From: Subject: Making a Big Bang on the small screen - physicsworld.com Date: Tue, 5 Jan 2010 12:27:36 -0600 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01CA8E02.765C26F0" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.5579 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01CA8E02.765C26F0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/indepth/41315 =EF=BB=BF Making a Big Bang on = the small screen - physicsworld.com Nick Thomas talks to the cast and crew of the hugely = successful physics TV sitcom The Big Bang Theory"> =

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Making a Big Bang on the small screen

Jan 5, 2010

A TV sitcom with two physicists as its central = characters=20 has proved an unlikely hit with viewers in both the US and the UK. Nick = Thomas=20 talks to the cast and the creators about the secrets of its success

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Stars = of the=20 show

While the quality of some TV sitcoms can leave viewers feeling = cheated out of=20 30 minutes of their lives, audiences and critics are raving about the=20 science-themed US comedy The Big Bang = Theory. First shown on the CBS network in 2007, the series = focuses on=20 two brilliant postdoc physicists, Leonard and Sheldon, who are totally = absorbed=20 by science. Adhering to the stereotype, they also share a fanatical = interest in=20 science fiction, video-gaming and comic books, but unfortunately lack = the social=20 skills required to connect with their 20-something non-academic = contemporaries.=20

The Big Bang Theory is now in its third season, with a = fourth=20 already commissioned by CBS. The show has also aired in the UK on = Channel 4,=20 while last month E4, Channel 4's digital network, started showing the = third=20 season. Despite a dialogue peppered with references to physics and = mathematics=20 (and, to a lesser extent, biology and chemistry), over 13 million US and = 1=20 million UK viewers have been tuning in to follow the adventures of = Leonard and=20 Sheldon, together with their buddies, fellow physicist Raj and engineer = Howard,=20 and their "normal" neighbour, Penny.

Set mostly in the characters' apartment complex in Pasadena, = California,=20 Penny, played by Kaley Cuoco, is a wannabe actress who hangs out with = her geeky=20 neighbours. Although she has no understanding of their research, the = "guys", in=20 turn, generally fail to fit into her pop-culture-centred world, and = therein lies=20 much of the show's comedic appeal.

Kunal Nayyar, 28, who plays Raj, felt the show was destined to become = a hit=20 early in the first season. "The writing was brilliant and the show was = funny,=20 but it wasn't just about a bunch of scientists making jokes," says = Nayyar. "The=20 characters were going through life and trying to fit in. I think many = people=20 have probably felt like that at some point in their lives and can relate = to it."=20

Big impact

One fan of The Big Bang Theory is Jeff Tseng, a = particle=20 physicist from Oxford University in the UK, who stumbled upon the show=20 accidentally and began noticing that the whiteboards in the background = of scenes=20 actually showed accurate physics equations. "There was a good = first-order=20 calculation of W-boson branching functions, plus some well-drawn quark = flow and=20 Feynman diagrams," he says. Getting the science right is almost unheard = of in TV=20 land, but series creator, writer and executive producer, Chuck Lorre, = says that=20 accuracy is important to the show. "It is those details that colour the = tone of=20 the show and contribute to its popularity, so we have a real physicist = for help=20 in that area," he told Physics World.

That "real" physicist is astrophysicist David=20 Saltzberg from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The = producers first contacted Saltzberg to see if he knew of any graduate = students=20 who could advise the show, but he saw the job as being a lot of fun and = took up=20 the offer for himself. Before the acting starts, Saltzberg receives = scripts=20 about a month in advance and fills in the science as required. For = example, in=20 the first season, when the four guys buy a model of a time machine, = Saltzberg=20 wrote the equations for theoretical time travel using wormholes on the=20 whiteboard in their apartment. In season two, the writers wanted a = science=20 project for Leonard to show his mother when she came to visit him at the = lab.=20 Saltzberg suggested that Leonard talks about the DAMA project at the = Gran Sasso=20 laboratory in Abruzzo, Italy, which searches for what constitutes dark = matter.=20

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Real=20 physics

Saltzberg is even on the set for the shooting of most episodes; so, = if any=20 technical questions do come up, he is on hand to answer them = immediately. After=20 colleagues and viewers wanted to know more about the show's science, = Saltzberg=20 started a blog in time for the third season in September 2009 called=20 thebigblogtheory to explain the science behind each new = episode.=20

"One of the roles of a university is to reach back into the community = and=20 give people a glimpse at what we are doing," says Saltzberg. "With 13 = million=20 viewers watching a sitcom that references current physics research, = maybe the=20 show will do for physics what Indiana Jones did for enrolment in = archaeology=20 departments!"

Jan Hall from the University of Colorado, who shared the 2005 Nobel = Prize for=20 Physics with Roy Glauber and Theodor H=C3=A4nsch for their work on = quantum optics and=20 laser spectroscopy, is another for whom The Big Bang Theory = is his=20 favourite TV programme. "My wife gave me the first season on DVD as a = Christmas=20 present in 2008 and we have been cracked up laughing ever since," says = Hall.=20 "The science chatter is mostly accurate, providing a technical backdrop = to the=20 interplay of personalities. Each individual is appealing in specific = ways and=20 contributes to the overall effect =E2=80=93 it's just so damn funny!" =

As a result of Saltzberg's input, Lorre says that the reception from = the=20 scientific community has been largely positive but that the show also = appeals to=20 audiences outside the scientific world. "It's not just a show about = science.=20 It's also about the characters' lives =E2=80=93 their families, friends, = hopes and=20 romantic relationships," says Lorre.

Physics 101

The idea for The Big Bang Theory sprang from co-creator = Bill=20 Prady's experiences working as a computer programmer in New York in the = 1980s.=20 Lorre says Prady worked with people who were clearly very intelligent, = but who=20 were completely lost when it came to the mundane things in daily life. = It was a=20 paradox, and a terrific idea for a series.

"We wanted to avoid a show that was set in the world of computing = =E2=80=93 the=20 computer-geek theme sounded too tired," explains Lorre. "So we put the=20 characters in a setting of pure research." Building a sitcom around = physicists,=20 rather than any other discipline, was, for Lorre, an obvious choice. = "There was=20 just something fascinating about a show that looks at the world through = physics=20 and mathematics. These guys are trying to unravel the secrets of the = universe =E2=80=93=20 that's pretty big! You're not going to do that with biology or = chemistry."

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Leadin= g=20 lights

In an interview with Physics World, actor Johnny = Galecki, 34,=20 who plays Leonard, says he and the cast constantly receive positive = comments=20 from teachers and scientists. "We got a letter from Isaac Asimov's = daughter=20 telling us how much she liked the show," he said during a break in = rehearsals.=20 "George Smoot even wrote to us asking if he could be on the show, and he = appeared in a season-two episode. He was quite a character!"

As a tribute to Smoot, who shared the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physics = with John=20 Mather for their work on the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave = background (CMB)=20 radiation, a whiteboard during that episode contained a diagram of a=20 differential radiometer that was used in the discovery of the CMB = radiation.=20

To prepare for their roles, Galecki says he and Jim Parsons, who = plays=20 Sheldon, visited the physics department at UCLA with Saltzberg. "Our = biggest=20 lesson was that scientists are a diverse bunch," says Galecki. "While we = saw=20 some people who were somewhat like the Leonard and Sheldon characters, = there=20 were people from all cultures, female physicists, and even the cool = surfer=20 physicist, with bleached blonde hair, sunglasses, shorts and sandals." = Galecki=20 adds that he and Parsons have also read a lot of popular science and = watched=20 science documentaries on TV. "You just try and surround yourself with = the things=20 your character would be interested in. For an actor, you research your = role to=20 gain confidence and hope the audience will find you credible."

Simon Helberg, 28, who plays Howard, says the show's popularity = suggests that=20 the cast has successfully created extreme but believable characters. = "Unlike=20 their research, there are no equations these guys can formulate to help = them=20 understand the world outside the lab. But they somehow manage to muddle = through=20 the more mundane aspects of life." Although the characters may seem = quirky and=20 stereotyped, Saltzberg believes the show demonstrates the joy that = scientists=20 have for their work. "The characters are extreme and have their flaws, = but=20 that's necessary for the comedy to work," he says. "The characters have = a real=20 passion for science, but that's not made fun of =E2=80=93 I see that as = being celebrated=20 in the show."

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