The Big Bang Theoryco-creator Chuck Lorre admits that he misunderstood the best part of Penny (Kaley Cuoco) during the sitcom’s early episodes. Many elements in the show were revised after the unaired pilot episode, including casting Kaley Cuoco to play Penny instead of Amanda Walsh. Cuoco playing Penny is one of numerous strengths that led to the show’s long-running success, along with numerousBig Bang Theoryspinoff shows.
On the first episode ofThe Official Big Bang Theory Podcast(viaDeadline), Lorre explains thatThe Big Bang Theory’s early episodes did Penny a disservice by focusing on her being a“goofy blonde who says foolish things.”He breaks down how it took him and the show’s creative team too long to realize thatthe best part of Penny is her intelligence and humanity that the other characters didn’t have. Lorre regrets Penny being"sadly one-dimensional"in the beginning, but is happy that this was rectified as the series progressed. Check out his comments below:
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.
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.
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 in many ways, but the gift of a TV series that starts working is you get time to learn.
What This Means For The Big Bang Theory
The Show Needed Kaley Cuoco’s Penny To Succeed
DespiteThe Big Bang Theory’s immense success, the sitcom was not without its shortcomings, especially in the early episodes. Fortunately, Lorre and his creative team stopped limiting Penny’s potential by forcing her into the archetype of the"dumb blonde"character. Many ofThe Big Bang Theory’s best episodes, and the series as a whole,began to focus more on Penny acting as a foil to Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) and his friends, and using her social intelligence to help them navigate daily challenges and see the world from a new perspective.
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Penny did not just exist to support the development of Sheldon and his friends, though. She becomes just as developed, if not more so, than the other main characters, and there is exploration of her own motivations and struggles. In terms of the sitcom’s best relationship, it is not a romantic one, but rather the unlikely friendship that forms between Penny and Sheldon. This relationship provides comedic and heartfelt opportunities for the show todemonstrate the invaluable nature of Penny’s intelligence and humanity, along with the positive impact she has on others.
Our Take On Chuck Lorre’s Comments
His Candidness Is Refreshing
While Lorre could simply focus on the enduring success ofThe Big Bang Theoryfranchise, including the already confirmedGeorgie & Mandy’s First Marriageseason 2, it is more interesting to hear him be candid about the original show’s strengths and weaknesses. Without Penny, the main characters may have felt too irritating, and their development could have felt too contrived. Instead,Penny is a character who thrives in her own right while also balancing out the best and the worst ofThe Big Bang Theory’s characters.
