“They hated her”: The Big Bang Theory Was Very Different Until Kaley Cuoco Saved It from Certain Cancelation
- The Big Bang Theory's success would not have been possible without Kaley Cuoco.
- The creators revealed that they had initially cast a different actress in the role.
- The audience was not very impressed with the first pilot of the show.
Kaley Cuoco’s Penny was the very visible thread that tied the characters of The Big Bang Theory together, but what might come as a surprise to some is that she was not the actress who was originally cast as the character. In fact, it was Cuoco’s entry into the show that saved it from cancelation.
The Big Bang Theory is one of the most popular sitcoms ever made and it is the relatable nature of the characters that made it such a hit when it began airing. However, there was a good chance that the show would have been canceled if the creators had ignored the test screening of the pilot episode that they had initially made.
The Big Bang Theory Could Have Been Very Different If It Was Not for Kaley Cuoco Joining the Show As Penny
The Big Bang Theory is a bit of a departure from the usual sitcom concept because the guys in this show although intelligent, are not at ease in social situations; much less a social situation surrounding women. They are nerds who would much rather hang out in their own rooms instead of going to parties.
Hilariously, the pilot episode opens with a blonde woman moving into the apartment across from two such guys, physicists Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) and Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki). The plot sounds simple, but the same cannot be said about the consequences because the woman’s entry into their lives unleashed an entire chain reaction of unexpected events.
To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the show’s premiere, creators Bill Prady and Chuck Lorre sat down for an interview with Entertainment Weekly. In this interview, they revealed that the first pilot episode they had made starred a different blonde woman and the test screening audience was not very impressed with it. Prady said:
In the first pilot, the female character (who, at that point, was named Katie) is kind of rough. She’s dangerous in a way and wasn’t very nice to the guys. I remember going to the test screening, the dial testing… They hated her, but what was amazing was that they were defending Leonard and Sheldon so much.
The creators further said that the actress was Amanda Walsh, and defended her saying that she had done a great job. They insisted that it was the writing of the show that was at fault here.
Why Did the Audience at the Test Screening Hate the First Pilot?
The thing with nerds or introverts is that their socially awkward demeanor can come off as arrogant, but in reality, they are just people who like to protect their space. Being vulnerable with people is scary to them, especially because they believe the world is full of cruel people who could easily take advantage of them. They are not completely wrong either.
This is exactly why the audience at the test screening of the never-aired pilot episode did not like the character of Katie. Lorre explained:
We didn’t realize early on that the audience viewed them [Sheldon and Leonard] as children. They were very naive and childlike, regardless of how intelligent they were. They were very vulnerable, and the audience didn’t want a toxic presence around them.
This led to the creators rewriting the character Katie as Penny who was charmed by the two friends and was nice to them instead of cruelly taking their advantage. However, they could not cast Walsh as Penny because the audience could not unsee her previous character Katie.
The Big Bang Theory is available for streaming on Max.
