Season 7

Season 7 of The Big Bang Theory was confirmed on January 12, 2009, alongside Seasons 5 and 6. It started airing on September 26, 2013 on CBS in the United States and Canada, and October 14th, 2013 in Australia. It aired in the UK on October 31, 2013 on E4.

As of September 2013, it has been announced that the series will be renewed for an eighth season. The cast is beginning salary negotiations for future seasons.

Due to contractual obligations, the three main cast members (Parsons, Galecki, and Cuoco) will receive $350,000 per episode in the seventh season, increasing their salaries an additional $50,000 per episode from season 6.

The writers began working on Season 7 in mid-June. The filming of season seven episodes began August 20, 2013. (tvtickets.com)

The season premiere in the US and Canada included two thirty minute episodes back to back both broadcast on September 26, 2013.

As of March 2014, The Big Bang Theory has been renewed for a further three seasons. Taking the total number of seasons, current and future, to ten seasons. This news was celebrated by an Instagram post from Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting of a picture of her and her co-stars Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons (http://instagram.com/p/lcvNPJuWaR/)

Spoilers and initial plot descriptions are being posted below. Many of these have aired in the US, UK and Canada, and some have aired in Australia.

Cast

 * Leonard Hofstadter Ph.D., 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 have since broken up. He dated Raj's sister, Priya for half of the fourth season, and a short period of the fifth season. He and Penny got back together in "The Beta Test Initiation", although the relationship will be treated like a Beta Test, where bug reports will be presented when necessary. As their relationship becomes more stable, he has proposes to Penny on multiple occasions. After she accidentally tells him that she loves him in "The 43 Peculiarity", he asks her to propose to him when she is ready in "The Tangible Affection Proof." (21/21)
 * Sheldon Cooper, Ph.D., portrayed by Jim Parsons, is a theoretical physicist. Originally from Galveston, Texas, he was a child prodigy, starting college at the age of 11, right after completing the fifth grade, and received his first Ph.D. at 16. He has an IQ of 187 and an adherence to routine; a lack of understanding of irony, sarcasm, and humor; and a complete lack of humility or basic empathy. He is currently dating Amy Farrah Fowler and considers her to be his "girlfriend" as outlined in his Relationship Agreement with her. During seasons 6 and 7, Sheldon gradually moves into a more comfortable relationship with Amy without any true romantic intimacy. He admits to being very fond of her and that someday they might be intimate in "The Cooper/Kripke Inversion" and "The Love Spell Potential". (21/21)
 * Penny, portrayed by Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting (previously Kaley Cuoco, officially credited as this name since "The Convention Conundrum", S7E14, due to her marriage to Ryan Sweeting), is the attractive, blonde neighbor who lives across the hall from Sheldon and Leonard. Penny is from Omaha, Nebraska. She has aspirations to a career in show business, and has been to casting calls and auditions, but has not been successful thus far. To pay the bills, she works as a waitress at The Cheesecake Factory. Her last name has never been revealed. She and Leonard dated throughout most of Season 3, but they have since broken up. In "The Beta Test Initiation", she and Leonard got back together, although this time around, they are taking their relationship slowly, and treating it like a Beta Test and present each other bug reports when necessary until Leonard asks her to marry him. In seasons 6 and 7, Penny explores her feelings for Leonard and finally tells him that she loves him in "The 43 Peculiarity". After multiple marriage proposals from Leonard, she agrees to propose to him when she was ready in "The Tangible Affection Proof". (21/21)
 * Howard Wolowitz, M.Eng., portrayed by Simon Helberg, works as 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 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the apparatus he designs are 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 married on the final episode of season 5, "The Countdown Reflection". After spending weeks at the International Space Station, Howard returns, moves out of his mother's house and with the help of his wife starts to grow up. (21/21)
 * Rajesh Koothrappali, Ph.D., portrayed by Kunal Nayyar, originally comes from New Delhi, India. He is an astrophysicist. Known commonly as "Raj", he works alongside Sheldon exploring the string theory implications of gamma rays from dark matter annihilation. He is very shy around women and is physically unable to talk to them unless he drinks alcohol. However, he has much better luck with women as opposed to his overly confident best friend Howard. His sister, Priya, dated Leonard. During season 6, he is seeing a woman, Lucy, who has more psychological problems than him. After she dumps him, he finds that he can finally talk to women. (21/21)
 * Bernadette Rostenkowski Wolowitz, Ph.D., portrayed by Melissa Rauch, is a former waitress and co-worker of Penny paying her way through graduate school microbiology studies. Bernadette is introduced to Howard by Penny. At first she and Howard did not get along, as they appeared to have nothing in common. When they found out that they both have overbearing mothers, 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. They got engaged in Season 4's "The Herb Garden Germination" and married on the final episode of season 5, "The Countdown Reflection". Since earning her doctorate, Bernadette is now finally a microbiologist, and earns more than her husband, Howard. After getting Howard to move out of his mother's house into her apartment, she continues to push him to grow up. (21/21)
 * Amy Farrah Fowler, Ph.D., portrayed by Mayim Bialik, is a woman Raj and Howard met on an online dating site using a faux account for Sheldon. She is essentially the female duplicate of Sheldon and she and Sheldon become friends although, as Sheldon claims, she is a girl and is his friend, but she is not his girlfriend. However, since "The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition", she is officially Sheldon's girlfriend. She and Sheldon continue to explore relationship intimacy without any romantic intimacy. Amy is a neurobiologist and is more inclined to explore human relationships than Sheldon partly due to Penny's friendship. Amy is from Glendale. (21/21)

Spoilers

 * This season will feature a further 24 episodes, adding the total amount of episodes for the entire series up to 159. (Season trend)
 * Raj will be able to talk to women this season, but will not be very good at it. (Season trend)
 * Amy will continue to push Sheldon toward a physical relationship. The writers stated in a recent interview: "It's always a possibility for them to eventually have sex." (Season trend)
 * Even though Penny and Sheldon will become closer in this season, Amy will not get jealous. She does not see Penny as a threat though she is jealous of her friendship with Sheldon. (Season trend)
 * The writers still haven't decided which of the guys will get tenure at work, but we shall find out. (Season trend)
 * There will be NO Howard/Bernadette baby this season. (Season trend)
 * Leonard will start out the season still on Stephen Hawking's expedition ("on the boat"), but will return quickly after the season starts. (aired, S7E01)
 * Penny will miss Leonard much more than he misses her. (aired, S7E01)
 * Bernadette and Amy will take a trip together without Penny in the first episode. (aired, S7E01)
 * Penny and Sheldon will become closer during Leonard's absence, but the relationship will stay strictly brother/sister. The writers say Penny is a "motherly figure" to Sheldon. (aired, S7E01)
 * Leonard enjoys his time on the boat and is taking his separation from Penny well. (aired, S7E01)
 * Regina King will make another guest appearance in the first episode as Mrs. Davis. (aired, S7E01)
 * Amy and Howard will spend time together for the first time. (aired, S7E03)
 * Leonard's mother will to return in the fourth episode via a call. (aired, S7E04)
 * Sheldon will tell some of Amy's colleagues that they have a good relationship and that he spanked her. (aired, S7E05)
 * makes a guest appearance in one of Sheldon's dreams. (Filmed for S7E06, but cut when aired)
 * Sheldon will have a big break through in his work that lifts him to another level and he has to deal with it, which he's not comfortable with. It's not exactly what he had been hoping for. (aired, S7E06 and S7E10)
 * will return as Professor Proton in two more episodes. (one have been aired in S7E07; another filmed) Professor Proton and Leonard and Bill Nye the Science Guy and Sheldon will team up and face off against each other. (aired, S7E07)
 * Penny is going to set Raj up with one of her friends, Lizzie. (aired, S7E08)
 * Per a writers' room photo, there will be a holiday episode listed as "Happy Thanksgiving, Hard". (aired, S7E09)
 * Penny finds out that she is married. (aired, S7E09)
 * and from the Star Wars franchise will make a guest appearance together. (aired, S7E14)
 * The episode will take place on a train. (aired, S7E15)
 * There will be a Shamy kiss. (aired, S7E15)
 * Mary Cooper is returning when Sheldon visits her. (aired, S7E18)
 * Professor Proton is going to pass away. (aired, S7E22)
 * Leonard and Penny's engagement and marrige. (aired, S7E23)