‘The Big Bang Theory’ season 9: Premiere date speculation, more for CBS smash

Tonight, “The Big Bang Theory” caps off its eighth season with a finale that will follow a familiar theme in change. Life is very different for the characters on the CBS series now than it was five years ago. Sheldon has actually experienced a relationship, Howard is married, and even Raj has put himself out there for other women.

So as we start to hit the home stretch for the series (it has at least two more seasons, if not more), you have to start wondering how how in the world the network will wrap this up. Will we end with a big wedding, or Sheldon finally becoming a game-changing innovator in his field? Will Penny ever get the big movie role? Maybe we will learn in the night two seasons. For now, what we know is that you will for sure have more new episodes in the fall, but most likely again on Monday night. Since CBS is bringing back Thursday Night Football and there is little chance they will wait until after the games end to bring the show on the air, be prepared to see it helping to launch their fall season.

One other nice thing going into the fall is simply that you no longer have to worry about the status of the cast, at least in that there has been a major contract structure set up to keep negotiations from being as insane as they were last year, when production was delayed to make sure everyone had a deal.

While the ratings have slipped for “The Big Bang Theory” this fall, it does still remain the top comedy on TV and one of the top-rated programs overall in the 18-49 demographic. It did lose its title this year, though, to “Empire” on Fox.

We’ll have our review of the season finale up later at this link, so be on the hunt for that! Also, sign up now in the event you want some further TV updates on all we cover, courtesy of our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: CBS.)