Somehow, it’s been 16 whole years since The Big Bang Theory premiered in September 2007. To celebrate the anniversary, here are 16 facts about the show that’ll surprise you, educate you, and honestly just make you want to do another rewatch:
1.
The character of Penny was originally going to be called Katie and she wasn’t going to be the “bubbly” version of the character we know now, but a much more cynical character. Kaley Cuoco auditioned for the role, but originally it went to actor Amanda Walsh who even filmed the original unaired pilot in 2006.
2.
Marisa Tomei, Tara Reid, and Elizabeth Berkley also all read for the role of “Katie” (aka Penny) before she was ultimately immortalized by the one and only Kaley.
3.
A long-discussed element of the show was that Penny never had a last name. The writers ultimately decided to never give Penny a maiden name because they got “superstitious” about it. Ultimately her last name will always be her married name — Hofstadter.
4.
Penny wasn’t the only role that could have looked super different — the role of Howard Wolowitz was actually originally written for Kevin Sussman (who ultimately played Stuart) but ABC wouldn’t release him from his Ugly Betty contract in order to free him up to play the role.
5.
The characters of Sheldon and Leonard were named after producer Sheldon Leonard, who produced shows like The Andy Griffith Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show.
6.
And the character of Sheldon was inspired by a computer programmer that Prady once worked with, noting that this programmer could “do amazing calculations in his head but couldn’t manage to tip the waiters in a restaurant.”
7.
The origin story of Sheldon’s famous catchphrase “Bazinga!” is actually revealed in a 2018 episode of Young Sheldon. As a boy, Sheldon was trying to act more childlike and frivolous, which led him to a comic book store selling funny toys by a brand called Bazinga — and the rest was history.
8.
Young Sheldon also reveals that Amy and Sheldon eventually have a son together — and they name him Leonard.
9.
Kunal Nayyar has naturally curly hair, so he straightened his hair for every episode to play Raj.
10.
Carrie Fisher and James Earl Jones met for the first time appearing as guest stars on the show, despite their history starring in Star Wars.
11.
Meanwhile, Mark Hamill was “a little nervous” at first to commit to appearing in the Season 11 finale to officiate Sheldon and Amy’s wedding because the producers approached him as their “dream guest” without even having a script.
12.
Mayim Bialik actually has a PHD in neuroscience in real life, and she has shared how it “came in handy” working on the show and that she would occasionally give small corrections to the scientific jargon in the dialogue. In fact, the writers even made Amy work in neuroscience as well because they figured it would make the character super accurate.
13.
Melissa Rauch revealed that the reason why Bernadette’s speaking voice was so high is because it was actually inspired by her mother in real life.
14.
“Soft Kitty” is such a big part of The Big Bang Theory, but CBS and Warner Brothers were actually sued over it. The suit was ultimately dropped.
15.
As an act of solidarity, Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Kunal Nayyar, and Simon Helberg each took a $100,000 pay cut from their notable $1,000,000 per episode paychecks just before Season 11 to help elevate Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch’s salaries to over $425,000 per episode.
16.
Finally, the show wasn’t always going to be called The Big Bang Theory — the original working title was going to be Lenny, Penny, and Kenny.
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