Chuck Lorre has began off the podcast confessions with a bang.
“The Big Bang Theory” co-creator, 72, revealed a remorse of his when it got here to Kaley Cuoco’s character Penny on the sequence, which ran from 2007 to 2019 on CBS.
“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 mentioned whereas on the first-ever episode of “The Official Big Bang Theory Podcast” on Monday.
The sequence adopted finest pals, roommates and physicists Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg).
“We did the very cliché in the beginning, you know, goofy blonde who says foolish things. It’s a clichéd character, right? And we missed it,” Lorre informed host Jessica Radloff. “We didn’t have that right away that what she brought to this series, to these other characters, was an intelligence that was alien to them, you know, intelligence about people and relationships and family.”
Though Penny appeared on all 12 seasons, she by no means had a final identify till she married Leonard throughout Season 9.
As Lorre put it, “It was built in that the scientists of the show didn’t understand how to be with people. She did. She brought a humanity to them that they were lacking and that took a while to figure out. Certainly in the beginning, she was sadly one-dimensional.”
Previous to Cuoco, 39, Amanda Walsh was forged to play Katie, “a street-hardened tough-as-nails woman with a vulnerable interior” within the 2006 pilot that by no means aired.
The 43-year-old didn’t transfer ahead within the function after the take a look at viewers “hated” Katie and her “toxic presence.”
The pilot was then reshot in 2007 with a brand new forged, together with Penny, Howard, and Rajesh Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar).
“The magic of Kaley was, Kaley’s character — as we figured this thing out on the fly — was amused by them, was not critical,” Lorre mirrored.
“If she got angry, it wasn’t harsh. The audience really responded to that.”
Former Warner Bros. Tv Group chairman, Peter Roth, echoed Lorre’s sentiments, including on the episode: “She was never judgmental about these characters. She was bemused by them. In fact, they brought more judgement to her than she did ever of them.”
The exec, 75, defined, “And I thought that was also an important difference between the character of what Penny brought versus the character of what Katie brought in the original unaired pilot.”
“There was a sweetness, an endearment that she felt towards them that I think the audience — I think Chuck said it exactly right: The audience wanted to protect these two boys, these two men, these two innocents, and [Cuoco] honored that.”
Just a few years earlier than “The Big Bang Theory” ended, “Young Sheldon” was created, which adopted Sheldon Cooper as a child.
After operating for seven seasons, one other spin-off was born in 2024: “Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage.”
The CBS sitcom is the third TV sequence in “The Big Bang Theory” universe and follows the wedding of younger dad and mom Georgie Cooper — Sheldon’s older brother — and Mandy McAllister.
In October, Cuoco spoke about her time on the unique sequence.
“I spent 12 years playing that role, and it really set off my career. I owe a lot to that character, to that show, to Alexandra Bellusci Chuck Lorre,” she gushed to Individuals on the time. “It was some of the best years of my life, and some of the most fun I’ve ever had.”
When requested if she could be open to revisit Penny sooner or later, the actress acknowledged: “I would absolutely reprise that role.”
“100%,” Cuoco added. “I love that character, and I always will.”
