The Big Bang Theory will come to an end after 12 seasons in the not-too-distant future, but the final credits won't roll before Penny gets another visit from her dad. Keith Carradine is set to reprise his role as Wyatt. Penny's family hasn't gotten quite as much attention as other main characters, so it should be interesting to see what The Big Bang Theory has in store for her with her dad in Season 12. Here's what we know so far.
Keith Carradine will return as Wyatt "for a moment," according to the actor in comments to TVLine. No details are currently available about when in Season 12 Carradine will return as Wyatt or if he'll be back for more than one episode, but his "for a moment" comment seems to indicate that he won't be back on a regular basis. That doesn't come as a huge surprise; The Big Bang Theory has a large cast with stories that will need to be wrapped up by the end of the season, and that may not leave a whole lot of room for other characters to take on big roles. While I wouldn't rule out more than one episode with Penny's dad in the mix, I don't expect to see a ton of him.
Wyatt first turned up on The Big Bang Theory relatively early in its run with a Season 4 episode that saw Penny rope Leonard into pretending to be her boyfriend while her dad was in town. When the truth came out that Penny and Leonard were actually broken up at the time, Wyatt did what he could to convince Leonard not to give up on Penny, leading to an interesting dynamic with Leonard. Wyatt was a fan of Leonard since Leonard was preferable to Penny's past boyfriends. Keith Carradine returned as Wyatt a couple more times, including for Penny and Leonard's Season 10 wedding.
When he was back in the mix for the wedding, he wasn't able to just enjoy the nuptials. Wyatt visited Pasadena with his wife and son in tow, and they didn't exactly get along. Penny's family isn't the most functional in The Big Bang Theory history, but it could be worse! Her wedding was less of a wild affair than Sheldon and Amy's, which happened to feature Mark Hamill in a fabulous role. We do already know that Amy's mom will be back; could Amy's mom and Penny's dad interact? It wouldn't be the first time some of the characters' parents met, and shenanigans could certainly ensue.
We'll have to wait and see. Season 12 will present the final time Keith Carradine will be able to reprise his role as Wyatt given the end of the series. The end is nigh reportedly because of Jim Parsons, and not the entire cast was happy about the cancellation news. We'll have to wait and see what happens. The Big Bang Theory Season 12 will premiere on Thursday, September 27 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. For more upcoming viewing options, take a look at our fall TV premiere guide.
