Despite being a caring friend, Johnny Galecki’s Leonard often found himself being mistreated by others in the sitcom.
Throughout The Big Bang Theory‘s progression, which saw the characters achieve great heights and overcome personal shortcomings, for the most part, Johnny Galecki’s Leonard remained the same. While Leonard is far from perfect, at his core, the character greatly cares about his friends, which makes the instances in which he is berated by others all the more heartbreaking.
Moreover, the show didn’t shy away from pointing out his character’s lack of accomplishments and his inner struggles to make room for laughter.
Johnny Galecki’s Leonard Deserved To Be Treated Better
Despite being friends for over a decade, Sheldon proved to be an annoying roommate on many occasions, which made fans further sympathize with Leonard. From putting bugs in his food to making him wear an itchy sweater, Johnny Galecki‘s TBBT counterpart was no stranger to being tormented by his friend. The writers also don’t shy away from reminding viewers that Penny was indeed too good for him, and his lack of accomplishments, compared to other characters, often served as the basis of certain jokes.
Considering Leonard kept on struggling with low self-esteem and insecurities throughout the sitcom, in hindsight, the occasional impudent jabs at his character hit more hard. It also doesn’t help that Galecki’s TBBT counterpart never received his mother’s affection, who often berated him, even when his character deliberately asked her not to.
In the end, his shortcomings as a character helped viewers to resonate with Leonard more, and despite being mistreated on several occasions, he remains a fan-favorite among viewers.
Johhny Galecki’s Wish for the Finale Was Granted
Ahead of the TBBT finale, the Roseanne star expressed that he wanted to see a conclusion to the broken elevator’s story, which was in the backdrop of the sitcom since its inception, adding: ‘They’ve got to justify it in the writing somehow, because that’s inevitable.’
Keeping in mind how integral it was to the sitcom, his costar, Kaley Cuoco shared (via Entertainment Weekly) her desire to witness the elevator being fixed in the finale, hoping “at least for a minute, and then we all get stuck in it“.
That’s one of my wishes for the final episode. The elevator gets fixed, at least for a minute, and then we all get stuck in it.’
The finale did end up fixing the elevator, which finally opened with Penny declaring the news, truly marking the end of an era. As for Galecki, unlike Leonard, the actor has been enjoying the success of the sitcom, as the huge pay from the show made him financially free.
