More than five years removed from the series finale, it seems fair to say that “The Big Bang Theory” has earned its place in television history. Having aired 12 seasons and nearly 300 episodes on CBS, the show has maintained a loyal following in the years since it called it a day. But lasting a long time is one thing. Enduring beyond that is another. Much of that has to do with fans’ love of the characters, led by Johnny Galecki’s Leonard, Jim Parsons’ Sheldon, and Kaley Cuoco’s Penny.
Originally, Penny was meant to be a mean neighbor named Katie on “The Big Bang Theory,” but Amanda Walsh’s character was replaced by Cuoco, who was the friendly, bubbly blonde neighbor. At least at first. In the early seasons of the show, Cuoco’s character was more of a clichéd, shallow blonde. While that eventually changed, this is something that series co-creator Chuck Lorre has acknowledged.
“Even after the second pilot, we had so many episodes to go before we started to understand that there was a brilliance to Penny’s character that we had not explored,” Lorre remarked on an episode of “The Official Big Bang Theory Podcast.” He described her in early episodes as a “goofy blonde who says foolish things.” Lorre went on to explain what it was the show’s creatives were missing about Penny at the beginning:
“It’s a clichéd character: the dumb blonde. And we missed it. We didn’t have that right away that what she brought to this story, this series, to these other characters was an intelligence that they didn’t have. A kind of intelligence that was alien to them, an intelligence about people and relationships and family.”
The Big Bang Theory writers eventually figured Penny out
In the early days of “The Big Bang Theory,” it’s not hard to see how Penny was distilled down into something very simple and tropey. The guys were all these geniuses and Penny was the pretty girl across the hall who was, in some ways, the fish out of water. But as the show evolved, it was clear that Penny had some degree of intellectual and emotional intelligence that the likes of Sheldon didn’t inherently possess. Speaking further, Lorre explained how Penny eventually became a more three-dimensional character:
“She brought a humanity to them that they were lacking. And that took a while to figure out. In the beginning, she was sadly one-dimensional in many ways, but the gift of a TV series that starts working is you get time to learn.”
“The Big Bang Theory” said goodbye in 2019, with much of its cast moving onto other big things. Jim Parsons, for example, executive produced and narrated the very successful spin-off “Young Sheldon,” which ultimately gave way to another spin-off titled “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.” A third spinoff series has since been green-lit in the form of “Stuart Fails To Save The Universe” (with Kevin Sussman reprising his “Big Bang Theory” role as comic book shop owner Stuart Bloom).
Cuoco, meanwhile, went on to star in shows like “The Flight Attendant” and the animated “Harley Quinn” series. While no official plans are in play, Cuoco has also made it clear she would be open to playing Penny again, should the opportunity arise. Given that CBS is still expanding the scope of this universe with new shows, it seems increasingly likely that such an opportunity will present itself sooner rather than later. Who knows? Maybe a full-on “Big Bang” reunion will come about at some point. Stranger things have happened.
