How The Big Bang Theory Handled All Of Its Family Drama 

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, particularly those getting married (again), tonight\'s Season 10 premiere was one of happiness. But that happiness was fleeting, as the convergence of all the characters\' families created some very stressful moments for all involved. How did it all play out? Awkwardly.

Divorced parents arguing is a comedy trope that TV has always embraced, and

\'s "The Conjugal Conjecture" was at the head of the class in that department. For now, though, we\'ll focus on Christine Baranski\'s Beverly and Judd Hirsch\'s Alfred, two people who would not both survive getting stuck on an elevator together. As soon as they\'re in each other\'s presence, it\'s claws at throats, and Beverly doesn\'t even have much vested interest in watching her son marry Penny. In that respect, the show was almost too mean, especially when it carried on into the wedding. (Poor Stuart.)

But their parental cattiness was not enough to ruin the ceremony - which got taken over by Sheldon anyway - and by the end of the episode, there was no rekindling or apologetic tone involved. So we could definitely get a holiday episode with Hirsch and Baranski butting heads again. It\'s too bad the show waited until the end of Season 9 to make that pairing happen.

As we all remember, Season 9 ended with that most uncomfortable of cliffhangers when Sheldon\'s mother Mary, played by the always spot-on Laurie Metcalf, potentially hooked up with Alfred. The horror of the situation was bad enough to keep Sheldon awake at night, and he lacked a certain degree of tact when point-blank asking Alfred if he defiled Mary or not. ("Your genitals are a joy to behold," should be in fortune cookies.) And though Alfred plays it cool, suggesting they only shared a ride and a beverage, the suspicions remain.

While there was definitely a connection between Alfred and Mary that worked for them, it made things worse with everyone else. I guess Beverly would have been as bad either way, but Leonard and Sheldon had a little tiff over it when Sheldon was implying Alfred wasn\'t good enough for his Bible-humping mom. In the end, friends remain friends and Alfred makes it clear that Mary plans on visiting him in New York. So showrunner Steve Molaro was definitely planting seeds for future appearances here as well. Smart.

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