Kaley Cuoco’s possible return in a revival of The Big Bang Theory is more likely than ever in 2024, following some failed projects for the actor and renewed interest in the sitcom franchise. Cuoco has been part of The Big Bang Theory cast since season 1, portraying Sheldon and Leonard’s neighbor Penny throughout the series. She and Leonard end up getting married in season 9, and are still together by the series finale.
Following the end of The Big Bang Theory, Cuoco has been in many projects across television and film. While some have been successful, like her role as the titular Harley Quinn and as Ava in Based on a True Story, others haven’t been as fruitful. Her 2024 action comedy film Role Play was critically panned, garnering a Rotten Tomatoes score of 27% with critics and 44% with audiences. In addition, her Max original series, The Flight Attendant, was canceled after season 2.
Kaley Cuoco Is Game For A Big Bang Theory Revival (& It’s More Likely After 2024)
Cuoco Expressed Interest In A Reunion Before
The mixed reception of Cuoco’s newer projects could be swayed by a revival of The Big Bang Theory. In August 2021, Cuoco even told Variety she would be open to a TBBT cast reunion. Interest in the franchise is still strong in 2024; while Young Sheldon season 7 was the prequel’s last, it’s making way for a spinoff about George and Mandy. With no end in sight to the number of stories that can be told in its universe, The Big Bang Theory getting revived seems like a stronger possibility than ever.
As disappointing as it must be for Cuoco to lose out on The Flight Attendant continuing, the show’s cancelation frees up space in her schedule for a new project. Since The Big Bang Theory franchise is still prevalent even after its main show ended in 2019, the success of its prequel could justify a reunion later down the line. Depending on how many members of the cast could return, a revival could begin in the form of The Big Bang Theory season 13.
Cuoco’s interest and freed-up project schedule could result in a revival or sequel with Penny at the forefront.
How A Big Bang Theory Revival With The Original Cast Could Work
The Revival Could Be A Special Or An Entirely New Series
Actor availability might make a full season 13 of The Big Bang Theory challenging, especially if only a handful of familiar faces could come back. It might be more viable for the reunion to go the same route as Friends, focusing on stars like Cuoco going on a trip down memory lane. It could also take a page from Young Sheldon’s George and Mandy spinoff, focusing on only a particular set of characters in a new show. Given Cuoco’s interest in a return, one possibility is a series about Penny and Leonard starting a family years after the main series.
Due to how definitively The Big Bang Theory ended, it may be difficult to come up with a justifiable reason to bring the series back. However, Cuoco’s interest and freed-up project schedule could result in a revival or sequel with Penny at the forefront. Even seeing the cast reflect on the sitcom would be a fitting bookend, fulfilling Cuoco’s hopes for a series reunion.
What The Big Bang Theory Cast Has Said About A Reunion
The Cast Members Still Love Working Together
Many of the cast have actually worked together since the series came to an end, indicating that the Big Bang Theory cast members still enjoy spending time together. Melissa Rauch and Kunal Nayyar reunited on Rauch’s series Night Court, a revival of a very different sitcom. Likewise, Simon Helberg starred in Mayim Bialik’s movie As They Made Us. Bialik and Jim Parsons, however, have worked together multiple times since the series ended.
Both Bialik and Parsons have lent their voices to Young Sheldon. Parsons has been the narrator of the show since the beginning, while Bialik’s voice has only been utilized for cameos a handful of times. The duo did appear in the series finale, however, as the show gave a glimpse into the future for the audience. Parsons was also one of the executive producers on the series Call Me Kat, in which Bialik starred until it was canceled.
While Parsons initially wanted to move on from playing Sheldon, he hasn’t been averse to continuing to be a part of telling his story, indicating that he wouldn’t be opposed to participating in a reunion or revival in the future. Cast members Cuoco and Nayyar have also expressed interest in reuniting with the cast of the Big Bang Theory universe.
Cuoco spoke at length with Variety for their award season podcast series in 2021. It was not long after the Friends reunion had been made available to stream on Max, and Cuoco indicated that, specifically, was the style of reunion show she hoped for. She told Variety, “When I watched, I definitely thought, I would love to do that one day. I would love to do that with our show.” It would be a different way to return to the series instead of playing Penny again.
When Nayyar and Rauch reunited for Night Court, Nayyar was interviewed by Entertainment Weekly about the experience. While Nayyar told the outlet he didn’t know of any formal plans for a Big Bang Theory reunion, he didn’t seem opposed to working with the cast again. In fact, it was quite the opposite, as he said the cast members were even closer than family.
He explained that he and Rauch were as close as siblings, which made working with her again a real joy:
We’re very, very close. She is like a sister to me that I’ve never had. I don’t have a sister, but she’s as close as it gets. People ask me all the time, “Are you still friends with your co-stars? Are you close?” There’s a closeness that goes beyond familiarity, if that makes sense. We have a closeness that cannot be spoken about. It’s an unspoken language of deep love and deep trust and deep connection that you can only experience if you go through a journey like that together for that long period of time. So our relationship is beyond close. It’s just deeper than that.
Considering how much the cast genuinely loves working together, it seems that a reunion would be inevitable. The series creators, however, also spoke with EW in 2022, and they didn’t seem quite as keen to return to tell the stories of those characters again, believing they had provided the audience with enough closure. Billy Prady explained:
It’s hard to imagine what you would see after the finale because I found the finale was just one of the most beautiful and satisfying episodes. The closure it brought was astonishing. It’s hard to imagine reopening the story.
Chuck Lorre agreed, saying, “I don’t think we left anything undone. That was as close to a perfect finale as we could have ever dreamt of doing.” That might indicate that Cuoco’s dream of a Friends-style reunion special in which the cast and crew get to tell stories the fans would want to hear might be closer to reality for the Big Bang Theory in the future.
