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A couple of notable change ups have occurred though going into the fall. One is a reshuffling of the successful Monday night comedy lineup. While Two and a Half Men, still the biggest comedy on TV, remains in its 9:00 anchor spot, all the shows around it are shifting timeslots. The Big Bang Theory is being given a very cushy new spot, now airing directly after Men at 9:30 (it probably doesn't hurt that both shows are produced by Chuck Lorre and have received multi-season pickups).

How I Met Your Mother meanwhile will move back up to 8:00 ? a timeslot it had before, though it did better at 8:30. CBS likely feels more secure in Mother now though, which has grown its audience, and will use it to launch the night and feed into their new comedy, Accidentally on Purpose, starring Jenna Elfman.

Another big move is The Mentalist, simply because the show has been a huge success for CBS and the biggest hit of the past TV season. However, CBS are now placing the show on Thursdays at 10:00. In the past, this placement, behind CSI, would have been seen only as a boon to the show following that massive hit. But in the wake of William Peterson leaving CSI, ratings are down a bit, and pairing the show with the much younger The Mentalist is likely seen as a benefit for both series that could potentially raise them both in viewers.

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Just like they did at Comic-Con last year, fans of The Big Bang Theory packed a ballroom today to hear cast members like Johnny Galecki muse that his character Leonard has "gotten more girls than ever" while Jim Parsons promised to leave his Emmy out "for friends to play with" should he win one in September. Executive producer Chuck Lorre thanked the fans and said "they were part of the conversation" every day in the writers room. "We ask, how will this play at Comic-Con?"

Lorre cryptically teased the new season, saying "things will change this year" and reveled in the fact that the show recently earned a two-year pickup. "People out there got what we were doing," he said. Fellow exec producer Bill Prady thinks fans connect to the show because "it plays like a sci-fi. Fans are connected to the characters."

In fact, one fan asked when Parsons' Sheldon will get a girlfriend (apparently, fan sites hint at -- or beg for -- an inevitable love connection between Sheldon and Kaley Cuoco's Penny). Alas, Lorre said since Sheldon's love is for science, a romance is not in the cards: "He's opted out."

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Seriously, this amazing group of young actors showed up ready to take Comic-Con by storm and rocked every second for all it was worth. The Big Bang Theory gang, along with equally incredible creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, checked into San Diego and entertained us all with, more than anything, their very visible true-to-screen friendships and admiration of one another.

More of this awesomeness to come, but first the juicy stuff. Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco) are definitely on! We're not talking a slow go of it?it's full speed ahead! "We're jumping in," said Chuck. "The will they or won't they question will be answered in the first episode."

The boys will be fresh off their Arctic adventures?and no doubt at each others throats?and the pair will be instantly reunited. Squee! But where do things with Lenny go from there? And what's up with the rest of the gang? We got the scoop...

"There's no reason not to go for it," said Bill. "We're so excited about it. After about five weeks, Penny becomes Leonard's girlfriend of duration."

It won't all be smooth sailing, though, as real-life relationship issues will arise. "If Leonard can sustain it [for at least] that long, how does he deal with her world and how do the guys deal with them as a couple? How does Sheldon deal with that? It's uncharted territory," said Bill.

Uncharted, yes. But we are so ready to see what happens next.

After one of our absolute faves, Kaley, played along with a overzealous fanatic who called her hot, we got down to the nitty gritty on her thoughts on Penny and Leonard finally making the leap.

"I don't care that it's season three," she said. "I want them to get together, not get together and in 10 years when our show is cancelled realize that they should have been together the whole time." So very Ross and Rachel?and we love it!

Hilarious and adorable and delightful Emmy nominee, Jim Parsons (Sheldon), was on hand to provide lots of comic relief. If you'll indulge us for just a minute, try to visualize this: A fan asks his question at the mic, following up by asking if Jim will use his napkin so he can "grow his own Jim" for his little sister. Suffice it to say, Kaley proceeded to wipe Jim's brow with said napkin and kindly returned it to the man.

This is the brilliant stuff that occupied most of The Big Bang Theory panel. Aside from lots of Penny and Leonard scoop, and loads of laughter between the cast, we learned that once again, no love is in Sheldon's future. Chuck tells us that his mistress is and always will be science.

Do look for a return of Momma Sheldon in the premiere, as Lori Metcalfe reemerges to help her son with some post-Arctic stress. Bill tells us that instead of the guys killing Sheldon after his annoying North Pole antics, they figure out a way to deal with him and it has some consequences unseen. The result? "Sheldon's mom is back in the first episode when he goes through a crisis and needs mom again."

And what about Wolowitz? Simon Helberg will be back in all his glory, alongside bosom buddy Koothrapali, the wonderful Kunal Nayyar, but don't expect much to develop on either of those fronts.

Of Wolowitz, Chuck laughs: "I don't know why we'd change him. He's kind of terrific, isn't he?" Well, obvs! Simon did tell us that his Howard may or may not have spent some time in the North Pole igloo hopping with the Inuit ladies.

We would expect nothing less.

One of the best moments of the panel may have been seeing all of the guys with full-grown beards. Not too long, as filming isn't yet underway, Johnny, Simon and Kunal were all sporting facial hair galore as a nod to the Arctic trip they took in last season's finale.

They all looked great in their new decorations, but definitely don't get used to it. Johnny liked the look at first, but tells us that it's way too hot in Los Angeles for that much facial coverage. And Kunal can't seem to grow it in slow enough, so it's all just more of a hassle to him. "My moustache grows in like two days. I've literally been shaving since I was eight," explained our Raj.

We could seriously go on and on for days with all of the goodness The Big Bang Theory gaves us that the Con, but we'll save some stuff for later. Promise we won't make you wait too long!

Are you as stoked for the return of BBT on Sept. 21 as we are? Thoughts in the Lenny love? You know what to do!

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-Simon joked that the guys will be "prowling for Eskimo women" at the North Pole. "Hitting the Arctic scene." However, in all seriousness, most of the energy is spent trying not to kill Sheldon.

-The cast has always gotten text messages from Chuck Lorre about getting renewed or more episodes getting picked up and Jim said they always doubt the validity of the text message, like someone's playing a prank.

-Jim said that if he wins the Emmy, he'd put it somewhere people can play with it. This led to many innuendos about "playing with Jim's ~Emmy."

-None of them were enthusiastic about Sheldon/Penny. I have not formed an opinion.

:laugh:

This topic is now closed to further replies.
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