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.
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 (Sheldon Cooper) was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for "The Werewolf Transformation", but lost out to Jon Cryer. Mayim Bialik (Amy Farrah Fowler) was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for "The Shiny Trinket Maneuver", but lost out to Julie Bowen.
Overview
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".
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
Special guest cast
Brent Spiner as himself
Leonard Nimoy as Spock (voice)
Recurring cast
Christine Baranski as Dr. Beverly Hofstadter
Aarti Mann as Priya Koothrappali, Brian George as Dr. V.M. Koothrappali Alice Amter as Mrs. Koothrappali Carol Ann Susi as Mrs. Wolowitz Wil Wheaton as himself Kevin Sussman as Stuart Bloom Laurie Metcalf as Mary Cooper John Ross Bowie as Dr. Barry Kripke Mike Massimino as himself Joshua Malina as President Siebert Vernee Watson as Althea Casey Sander as Mike Rostenkowski Pasha Lychnikoff as Dimitri Rezinov Stephen Hawking as himself
Guest cast
Katie Leclerc as Emily
Courtney Ford as Alice
Blake Berris as Kevin
Ashley Austin Morris as Laura
Josh Brener as Dale
Lance Barber as Jimmy Speckerman
Jonathan Schmock as Jonathan
Jim Turner as Reverend White
Becky O'Donohue as Siri
Lynn Phillip Seibel as Professor Rothman
Peter Onorati as Angelo
Chriselle Almeida as Lakshmi
Robert Clotworthy as Dave Roeger (voice) Amy Tolsky as Joan
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 (ISS) 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.
Episodes
Release
Critical reception
The fifth season received critical acclaim. 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" (an episode focusing on Raj) as "one of the series' worst", giving it a D+ rating. Sava's favorite relationship on the series is between Amy and Penny.