logo
Years After Kaley Cuoco Recalled Being Sexualized In 'The Big Bang Theory,' The Show's Creator Reflected On Initially Making Her Character 'Clichéd' And 'One-Dimensional'

Years After Kaley Cuoco Recalled Being Sexualized In 'The Big Bang Theory,' The Show's Creator Reflected On Initially Making Her Character 'Clichéd' And 'One-Dimensional'

Buzz Feed18-03-2025

If you're a fan of The Big Bang Theory, you might know that the show initially premiered with an entirely different pilot episode.
As far as most people are aware, the first episode of the series introduces main characters Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), as well as Penny (Kaley Cuoco), Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg), and Rajesh 'Raj' Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar).
However, a year prior, TBBT debuted with an unaired original pilot that only featured Sheldon and Leonard's characters from those listed above. The episode also featured Amanda Walsh portraying a character named Katie, while Iris Bahr played a woman named Gilda.
Fast forward to today, and the masterminds behind Big Bang have shared a ton of details about the unaired 2006 pilot. Speaking on Jessica Radloff's new The Official Big Bang Theory Podcast this week, cocreator Chuck Lorre sat down with former chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group, Peter Roth, for a candid conversation about the sitcom's early days.
Describing the unaired pilot as '22 minutes of mistakes,' Chuck admitted that the episode — which opened with Sheldon and Leonard in a sperm bank — was largely influenced by the CBS sitcom Two and A Half Men, which he was also producing at the time.
'The first pilot was so heavily influenced by Two and A Half Men,' he said before later adding, ' The Big Bang, even the second pilot, had elements that were unnecessarily risqué…It took a while to learn that this wasn't this show, this wasn't these characters.'
'The sexual stuff had to go,' he said. 'I was late in understanding that this show [and these characters] didn't tolerate risqué humor.'
'It wasn't 'til the second season that I started to understand that Sheldon was asexual. I didn't understand that going in when we did the pilot,' Chuck continued.
The group went on to reveal that Sheldon had sex with Gilda in the unaired pilot and that he had a preference 'for women with big buttocks.' Peter shared, 'In the first pilot, we discover that Sheldon has a predilection for women with big buttocks. And we discover that he has had sexual exploits. He has had coitus. None of that exists in the second pilot. That shift and change into the more innocent quality of that character was extraordinarily wise.'
Elsewhere on the podcast, Chuck and Peter discussed how amazingly Kaley's character, Penny, complimented the guys. 'She was never judgmental about these characters. She was bemused by them. In fact, they brought more judgement to her than she did ever of them,' Peter shared. 'And I thought that was also an important difference between the character of what Penny brought versus the character of what Katie brought in the original unaired pilot.'
'There was a sweetness and endearment that she felt towards them. The audience wanted to protect these two boys,' he added.
However, it took the Big Bang producers a moment to realize Penny's worth. Chuck admitted that 'so many episodes' were shot before the team understood that there was 'a brilliance to Penny's character' that they hadn't explored.
'We did the very clichéd in the beginning, you know, goofy blonde who says foolish things. It's a clichéd character, right? The dumb blonde. And we missed it. We didn't have that right away that what she brought to this series, to these other characters, was an intelligence that they didn't have…that was alien to them, you know, intelligence about people and relationships and family,' he said. 'It was built in that the scientists of the show didn't understand how to be with people. She did. She brought a humanity to them that they were lacking, and that took a while to figure out. Certainly, in the beginning, she was sadly one-dimensional in many ways.'
Netflix
Interestingly, Penny's initial lack of development beyond her 'goofy' persona and sex appeal is something that has been discussed — and critiqued — by Big Bang viewers for years.
Back in 2021, Kaley opened up about how her character's outfits were super sexualized early on in the show during a chat with W Magazine. 'I started Big Bang at 21 years old,' she said, per Digital Spy. 'I was the cute girl next door to the nerds. It was all about booty shorts, Juicy Couture zip-ups.'
'And as the years went on, Penny grows up, Kaley grows up. All of a sudden, it's like, 'Can I have a long sleeve shirt? How about a slack? How about a loafer? I never wanna see that high heel again!'' she said.
Kaley, now 39, also said, 'That was so long ago. When I think about how many years ago that was... it was a different time,' before adding: 'Also, by the way, at 21, I was hot. I wanted to show that stuff off. You would not catch me dead in a sexy cat costume now!'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Boston Blue: Gloria Reuben Joins Blue Bloods Offshoot as Family Matriarch
Boston Blue: Gloria Reuben Joins Blue Bloods Offshoot as Family Matriarch

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Boston Blue: Gloria Reuben Joins Blue Bloods Offshoot as Family Matriarch

CBS' upcoming Blue Bloods offshoot is nearly done filling out its cast of series regulars. Airing Fridays at 10/9c starting this fall, Boston Blue finds franchise vet Donnie Wahlberg's Detective Danny Reagan leaving New York City and his family to take a position with the Boston Police Department. There, he will be partnered with Detective Lena Silver (Star Trek Discovery's Sonequa Martin-Green), the eldest daughter of a prominent law enforcement family. More from TVLine Rachel Brosnahan to Follow Up Superman With Presumed Innocent Season 2 Lead Jonathan Jackson's General Hospital Exit, Explained: 'The Hope Was to Stay On Longer' Ratings: Tony Awards Surge 38% to Biggest Audience Since 2019 ER alum Gloria Reuben — whose far more recent TV credits include The Better Sister, Elsbeth and The Equalizer — has been cast as Mae Silver, Boston's District Attorney and the matriarch of the aforementioned, blended family of law enforcement professionals. The widow of a judge who was murdered on the courthouse steps, Mae endeavors to put family ahead of work whenever possible, Deadline reports. As previously reported, Ernie Hudson (NBC's Quantum Leap reboot) will play Lena's grandfather, Reverend Peters, a renowned pastor of a historic Baptist church in Boston, while Psych vet Maggie Lawson will play Boston PD Superintendent Sarah Silver, Lena's 'strong-willed' and 'decisive' stepsister. Still to be cast on Boston Blue is Jonah, a rookie cop who is Lena's brother/Mae's son. Of note, Reuben played mom to Martin-Green in the 2024 indie My Dead Friend Zoe, and on Blue Bloods she appeared in a pair of Season 11 episodes as Rachel Weber, the ATF Special Agent in Charge overseeing an undercover op involving Joe Hill. Want scoop on , or for any other TV show? Shoot an email to InsideLine@ and your question may be answered via Matt's Inside Line! Boston Blue: Everything We Know So Far View List Best of TVLine Stars Who Almost Played Other TV Roles — on Grey's Anatomy, NCIS, Lost, Gilmore Girls, Friends and Other Shows TV Stars Almost Cast in Other Roles Fall TV Preview: Who's In? Who's Out? Your Guide to Every Casting Move!

Boston Blue: Gloria Reuben Joins Blue Bloods Offshoot as Family Matriarch
Boston Blue: Gloria Reuben Joins Blue Bloods Offshoot as Family Matriarch

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Boston Blue: Gloria Reuben Joins Blue Bloods Offshoot as Family Matriarch

CBS' upcoming Blue Bloods offshoot is nearly done filling out its cast of series regulars. Airing Fridays at 10/9c starting this fall, Boston Blue finds franchise vet Donnie Wahlberg's Detective Danny Reagan leaving New York City and his family to take a position with the Boston Police Department. There, he will be partnered with Detective Lena Silver (Star Trek Discovery's Sonequa Martin-Green), the eldest daughter of a prominent law enforcement family. More from TVLine Rachel Brosnahan to Follow Up Superman With Presumed Innocent Season 2 Lead Jonathan Jackson's General Hospital Exit, Explained: 'The Hope Was to Stay On Longer' Ratings: Tony Awards Surge 38% to Biggest Audience Since 2019 ER alum Gloria Reuben — whose far more recent TV credits include The Better Sister, Elsbeth and The Equalizer — has been cast as Mae Silver, Boston's District Attorney and the matriarch of the aforementioned, blended family of law enforcement professionals. The widow of a judge who was murdered on the courthouse steps, Mae endeavors to put family ahead of work whenever possible, Deadline reports. As previously reported, Ernie Hudson (NBC's Quantum Leap reboot) will play Lena's grandfather, Reverend Peters, a renowned pastor of a historic Baptist church in Boston, while Psych vet Maggie Lawson will play Boston PD Superintendent Sarah Silver, Lena's 'strong-willed' and 'decisive' stepsister. Still to be cast on Boston Blue is Jonah, a rookie cop who is Lena's brother/Mae's son. Of note, Reuben played mom to Martin-Green in the 2024 indie My Dead Friend Zoe, and on Blue Bloods she appeared in a pair of Season 11 episodes as Rachel Weber, the ATF Special Agent in Charge overseeing an undercover op involving Joe Hill. Want scoop on , or for any other TV show? Shoot an email to InsideLine@ and your question may be answered via Matt's Inside Line! Boston Blue: Everything We Know So Far View List Best of TVLine Stars Who Almost Played Other TV Roles — on Grey's Anatomy, NCIS, Lost, Gilmore Girls, Friends and Other Shows TV Stars Almost Cast in Other Roles Fall TV Preview: Who's In? Who's Out? Your Guide to Every Casting Move!

The Tony Awards landed a 44 percent increase in viewership this year
The Tony Awards landed a 44 percent increase in viewership this year

Boston Globe

time2 hours ago

  • Boston Globe

The Tony Awards landed a 44 percent increase in viewership this year

Hosted by Tony winner Cynthia Erivo, who currently stars in That number represents an increase of 44 percent from the 3.53 million viewers who watched the Tony Awards on CBS last year, helped, no doubt, by the promised attendance of George Clooney and Advertisement Sunday night's viewership was the largest broadcast audience for the Tonys since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic closed down Broadway and the rest of the theater world for a year-and-half, starting in March 2020. During the worst of the pandemic, the long-term viability of live performance seemed like an open question. The entertainment industry loves to slice, dice, and parse the numbers. So Broadway, locked in a perpetual quest for younger audiences, will doubtless take note that Sunday's Tony Awards achieved major gains in what are seen as key demographic categories, such as viewers ages 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54, according to Nielsen. Sunday's ceremony, which was streamed on Paramount Plus, CBS's corporate sibling, drew the largest streaming audience the Tonys have ever achieved, according to Paramount Plus. Advertisement The Tony Awards have traditionally served as a way to elevate Broadway's profile in the eyes of a national TV audience, and provide a shot of adrenaline to the box office. But this time the Tonys simply put an exclamation point on what has been a robust year at the box office for Broadway. During the 2024-25 season, Broadway grossed $1.89 billion, an increase of 23 percent and the largest amount on record. Of course, a goodly chunk of that increase can be attributed to stratospheric ticket prices. Don Aucoin is the Globe's theater critic and a critic-at-large. Don Aucoin can be reached at

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store