The CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory first premiered in 2007, and over the years, it has become one of the most watched shows on television. Fans love the humor of Sheldon Cooper, the relationship drama of Leonard and Penny, the various scientific references, and the development the characters have all gone through over the seasons, but there might be a lot you don't know about the show. From the original plans for the pilot that were changed to the truth about the high-pitched voice of Bernadette, let's take a look at the untold truth of The Big Bang Theory.
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00In 2007, The Big Bang Theory debuted on CBS, but the sitcom didn't explode in popularity
00:08until reruns hit syndication.
00:10Since then, its season premieres have routinely ranked near the top of network TV ratings,
00:14and reruns dominate the list of most-watched cable shows.
00:17But for any shows this huge, there are bound to be some big bangs behind the scenes, too.
00:23The Pilot Reconceptualization
00:25The show that's aired for nearly a decade is very different from the original pilot.
00:29Jim Parsons as Sheldon was originally a horndog.
00:32His character was changed to someone mystified by romance.
00:34"...and I have seen six women naked.
00:37Some of them weren't even relatives."
00:38Kaley Cuoco's Penny was also absent.
00:41Instead, the attractive neighbor was the unfriendly Katie, played by Amanda Walsh.
00:45Johnny Galecki as Leonard wore suits instead of hoodies.
00:48And there was one other change.
00:50The theme song was Thomas Dolby's She Blinded Me With Science.
00:53CBS passed, but asked creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady to rework the show and submit
00:57another pilot.
00:58And they did, adding an original theme by Bare Naked Ladies, and made it to air in 2007.
01:03The Bernadette Vocalization
01:05Bernadette's mousy, high-pitched voice and loud moments of screaming rage don't come
01:08naturally to actress Melissa Roush.
01:10"...she said I'm a wonderful girl and that you're lucky to have me."
01:13"...where are you going?"
01:14"...to the toilet!
01:15Is that okay with you?"
01:17Although she doesn't sound like Bernadette in real life, Roush took her inspiration from
01:21a source close to home, her own mother.
01:23"...they'll say things like, I went to the grocery store and I had to return something
01:27and they sent me to three different counters.
01:28It was a real circle, jerk!"
01:29The Paycheck Extortion
01:32In 2014, production of the show's eighth season was delayed due to contract renegotiations
01:37between the cast and Warner Bros.
01:39Ultimately, CBS renewed the show for an unprecedented three seasons, keeping it on the air through
01:432017.
01:45Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, and Kaylee Cuoco each secured a salary of $1 million per episode.
01:50Meanwhile, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nair renegotiated their new contracts collectively, ending up
01:55with salaries of around $750,000 per episode.
01:59A settlement was reached the day before their old contracts expired, but the duo would have
02:03reportedly been written out of the show if they hadn't accepted the deal.
02:06The Relationship Obfuscation
02:08Kaylee Cuoco has often appeared in tabloids due to her brief marriage to tennis player
02:12Ryan Sweeting.
02:13Still, she avoided the spotlight during her previous relationship, even though it was
02:16with a noteworthy co-star.
02:18Cuoco and Johnny Galecki dated from 2007 to 2009, and kept it a secret from not only the
02:23media, but from the Big Bang cast and crew.
02:25We totally fell for each other and just really wanted to keep it as close to ourselves as
02:30possible.
02:31We had an amazing relationship."
02:32The Mayim Bialik Manifestation
02:33In the 2008 episode, The Bat Jar Conjecture, Sheldon quits the group's physics bowl team.
02:38Raj aims high in his suggestion for a replacement.
02:40You know who is apparently very smart is the girl who played TV's Blossom.
02:44She got a Ph.D. in neuroscience or something.
02:49Raj, we're not getting TV's Blossom to join our physics bowl team.
02:53The actress is Mayim Bialik, who later joined the cast as Amy Farrah Fowler.
02:57Also under consideration for the role was actress and musician Kate Micucci.
03:00She was edged out for the part, but producers liked her so much that they wrote her in anyhow,
03:04as Lucy, the extremely introverted woman Raj, briefly dates.
03:08The Soft Kitty Misappropriation
03:09Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur, so that's where you come in.
03:18Co-creator Bill Prady says he heard Sheldon's special calm-down song at his daughter's preschool.
03:23Assuming it was public domain, he added it to the show, where it's been used multiple
03:26times and on Big Bang merchandise.
03:28In 2015, however, the family of a teacher named Edith Newland sued CBS.
03:33Allegedly, the show lifted lyrics from Newland's 1937 song, Warm Kitty.
03:37The main difference?
03:38The original 1937 lyrics switch the first two lines from the song we now know and love.
03:42This whole thing could make for one rich kitty.
03:44Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr.