There are, in fact, four verses to the popular theme, written and performed by pop group the Barenaked Ladies. The show only uses the first for its brief intro sequence. The whole thing goes like this:

"Our whole universe was in a hot dense state / then nearly 14 billion years ago expansion started. Wait... / The Earth began to cool / the autotrophs began to drool / Neanderthals developed tools / we built a wall (we built the pyramids) / math, science, history, unravelling the mysteries / that all started with the big bang!

"'Since the dawn of man' is really not that long / as every galaxy was formed in less time than it takes to sing this song / a fraction of a second and the elements were made / the bipeds stood up straight / the dinosaurs all met their fate / they tried to leap but they were late / and they all died (they froze their asses off) / the oceans and pangea / see ya, wouldn't wanna be ya / set in motion by the same big bang! / It all started with the big BANG!

"It's expanding ever outward but one day / it will cause the stars to go the other way / collapsing ever inward, we won't be here, it won't be heard / our best and brightest figure that it'll make an even bigger bang!

"Australopithecus would really have been sick of us / debating how we're here, they're catching deer (we're catching viruses) / religion or astronomy, Encarta, Deuteronomy, it all started with the big bang! / Music and mythology, Einstein and astrology, it all started with the big bang! / It all started with the big BANG!"

Fading are the days when a TV show played the same, extended opening each week, airing a long theme song under a full run of cast-and-crew credits. Dramas were the worst offenders, with their opening sequences regularly clocking in over two minutes, but sitcoms weren't innocent either. "Welcome Back, Kotter," with one slowly recited verse and repetitive chorus, introduced the names of all the principal cast members as well as the creators, writers, producers and episode director and ran nearly a minute and a half.

Compare this to "The Big Bang Theory," whose intro runs just 23 seconds and only lists the show's creators, Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady. This is the way shows are going now, superimposing the names of the cast over the first scenes of the show instead, allowing for a little more action per episode.

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