One of the breakout successes of comedy these days is Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady’s The Big Bang Theory, and it’s no surprise. During this year’s Paley Festival, the cast and the creators discussed the origins of the series, as well as its future. As it nears its sophomore season finale, the CBS hit is gaining more and more fame with every episode. However, it didn’t start out so easily.
“We shot a pilot that was not picked up and Kaley and Simon and Kunal were not in that pilot,” executive producer Chuck Lorre said. “Their characters really were not, we hadn’t written anything like that. The girl who moves in next door to Leonard and Sheldon was a very hard partying, kind of toxic, crazy, kind of dangerous character.”
When that didn’t push through, Lorre and the rest decided to revamp the show, rewriting the character of Penny and adding Koothrappali and Wolowitz to it. The storytelling was made even simpler, bringing out the best in the characters. One particular standout individual of the Big Bang Theory bunch is, of course, Jim Parsons’ Sheldon Cooper.
Chuck Lorre explained that a huge chunk of the show’s humor comes from Sheldon’s passion for his craft. “Sheldon is in love with science,” the co-creator declared, when asked if Parson’s character would ever get a romantic interest. “He’s opted out. And it’s really interesting because I’ve never seen a character on television that’s opted out… that makes him very specific and very interesting.”
As for the rest of the characters, Lorre cleared up the misconception of boxing them into stereotypes. “I’ve always been against the whole idea of just calling [these characters] nerds,” he said. “It doesn’t define who they are. … They are probably the characters who will change the world. They may blow it up. That will be the change.”
While the show is about to wrap up its second season, CBS has confirmed that it will be returning for a third and a fourth installment. “All baby steps,” Lorre said. “If there’s any magic trick to sitcoms: Stuff happens, nothing changes.”
Catch a new episode of The Big Bang Theory next week, Monday night at 8pm on CBS.
-Maria Gonzalez, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: The Futon Critic, HitFix
(Image Courtesy of CBS)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
