as himself Casey Sander as Mike Rostenkowski Alessandra Torresani as Claire Christine Baranski as Dr. Beverly Hofstadter Brian Thomas Smith as Zach Johnson Sara Gilbert as Leslie Winkle Bob Newhart as Dr. Arthur Jeffries/Professor Proton Stephen Hawking as himself
Guest cast Jim Meskimen as a Minister Melissa Tang as Mandy Chao Keith Carradine as Wyatt (Penny's dad) Megan Heyn as Natalie Patrika Darbo as Grace Michael Rapaport as Kenny Adam Nimoy as himself Stephen Merchant as Dave Gibbs Lio Tipton as Vanessa Bennett Elon Musk as himself Wayne Wilderson as Travis Jane Kaczmarek as Dr. Gallo June Squibb as Meemaw Creagen Dow as Maitre D' Adam West as himself Blake Anderson as Trevor Judd Hirsch as Alfred Hofstadter Stan Lee as himself Amanda Payton as Ainsley
Episodes
Ratings
Reception The ninth season received mixed reviews, notably for its season premiere. John Doyle of The Globe and Mail criticized the humor of its 200th episode "The Celebration Experimentation", writing that "The show isn't funny any more. The same tired jokes go around in circles. It's dated and stale". Tom Eames of Digital Spy criticized the relationship between characters Leonard and Penny, writing that they "certainly don't have some passionate, Ross and Rachel-style 'will they / won't they' romance, with fans dying to see them together. Even now they're married, it's a weirdly anti-climactic payoff - and it doesn't quite feel right that they're together." Ashley Bissette Sumerel of TV Fanatic wrote that "For a rather serious season premiere, "The Matrimonial Momentum" is still a lot of fun".
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References
General references
External links