‘Big Bang Theory’ proved to be equation for sitcom success
Bazinga!
Sheldon Cooper used the word when he had a victory.
Jessica Radloff could use it about her book, “The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series.”
All too often, definitive and inside compendiums are neither. In this case, Radloff delivers an oral history that’s an exhaustive dive into the 279 episodes (and one unaired pilot) of the beloved sitcom that ran on CBS from 2006 to 2019.
“A show like ‘The Big Bang Theory’ is not supposed to be a mainstream success,” Radloff begins. “Not when the two lead characters are a theoretical physicist and an experimental physicist. Or when episodes involved the Born-Oppenheimer approximation and Schrödinger’s Cat. Or when a lot of attention is paid to whiteboards and theorems.”
Over the series’ run, Radloff wrote some 150 articles about it. She’s Glamour’s senior West Coast editor and had all of the actors and executive producers’ cooperation in this. So over two years, Radloff did scores of interviews and wove them into a hefty book.
It may be surprising that there are 528 pages worth of material. Yet, there are enough anecdotes and stories from the cast and the executives to sustain it. This delves into how the show developed and how the characters evolved over the years. The actors who played them had so many wonderful memories they were happy sharing with her.
Radloff includes all of it, including studio bosses’ impressions and a now disgraced former network boss’ machinations over the actors’ salaries. The stars united and held out for a big payoff. They knew they could as the series became a global hit.
“I’ve gone to Comic-Cons all over the world, and it’s one of those things you don’t really understand until you walk into a convention center and get mobbed in a foreign country,” said Kevin Sussman, who played Stuart, the comic book store owner. “That’s when I realized, holy moly, the popularity is insane … And so many people would tell me, ‘Oh, I’m such a Stuart’ or ‘My boyfriend’s such a Stuart.’ I was in Saudi Arabia and a woman in a burqa came over and said, ‘I’m such a
Stuart!’ ”
The book is undeniably a valentine to the show. And, why not? It was the rare sitcom that kept audiences laughing and was smart enough to go out on top.
It’s not surprising but still fun to learn about how Kaley Cuoco was forever taking photos of the cast. Like the others, she realized early on this was a special show.
Most TV casts feel compelled to tell everyone that they are family. This cast, which came together young and stayed together, really did become that close.
It’s apparent in the interviews that those relationships deepened and broadened. Johnny Galecki and Kunal Nayyar’s mom “bonded over smoking and drinking and a certain similar sense of humor,” Galecki said.
Chuck Lorre, the co-creator of “The Big Bang Theory,” and a creator of “Two and a Half Men,” “Dharma & Greg,” “Mom,” “The Kominsky Method,” among others, recalls Jim Parsons’ audition to play Sheldon.
“He didn’t just come in and read the lines,” Lorre said. “He had prepared a fully realized character. He had prepared the material so his dialogue had a rhythm, intonation, syntax, the pauses, everything was calculated … I wanted to know if he could create that performance again. And he did it perfectly, as if he had never done it before.”
There are fun asides, as Galecki recounted. “For some reason, Simon (Helberg) and I had this thing where we have rented a lot of boats together, which makes no sense because neither of us are sailors. But every time we went to Comic-Con and we’d rent a boat, he’d buy a captain’s hat, and we’d just endanger everyone’s lives.”
The series, which received 55 Emmy nominations, winning 10, was well known for its accuracy with the equations on the whiteboard, done by a UCLA physics professor. Even throwaway lines, such as when Sheldon rattles off Latin, are correct.
Even the takeout food was real, not craft services that had been out all day.
The book reminds us that the show could easily have faded away during the Writers Guild of America strike from November 2007 until February 2008. Many shows did. Instead, CBS did something very smart.
“CBS began repeating the first eight episodes over and over again, which not only created familiarity for those who had already seen the show, but those who hadn’t had a chance to watch something ‘new,’ ” Radloff writes. “And without streaming services like Netflix or Hulu at the time, choices were limited.”
That was a boon for the series. Unlike when networks kill off a series quickly because the ratings don’t match the expectations,
“The Big Bang Theory” had the chance to sit with people. And people found that they loved it.
It was sweet without being syrupy. It showed someone on the spectrum without making a huge deal out of it. It was funny and kind.
The book recounts the offscreen romance between Galecki and Cuoco, how they tried to be coy about it, and how they remained such close friends when they were no longer involved.