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The Big Bang Theory stars Kunal Nayyar and Mayim Bialik surprised fans at the show’s annual writers’ room panel Friday at San Diego Comic-Con, where they fielded questions from celebrity moderator and guest star Jerry O’Connell about filming Sheldon and Amy’s wedding, whether there’s a “Shamy” baby on the way, why Raj remains a bachelor and more. They also discussed the idea of whether there’s another spinoff (after CBS prequel Young Sheldon) in store.
Nayyar was the first “surprise” guest, who entered after a setup question from O’Connell about the fact that Raj is now the last of the single guys among his inner-circle of friends on the comedy from Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady and Steve Molaro.
“I like it. It leaves room for a spinoff, except but it won’t be like Young Sheldon, it’ll be Old and Fat Raj,” he joked. “I enjoy being the single guy. Seriously, it’s really fun. You get to explore different aspects and have many potential guest stars.” Nayyar, who was sporting an impressive mustache (and occasionally literally twirled it throughout the hour), took a beat. “Wow, that sounded way creepier than I thought it would. It’s this mustache, everything I say sounds disgusting.”
Bialik (Amy) was the next to surprise the crowd, coming out to a question about the, uh, impressive wedding dress she sported in the season 11 finale during the long-awaited nuptials with Sheldon (Jim Parsons). “We wanted this character to have a dress that embodied all of her dreams and all of her wishes,” she said, “And why pick one dream and wish when you can put them all in one dress?!”
While the actors don’t get the scripts until the day before each episode begins shooting, showrunner Steve Holland — who took over for Molaro last season — did reveal a few tidbits about the upcoming 12th season (which, as of now, is not slated to be the series’ last and begins filming on Aug. 15).
“The premiere episode coming back we’re going to see Sheldon and Amy on their honeymoon,” he revealed, and guest stars Kathy Bates and Teller will return as Amy’s parents. There’s no plan for the newlyweds to have a baby just yet, but since they only write the season in small chunks, it’s not completely out of the question.”
The season 11 finale featured the long-awaited wedding between Amy and Sheldon, which was officiated by Mark Hamill (as himself) and also introduced Amy’s parents. The episode also featured Sheldon having a major scientific breakthrough after finding inspiration from something Amy said about his bow tie.
Holland told The Hollywood Reporter after the episode in May that the discovery — “super asymmetry” — needed to be something that could potentially be game-changing. The show’s science consultant, Dr. David Saltzberg, tied in Sheldon’s work on string theory with one of Stephen Hawking’s theories about black holes and made sure the science was viable.
“Saltzberg said super symmetry is an actual thing but no one has ever talked about super asymmetry,” he said. “There are no papers that mention it, which is a line that we put in the script for Leonard. David was on set during the finale taping and wrote all the equations on the mirror to make sure the science was right.”
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The Big Bang Theory is finishing out the last year of its latest multi-season renewal, bringing the sitcom through its 12th season. Holland told THR in May that the writers should know before the final half of the season whether it’s the end. (If it isn’t the end, producers Warner Bros. Television will have to sign the cast to new contracts as the stars remain among the highest-paid on the small screen.)
“I’m sure we’ll know before we’re writing the last half of the season — or before — whether we’re writing a series or a season finale,” he said. “That’s really important. We need to know what we’re doing to make sure that if it is the end, to give the best ending we can and the best closure to these characters.”
The Big Bang Theory will return Sept. 24 on CBS.
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