Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Tenth Season Blu-ray Movie Review

The Renewal Procrastination

Reviewed by Michael Reuben September 13, 2017

Legions of anxious fans rejoiced when Warner and CBS announced last March that The Big Bang Theory would continue for at least two more seasons. Between production costs and rising cast salaries, the show has become one of the most expensive half-hours on TV, but it also remains one of the most successful, routinely drawing the largest audience of any scripted series. BBT's popularity explains why CBS is willing to pay through the nose to keep it on the air, but the rapidly escalating expense also explains why it has to pack in even more commercials, thereby reducing the show's actual running time to as little as 18:32. BBT's shrinking length was noted in my review of Season Nine, and Season Ten follows suit. It will be interesting to see whether it shrivels even further under the new, pricier contracts required to re-sign the cast for Season Eleven, which premieres on September 25 (followed by the debut of the new BBT spinoff, Young Sheldon).

Season Eleven picks up directly after the cliffhanger conclusion of the previous season, in which Leonard's divorced father, Harold (Judd Hirsch), appeared to be slipping off for a passionate night with Sheldon's devoutly Christian mom (Laurie Metcalf). The morning after brings questions, revelations and a few recriminations, after which BBT settles into its familiar episodic mode of weekly conflicts, jibes and pop culture trivia. By this point in the series, the characters have become so familiar, and the actors inhabit them so comfortably, that BBT's writers are able to milk comedy out of lines and situations that, in other contexts, would fall flat. The audience's identification with Sheldon (Jim Parsons), Leonard (Johnny Galecki), Penny (Kaley Cuoco), Howard (Simon Helberg), Bernadette (Melissa Rauch), Amy (Mayim Bialik) and Raj (Kunal Nyyar) is so thorough and so affectionate that the cast can entertain just by fulfilling expectations, delivering each week's wisecracks, putdowns and protests with the distinctive tone we've come to expect from each individual.

Not that Season Ten entirely lacks for novelty. Bernadette's advanced pregnancy, followed by the mid-season birth of baby Halley Wolowitz (Episode 11, "The Birthday Synchronicity"), supplies a wealth of new material, including a rivalry between Raj and comic store owner Stuart (recurring guest star Kevin Sussman) over who can be most helpful. A number of housing arrangements are altered, a development that, in the world of BBT, where nearly everyone hates change, holds the potential for major trauma. And the season concludes with a shocker that even the cast members say they didn't see coming.

With nine seasons to draw on, BBT has a deep bench of supporting players that it can bring back and inject into new situations, and Season Nine feature numerous returns. Penny's former boyfriend, dim but hunky Zack (Brian Thomas Smith), reappears with a job offer for his ex, which predictably sends Leonard into a jealous tailspin (Episode 22, "The Cognition Regeneration"). The grad student who once had a crush on Sheldon, Ramona Nowitzki (Riki Lindhome), returns as a full-fledged Ph.D. with the apparent intent of resuming her efforts at romance, and she is aided by the absence of Amy, who has accepted a fellowship at Princeton. Consternation reigns among the gang (Episode 24, "The Long Distance Dissonance"). In one of the season's most widely promoted episodes, Raj convenes a survey panel of his former girlfriends to investigate his shortcomings—and is taken aback by their appraisals (Episode 14, "The Emotion Detection Automation"). Laura Spencer ("Emily"), Kate Micucci ("Lucy)", Alessandra Torresani ("Claire) and Katie Leclerc (another "Emily") reprise their roles.

Season Ten continues BBT's tradition of memorable guest stars. Keith Carradine returns as Penny's father in the season opener (Episode 1, "The Conjugal Conjecture"), but this time he's joined by Penny's mother (Katey Segal) and her ex-con brother, Randall (30 Rock 's Jack McBrayer). Christopher Lloyd (better known as Doc Brown from Back to the Future) plays a homeless man to whom Sheldon rents his room in a spat with Leonard (Episode 10, "The Property Division Collision"). One familiar face appears in five episodes throughout the season; Dean Norris, now immortalized as the DEA brother-in-law of Breaking Bad's drug kingpin, plays a tough Air Force colonel, who arrives offering government funding and support for the revolutionary guidance system developed by Howard, Leonard and Sheldon. Norris has portrayed countless cops and military men over a long career, and his deadpan mastery makes him a perfect comic foil for BBT's nattering nerds. The outcome of their partnership (Episode 23, "The Gyroscopic Collaboration") should be a foregone conclusion for anyone familiar with Real Genius, which apparently escaped our pop-culture-savvy heroes' attention.

The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Tenth Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As with previous seasons, Warner has released BBT's Season Ten on two 1080p, AVC-encoded BD-50s. The result, like BBT's visual style, is consistent with prior season releases. The digitally acquired image is sharp and detailed without any harshness, and there are no obvious artifacts in the form of video noise, banding or other anomalies. Blacks are deep and solid, and the bright colors reflect typical TV sitcom aesthetics. The image rarely "pops", but it's never dull. The average bitrate continues to hover around 15.99 Mbps for each episode, which seems to be sufficient given the nature of the material and the quality of the compression work. BBT looks as good on Blu-ray as it does in broadcast and streaming, and that seems to be enough to satisfy the TV division of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment. (By contrast, if the Warner Archive Collection were releasing the show, the Blu-ray image would look better than broadcast.)

The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Tenth Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

On the audio front as well, the Blu-rays of BBT's Season Ten are consistent with prior seasons. The 5.1 sound mix, encoded in lossless DTS-HD MA, remains front-oriented, with audience reaction shading to the sides and a little to the rear. The major use of surrounds occurs during the whirling-atom scene changes and the Bare Naked Ladies theme song that opens and closes each episode. Otherwise, BBT's soundtrack remains focused on the dialogue, which is carefully prioritized over studio audience reactions.

The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Tenth Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Best of The Big Bang Theory 2016 Comic-Con Panel (disc 1) (1080i; 1.78:1; 39:13): As in the previous year, this is a writers' panel, led by co-creator Bill Prady and current showrunner Steven Molaro and joined by science consultant Dr. David Saltzberg. The moderator is Melissa Rauch, and the "surprise" guest is Jack McBrayer, who plays Penny's brother, Randall.



• #JustAskBBT (disc 1) (1080p; 1.78:1; 5:17): The cast answers fan questions.



• The Ever-Expanding Universe of The Big Bang Theory (disc 2) (1080p; 1.78:1; 11:22): The cast, guest stars and co-creator Chuck Lorre discuss the family complications of Penny's and Sheldon's "makeup" wedding in the season opener (and later developments).



• Mad Props (disc 2) (1080p; 1.78:1; 7:59): Property master Scott London describes the show's ever-changing demands on his department.



• Who's the Baby Now? (disc 2) (1080p; 1.78:1; 7:33): The cast and Lorre discuss the impact of Baby Halley's arrival.



• Gag Reel (disc 2) (1080p; 1.78:1; 8:20): Punctuated by title cards with definitions of "forget", "flub", "prop", "interrupt" and "breaking" (i.e., as in "breaking character")

The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Tenth Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Warner's two-disc set for Season Ten continues the well-established pattern for BBT on Blu-ray, which is to say that the video quality is acceptable despite over-compression, the audio aptly reflects the mix of a show that is (mostly) recorded with a studio audience, and the extras grow a bit thinner every year. The show itself remains an addictive entertainment for its legions of fans, even if (or possibly because) the novelty has long since worn off, making the characters seem like old friends. Season Ten does manage a few surprises and also lays the groundwork for some new possibilities in Season Eleven. Recommended.