‘The Big Bang Theory’ season 9 spoilers: Stephen Merchant, Analeigh Tipton cast

We saw at the end of Monday night’s new episode of “The Big Bang Theory” that we could be starting to see the characters of Sheldon and Amy enter the dating pool. To go along with that now, we have a little bit of further information about just who the two parties are going to play.

According to TVLine (who cites sources from a recent taping), Stephen Merchant (“Hello Ladies”) and Analeigh Tipton (“Manhattan Love Story”) have each signed up to play new love interests for Amy and Sheldon … or at least dates. There’s no telling whether or not they will get past the first stage of the night with either one of them. As the site notes, this is actually the second appearance from Tipton on the show; the former “America’s Next Top Model” contestant made a cameo many years ago, but we figure few casual viewers will even notice.

Do these appearances create a problem of there being too many cast members for a half-hour show? We would certainly understand if someone felt that way after a while, but the good news here is that we do not anticipate there being many long-term appearances from either one of these actors. We still think that Sheldon and Amy are going to get back together eventually, but the real challenge for them is going to be figuring out how they can have a relationship again after all that has transpired.

We imagine that this episode will air at some point later this fall. Stay tuned…

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