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‘The Big Bang Theory’ Spoilers: What’s In Store For Leonard, Sheldon, & Friends In Season 10?

By Aaron Homer
Published on: 05:43 PST, Aug 26, 2016

Big Bang Theory spoilers are starting to trickle in, and it appears that fans are going to get some answers to questions they’ve had not only since Season 9’s season-ending cliffhanger but possibly going back to the early days of the show. Thanks to some help from GameNGuide, CheatSheet, and some other sources, fans can get a clearer picture of what is going to happen once Big Bang Theory Season 10 gets off and running in a few weeks.

Season 10 spoilers won’t make any sense, however, without some context, and for that context, we have to re-visit what happened at the end of Season 9. In the penultimate Season 9 episode, Leonard’s mother, Beverly (Christine Baransky), told Penny she was disappointed that she wasn’t invited to Leonard and Penny’s wedding or told about its live stream on the internet. Ashamed, Penny and Leonard decided to throw another wedding for their families. Sheldon’s mother, Mary (Laurie Metcalf) and Leonard’s father, Alfred (Judd Hirsch) show up, and appear to make a love connection. The episode (which you can watch here) ends with the gang noticing Mary and Alfred’s absence, leaving viewers to wonder if they hooked up.

Season 10 Will Pick Up Exactly Where Season 9 Left Off

In previous seasons of The Big Bang Theory, writers have explained the four-month gap between episodes by, for example, sending Leonard off on a research vessel or putting Sheldon on cross-country soul-searching journey. In other seasons, they’ve just not addressed it. But for Season 10, the first episode will pick up right where the last episode of Season 10. That means that, at the very least, the Mary and Alfred storyline will probably be resolved by the end of the episode.

Look For Some Interesting Guest Stars

The Big Bang Theory’s viewers are privy to some information about Penny’s family back in Nebraska. Her dad, Wyatt, has made an appearance on the show, and she’s spoken to her mother on the phone. We also know that she has a meth-dealing brother. But neither character has been mentioned by name or seen on the show.

Until now. This summer, news broke that Katey Sagal and Jack McBrayer have been cast as Penny’s mother and brother, respectively.

Casting Katey Sagal as Penny’s mom may be the best casting decision in the history of television casting. Best known for playing shameless floozie Peg Bundy on Married with Children and tough-as-nails motorcycle gang matriarch Gemma Morrow on Sons of Anarchy, Katey is sure to find a character somewhere between those to extremes to occupy the role of Penny’s mom.

Casting McBrayer as Penny’s meth-dealing brother seems a weirder choice, and it will be fun seeing what he does with the character. McBrayer just doesn’t come off as a meth dealer. He’s more like that guy you went to theater camp with in ninth grade and now works at Whole Foods.

With the addition of two of Penny’s family members to the cast, will fans finally learn Penny’s last name? You may not have noticed it, but Penny’s last name was actually revealed in Season 8: In the episode where Leonard and Penny finally tied the knot, it was revealed (or at least, implied) that Penny’s last name is Hofstadter! (Sorry, I had to.)

Other Subplots Will Get Attention, Too

You may recall that Howard and Bernadette announced their pregnancy toward the end of Season 9. Since there won’t be a four-month gap between the events at the end of Season 9 and the beginning of Season 10, Bernadette’s pregnancy will still be in its beginning stages. Still, there may be a baby by the end of Season 10, says showrunner Steven Molaro, even though, by my math, he or she would be a newborn come the end of this season.

“We’ll continue to look for new takes on [baby planning] and the kind of stories that hopefully we haven’t seen many times on TV. So far, I think we’ve done a pretty good job with that in season 9. The pregnancy will continue.”

The boys will also continue to work on their guidance system that they’d invented at the end of Season 9. Molaro hints that the invention could make Howard, Sheldon, and Leonard “wildly successful” and could impact their careers.

The Writers Aren’t Treating Season 10 As The Final Season – Yet

The current contract for the main Big Bang Theory cast members only runs through the upcoming season, and they’re probably going to want astronomical amounts of money to continue. As of this writing, negotiations haven’t begun, but CBS honcho Glenn Geller is optimistic that the show will continue beyond Season 10.

The writers, meanwhile, aren’t yet planning to tie up all of the show’s loose ends, and until they hear otherwise, will treat Season 10 as just another season.

The Big Bang Theory returns to CBS on Monday, September 19 at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.

[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]

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