The Big Bang Theory is a show that’s had an immensely successful run, lasting for 12 seasons over 12 years and even spawning multiple spinoffs like Young Sheldon and Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage. On the other hand, it’s been the subject of much debate, even becoming the subject of a lawsuit due to one joke. But most of The Big Bang Theory debate revolves around the characters, specifically the four core characters of the ensemble: Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg), and Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar). Why the debate? Because of all these characters, Raj is the only one that the series never really knew what to do with.
Raj Was Often the Butt of Multiple Jokes in ‘The Big Bang Theory’
Most of the characters in The Big Bang Theory fit a certain role. Leonard is essentially the de facto protagonist, especially because of his tumultuous relationship with Penny (Kaley Cuoco). Howard is essentially the stereotypical nerd who only thinks about picking up women — a character trait that’s aged horribly. Sheldon grew to be the breakout character of the series, not only getting his own prequel/spin-off with Young Sheldon but also forming a unique friendship with Penny. Raj, though, is more or less the butt of the joke on multiple occasions. Most of those jokes are centered around the fact that he’s interested in what’s perceived as usually feminine traits, including fashion and being a fan of shows like Sex and the City. It also leads to an unfunny running gag where people think Raj is gay.
Adam B. Vary called this out in his review of Season 5’s “The Transporter Malfunction” for Entertainment Weekly, noting that he couldn’t even enjoy the fact that Leonard Nimoy was a guest star due to a plotline where Raj’s parents think he’s coming out to them: “I have enough straight male friends who smell good, dress well, and/or are good in the kitchen to know that having these qualities and being mistaken for gay isn’t uncommon. But for five seasons now, this feels too often like the only joke about Raj.”
There’s one episode of The Big Bang Theory that doesn’t resort to gay jokes, but shows how often Raj is the target of many jokes. In Season 4’s “The Justice League Recombination,” the guys learn that Penny is back with her former boyfriend Zack (Brian Thomas Smith) and due to his muscular build, attempt to convince him to dress up as Superman for their Halloween group costume. In fact, everyone gets a Justice League costume: Penny is Wonder Woman, Leonard is Green Lantern, Sheldon is the Flash, Howard is Batman…and Raj is clearly not happy to be stuck with Aquaman. This was long before Jason Momoa reminded the world that the King of the Seven Seas was a badass, so for the full episode we get stuck with jokes about how Aquaman sucks.
There’s a Running Gag Involving Raj That Was Rarely Funny, at Best
There’s another running gag surrounding Raj that quickly ran its course. In the first six seasons of The Big Bang Theory, he’s revealed to have a form of selective mutism where he cannot talk to women unless he imbibes alcohol. While this could have been a funny moment if it was deployed every once in a while, it becomes the focus of multiple episodes, and its comedic potential is dulled by the fact that Raj has no problem talking to his female family members yet freezes up with trying to talk to any other woman (including Penny.) Even the way it’s cured is insulting: during the Season 6 finale “The Bon Voyage Reaction”, Raj’s girlfriend at the time, Lucy (Kate Micucci) breaks up with him, and he unloads his feelings to Penny, Bernadette (Melissa Rauch), and Amy (Mayim Bialik). This is a big moment, which is immediately undercut by the fact that the girls are so angry by Raj that they started drinking.
Again, there’s a better way that this could have been handled. In Season 2’s “The Terminator Decoupling”, the guys take a train to a lecture in San Francisco. They soon learn that Summer Glau is on the train, and Raj is able to muster up the courage to talk to her, while also taking some “liquid courage” in the form of a beer. But Leonard points out that the beer he had was non-alcoholic, and that Raj was under a placebo effect. That’s not only a legitimately funny twist, but it could have also been a great stepping stone for Raj to start developing his own confidence and experience some character development. Sadly, it never went anywhere.
Raj’s Growth Only Comes at the End of ‘The Big Bang Theory’
The Big Bang Theory might have been a sitcom, but in the vein of other long-running, popular sitcoms like Friends and How I Met Your Mother, it features most of its making characters big life changes. Leonard and Penny ended up getting married, with the series finale “The Stockholm Syndrome” revealing that she’s pregnant. Howard gets married to Bernadette and has children, which is a far cry from the horndog he started the series as. Even Sheldon gets some big moments: not only is he married to Amy, but they both wind up winning a Nobel Peace Prize each. Raj, on the other hand, more or less ends the series in the same spot. During Season 12, he asked his father to set up an arranged marriage, and he’s contemplating moving to London with his would-be bride Anu (Rati Gupta). But Howard convinces him to stay, and he breaks up with Anu, realizing that it wasn’t meant to be.
This was a genuinely well-crafted moment, as it shows that Raj is happy with his friends and he isn’t devastated that he didn’t find “the one” in Anu. But it also begs the question: why did The Big Bang Theory wait to give him actual character development until its last season? He could have found hobbies outside of romance. There could have been a major success in his line of work. The show could have even leaned into the friendship between Raj and Howard, which was a genuine delight at times. Kunal Nayyar recently fueled speculation that he might be returning to play Raj in an upcoming spinoff for The Big Bang Theory, and if that’s true, maybe Raj will finally get to be someone we laugh with instead of laughing at.
