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CBS has produced many hit sitcoms over the year, but one of the biggest hits of all was The Big Bang Theory. The show had a long time on-air as one of the highest-rated shows of its era.

After a successful run, fans of the show can still enjoy it in syndication. It featured consistent laughs and well-drawn characters.

It also had an iconic opening sequence that fits in with the general theme of the show. But did you know there was actually an error in that sequence you may have missed? If you weren’t looking closely, here’s more on what that mistake was. 

Howard Wolowitz with Leonard Hofstadter and Colonel Williams
Howard Wolowitz with Leonard Hofstadter and Colonel Williams | Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images

According to IMDb, The Big Bang Theory ran from 2007-2019 on CBS. Chuck Lorre, noted sitcom impresario, co-created the show. Lorre also created the show Two and a Half Men, another popular CBS standby. 

The two focuses on two scientists, Leonard and Sheldon. While the two are brilliant, they are socially maladjusted. Leonard lacks confidence and is shy, while Sheldon maintains a tendency to speak his mind at all times, social norms be damned.

A woman named Penny moves into the apartment across the hall from them. Beautiful and not as book smart as the two, the show builds on the juxtaposition between their interaction. She becomes a friend to them, even getting involved in a relationship and falling in love with Leonard. 

The team of Kaley Cuoco as Penny with Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons as Leonard and Sheldon respectively proved to be a massive hit with fans. Multiple other characters joined the core cast throughout the years, keeping the show fresh over a long, decade-plus run. 

The opening credits of ‘The Big Bang Theory’

To fit in with the show’s science motif, the opening intro features the song The History of Everything by Barenaked Ladies playing over a series of images that represent both science and history. Some of the pictures in the montage include (but aren’t limited to):

  • George Washington
  • A lizard
  • Early humans and Neanderthals
  • Dinosaurs
  • Ancient marvels such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the pyramids
  • Stonehenge
  • Easter Island

The intent is to develop an academic feel to the opening, which sets the tone for the show. What made the show work is that while characters like Leonard and Sheldon possessed a high IQ, they often seemed to falter when it came to emotional intelligence or other interpersonal relationship matters. 

The opening theme took the viewer on a journey through time in rapid-fire succession, starting with the Big Bang itself and moving up to the modern-day. But what you may have missed is that there’s actually one glaring error in that montage. 

The one error in the opening credits of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ you may have missed

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As the opening montage travels through time in each of its various pictures, a timeline scrolls along the bottom of the screen. This is where the show contained an error that is hard to catch. According to Good Housekeeping, when the timeline reaches the year 91,000 BC, it actually reads 91,000 9C. If you’re wondering what era 9C would represent, you don’t have to wonder long: it was simply a mistake. 

Was this an outright mistake or an intentional plant by a graphic designer as some sort of inside joke? There’s no official explanation, so fans will likely never know. The good news is that for true fans of the show, a minuscule error as this wouldn’t take away from any of the show’s hilarious jokes or compelling plot lines. 

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Madilyn Zeegers

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