The fourth season of the American sitcom ''

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on CBS ...

'' began airing on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

on September 23, 2010.

Melissa Rauch Melissa Ivy Rauch (born June 23, 1980) is an American actress, model and comedian. She is known for playing Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz on the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'', for which she was nominated for the Critics' Choice Televi ...

and

Mayim Bialik Mayim Chaya Bialik ( ; born December 12, 1975) is an American actress, game show host, and author. From 1991 to 1995, she played the title character of the NBC sitcom ''Blossom (TV series), Blossom''. From 2010 to 2019, she played neuroscientist ...

auditioned and were promoted to the main cast during this season as Dr.

Bernadette Rostenkowski The American television sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'', created and executive produced by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, premiered on CBS on September 24, 2007, while the American comedy spin-off prequel television series ''Young Sheldon'', crea ...

and Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler respectively.

Johnny Galecki John Mark Galecki (born April 30, 1975) is an American actor. He played Leonard Hofstadter in the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019) for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, and David Healy in the ABC sitcoms '' Ro ...

received a nomination for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. The award is presented to the best performance by a lead actor in a television comedy series. Beginning with the 18th Primetime Emmy ...

at the

63rd Primetime Emmy Awards The 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards, honoring the best in prime time television programming from June 1, 2010 until May 31, 2011, were held on Sunday, September 18, 2011, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California. Fox televised the ce ...

for the episode " The Benefactor Factor".

Jim Parsons James Joseph Parsons (born March 24, 1973) is an American actor. From 2007 to 2019, he played Sheldon Cooper in the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory''. He has received various awards, including four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead A ...

won the same award for the episode " The Agreement Dissection".

Production

During the season,

Kaley Cuoco Kaley Christine Cuoco ( ; born November 30, 1985) is an American actress. After a series of supporting film and television roles in the late 1990s, she landed her breakthrough role as Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom ''8 Simple Rules'' (2002 ...

's character Penny was absent from episodes 5 and 6 after she fell off a horse and the horse broke her leg. When returning to the series, she was shown working as a

bartender A bartender (also known as a barkeep, barman, barmaid, or a mixologist) is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the bar, usually in a licensed establishment as well as in restaurants and nightclubs, but a ...

instead of waitressing at her usual workplace,

The Cheesecake Factory The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is an American restaurant company and distributor of cheesecakes based in the United States. The company operates 219 full-service restaurants: 206 under The Cheesecake Factory brand and 13 under the Grand Lux ...

, to hide her injury. In January 2011, ''The Big Bang Theory'' was renewed for the next additional three years; extending it through the 2013–2014 season, for a fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth season.

Cast

Main cast

as Dr. Leonard Hofstadter *

as Dr. Sheldon Cooper *

Penny A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is t ...

Simon Helberg Simon Maxwell Helberg (born December 9, 1980) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for playing Howard Wolowitz in the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019), for which he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supp ...

Howard Wolowitz Howard Joel Wolowitz, M.Eng. is a fictional character on the CBS television series ''The Big Bang Theory'', portrayed by actor Simon Helberg. Among the four main male characters in the show, Howard is distinctive for being an engineer—rather t ...

Kunal Nayyar Kunal Nayyar (, ; born 30 April 1981) is a British actor. He portrayed Raj Koothrappali on the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019) and voiced Vijay on the Nickelodeon animated sitcom ''Sanjay and Craig'' (2013–2016). Nayyar als ...

as Dr. Rajesh "Raj" Koothrappali *

as Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler *

Special guest cast

Steve Wozniak Stephen Gary Wozniak (; born August 11, 1950), also known by his nickname "Woz", is an American electronics engineer, computer programmer, philanthropist, inventor, and technology entrepreneur. In 1976, with business partner Steve Jobs, he c ...

as himself *

Katee Sackhoff Katee Sackhoff (born April 8, 1980) is an American actress known for playing Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace on the Sci Fi Channel's television program ''Battlestar Galactica'' (2004–2009), Niko Breckenridge on the Netflix series '' Another ...

as herself *

George Takei George Takei (; ja, ジョージ・タケイ; born Hosato Takei (武井穂郷), April 20, 1937) is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship USS ''Enterprise'' in the televi ...

as himself *

Neil deGrasse Tyson Neil deGrasse Tyson ( or ; born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University. From 1991 to 1994, he was a po ...

as himself *

LeVar Burton Levar Burton Jr. (born February 16, 1957) is an American actor, director, and television host, best known for playing Geordi La Forge in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994). He also played Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries ''Root ...

as himself *

Brian Greene Brian Randolph Greene (born February 9, 1963) is a American theoretical physicist, mathematician, and string theorist. Greene was a physics professor at Cornell University from 19901995, and has been a professor at Columbia University since 1 ...

as himself

Recurring cast

Vernee Watson Vernee Christell Watson-Johnson (née Watson; born September 28, 1949) is an American actress, author, and acting coach. Watson-Johnson is best known for her recurring roles as Vernajean Williams on ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and as ...

as Althea *

Carol Ann Susi Carol Ann Susi (February 2, 1952 – November 11, 2014) was an American actress whose career spanned 40 years. Her best known roles were probably her first and last; she debuted as the recurring character of semi-competent but likable intern Mo ...

Mrs. Wolowitz The American television sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'', created and executive produced by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, premiered on CBS on September 24, 2007, while the American comedy spin-off prequel television series ''Young Sheldon'', creat ...

Laurie Metcalf Laura Elizabeth Metcalf (born June 16, 1955) is an American actress. Often described as a character actor, she's known for her complex and versitile roles across the stage and screen. She has received various accolades throughout her career sp ...

as Mary Cooper *

Kevin Sussman Kevin Sussman (born December 4, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He played Walter on the ABC comedy-drama ''Ugly Betty'' and Stuart Bloom on the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory''. Starting with the sixth season of ''The Big Bang Theory ...

Stuart Bloom The American television sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'', created and executive produced by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, premiered on CBS on September 24, 2007, while the American comedy spin-off prequel television series ''Young Sheldon'', creat ...

Aarti Mann Aarti Majumdar (born March 3, 1978), better known by her stage name Aarti Mann, is an American actress. She has starred in several television programs, including a part in the sci-fi drama ''Heroes'' following the show ''Never Have I Ever''. She ...

as Priya Koothrappali *

Wil Wheaton Richard William Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gordie Lachance in the film ''Stand by Me (film), Stand by Me'', Joey Trotta in '' ...

as himself *

Brian Thomas Smith Brian Thomas Smith (born May 13, 1977) is an American actor and comedian known for playing the dim-witted but kind-hearted Zack Johnson in ''The Big Bang Theory'' for nine seasons. He has also made other TV appearances on '' Fear Factor'', ''Tw ...

as Zack Johnson *

Joshua Malina Joshua Charles Malina (born January 17, 1966) is an American film and stage actor known for playing Will Bailey on the NBC drama ''The West Wing'', Jeremy Goodwin on '' Sports Night'', US Attorney General David Rosen on ''Scandal'', and Caltech ...

as President Siebert *

Brian George Brian George (born 1 July 1952) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles as Pakistani restaurateur Babu Bhatt in ''Seinfeld'' (1989–1998), the Indian gynecologist father of Raj Koothrappali in ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019 ...

as Dr. V.M. Koothrappali *

Alice Amter Alice Amter (born 11 May 1966) Mrs. Koothrappali *

John Ross Bowie John Ross Bowie (born May 30, 1971) is an American actor and comedian best known for playing Barry Kripke on ''The Big Bang Theory'' and Jimmy DiMeo on '' Speechless,'' in addition to over 100 film and TV credits. He is of no known relation to s ...

as Dr. Barry Kripke

Guest cast

Charlotte Newhouse Charlotte Newhouse is an actress and writer known for creating, and starring in the Comedy Central series '' Idiotsitter,'' which premiered in 2014''.'' She also appeared in ''Reno 911!'' (2006), ''Community'' (2009), '' The Man That I Was'' (2010 ...

as Joy * Annie O'Donnell as Mrs Fowler *

Eliza Dushku Eliza Patricia Dushku (; born December 30, 1980) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Faith in the supernatural drama series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1998–2003) and its spin-off series ''Angel'' (2000–2003). She als ...

as FBI Agent Angela Paige *

Keith Carradine Keith Ian Carradine ( ; born August 8, 1949) is an American actor who has had success on stage, film, and television. He is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman's film ''Nashville'', Wild Bill Hickok in the HBO series '' Deadwood ...

as Wyatt *

Rick Fox Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

as Glenn *

Jessica Walter Jessica Walter (January 31, 1941 – March 24, 2021) was an American actress who appeared in over 170 film, stage and television productions. In film, she was best known for her role as a psychotic and obsessed fan of a local disc jockey in t ...

as Mrs Latham * Christopher Douglas Reed as Todd *

Lanny Joon Lanny Joon is a Korean-American actor. He is best known for his roles in films ''Takers'' (2010), '' Black Gold'' (2011), ''West 32nd'' (2007)'','' and most recently '' Baby Driver'' (2017)''.'' He has appeared in single episodes of several TV s ...

as Officer Shin * Arnold Chun as Ho-Jun *

Eric André Eric Samuel André (born April 4, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, television host and writer. He is best known as the creator, host, and co-writer of the Adult Swim comedy series ''The Eric Andre Show'' (2012–present). ...

as Joey *

Tiffany Dupont Tiffany Dupont (born March 22, 1981) is an American actress, known for playing the lead character, Hadassah, a Jewish girl who will become the Biblical Esther, Queen of Persia, in the Hollywood film ''One Night with the King''. From 2007 to 2009 ...

as Angela *

Whitney Avalon Whitney Avalon is an American actress, writer, producer, singer, and rapper best known for creating the ''Princess Rap Battle'' series and other musical comedy on YouTube, where her channel has over 600 million views. ''Variety'' listed her in ...

as Elsie * Phil Abrams as Dr Bernstein

Episodes

Ratings

Reception

The fourth season received particular praise for character developments. Alan Sepinwall of

Uproxx ''Uproxx'' (stylized in all caps) is an entertainment and popular culture news website. It was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater, and acquired by Woven Digital (later renamed Uproxx Media Group) in 2014. The site's target audience ...

praised the additions of Bernadette and Amy to the cast, writing that "With Amy Farrah Fowler and Bernadette promoted to semi-permanent status, the show is now able to spend large chunks of each episode focusing only on the women, and in the process has made Penny a much more well-rounded character rather than just a foil for the nerds". Emily VanDerWerff of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' wrote that "Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco's interplay remains the show's secret weapon", and Eric Hochberger of TV Fanatic wrote: "Really though, everything about the main story worked amazing. Mayim fits in perfectly in ''The Big Bang Theory'' cast and played off of Kaley Cuoco just as well as Emmy Award-winning Parsons".

References

;General references * * * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Bang Theory, The 2010 American television seasons 2011 American television seasons The Big Bang Theory seasons