The Big Bang Theory

The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

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By Jessica Radloff

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The definitive, behind-the-scenes look at the most popular sitcom of the last decade, The Big Bang Theory, packed with all-new, exclusive interviews with the producers and the entire cast.

The Big Bang Theory is a television phenomenon. To the casual viewer, it’s a seemingly effortless comedy, with relatable characters tackling real-life issues, offering a kind of visual comfort food to its millions of dedicated fans. But the behind-the-scenes journey of the show from a failed pilot to a global sensation is a fascinating story that even the most die-hard fans don’t know in its entirety. 

The Big Bang Theory:The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series is a riveting, entertaining look at the sitcom sensation, with the blessing and participation of co-creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, executive producers Steve Molaro and Steve Holland, as well as Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Melissa Rauch, Mayim Bialik, and more. Glamour senior editor Jessica Radloff, who has written over 150 articles on the series (and even had a cameo in the finale!), gives readers an all-access pass to its intrepid producing and writing team and beloved cast. It’s a story of on-and-off screen romance told in hilarious and emotional detail, of casting choices that nearly changed everything (which even some of the actors didn’t know until now), of cast members bravely powering through personal tragedies, and when it came time to announce the 12th season would be its last, the complicated reasons why it was more difficult than anyone ever led on. Through hundreds of hours of interviews with the sitcom’s major players, Radloff dives into all this and much more. The book is the ultimate celebration of this once-in-a-generation show and a must-have for all fans.   

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

USA TODAY BESTSELLER

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2022 BY GLAMOUR

"Talking with Jessica, I realized how easy it had been for me to kind of put all 12 years of my time on Big Bang Theory under one general umbrella, as it were. The questions she asked and the information she’d reveal to me from someone else she’d interviewed forced me into a frame of mind where each season – and sometimes each episode – became it’s own, separate entity again. . . Frankly, it turned into a version of therapy I hadn’t realized I’d needed and couldn’t have known how much I’d enjoy." —Jim Parsons

Excerpt

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

MAIN CAST

Johnny Galecki: “Leonard Hofstadter”

Jim Parsons: “Sheldon Cooper”

Kaley Cuoco: “Penny Hofstadter”

Simon Helberg: “Howard Wolowitz”

Kunal Nayyar: “Rajesh Koothrappali”

Mayim Bialik: “Amy Farrah Fowler”

Melissa Rauch: “Bernadette Rostenkowski Wolowitz”

Kevin Sussman: “Stuart Bloom”

GUEST CAST

Christine Baranski: “Beverly Hofstadter”

Lance Barber: “Jimmy Speckerman”/“George Cooper,” Young Sheldon

John Ross Bowie: “Barry Kripke”

Mark Hamill: “Himself”

Laurie Metcalf: “Mary Cooper”

Bob Newhart: “Arthur Jeffries/Professor Proton”

Adam Nimoy: Leonard Nimoy’s son/“Himself”

Amanda Walsh: “Katie”

Wil Wheaton: “Wil Wheaton”

CREATORS/PRODUCERS/WRITERS/ETC.

Chuck Lorre: co-creator, executive producer

Bill Prady: co-creator, executive producer

Steve Molaro: executive producer, showrunner

Steve Holland: executive producer, showrunner

Lee Aronsohn: co-creator, Two and a Half Men; executive producer, The Big Bang Theory

James Burrows: director (both pilots)

Mark Cendrowski: director

Peter Chakos: editor/co-executive producer

Maria Ferrari: executive producer/writer

Dave Goetsch: executive producer/writer

Andy Gordon: co-executive producer/writer

Eddie Gorodetsky: co-executive producer, The Big Bang Theory; co-creator, Mom

Tara Hernandez: co-executive producer/writer

Eric Kaplan: executive producer/writer

Scott London: prop master

Nikki Lorre: 2nd assistant director/director

Ken Miller: casting director

Mary T. Quigley: costume designer; co-producer

Anthony Rich: 1st assistant director/director

Professor David Saltzberg: science consultant

Nikki Valko: casting director

EXECUTIVES

Peter Roth: president, Warner Bros. Television, 1999–2013; president and chief content officer, Warner Bros. Television Group, 2013–2020; chairman, Warner Bros. Television Group, 2020–2021

Nina Tassler: president of entertainment, CBS, 2004–2014; chairman of entertainment, CBS, 2014–2015

Wendi Trilling: executive vice president, comedy development, CBS, 2004–2015

EXTENDED FAMILY

Judy Parsons: Jim Parsons’s mother

Zoe Perry: “Mary Cooper,” Young Sheldon







Introduction

HOW THE REUNION CAME TO BE

Two years. One hundred and twenty hours of brand-new interviews over ten months. Thousands of pages of transcripts. One hundred and fourteen pages of notes from rewatching 280 episodes (279 that aired, plus the original pilot that didn’t). I could keep going with statistics, though most likely that’s not why you picked up this book. But they do matter. Those staggering numbers only happened because the creators, cast, producers, writers, studio and network executives, guest stars, etc. of The Big Bang Theory put together a show of such brilliance and magnitude that anything less could not do it justice.

For hours on end, they all thoughtfully answered the longest list of questions they’ve ever been asked. They watched iconic moments with me, texted and emailed me an endless amount of photos (prop master Scott London even dug up the Star Trek transporter room boxes and Penny’s old résumé and driver’s license during our Zoom), and dug up scripts and documents from that first, unaired pilot. And while there was plenty of laughter and joy and tears, no one shied away from going deep when it came to discussing the more difficult moments over the years, whether it be contract negotiations, pay cuts, divorce, miscarriage and loss, to the tumultuous few days when it was decided the show’s twelfth season would be its last. If you’re going to tell the full story of why The Big Bang Theory became one of the most successful, popular, and beloved shows of all time, then it has to be told from all angles and all perspectives. And it is. Thanks to them.

But perhaps even more remarkable was the time and access they gave of themselves to do that. It’s not like they weren’t busy with other projects; all of them have numerous TV shows or films going on, but it was continued proof just how important Big Bang was and is to their lives. Bill Prady got on Zoom for a follow-up interview (after doing hours of interviews as it was) the day before leaving for his wedding in New York. Melissa Rauch and I did interviews often while she was doing the dishes at 11 p.m. after working on new scripts for Night Court and getting her kids to bed. Kaley Cuoco had me over to her home to go through pictures for this book, which just happened to be the same day she was nominated for her first Emmy award (you know, casual). Truthfully, I blame executive producer Steve Molaro for setting the tone when he did a nearly four-hour interview for our first session, which I ended only because I got hungry. And that’s just scratching the surface of what everyone from Chuck Lorre to Mark Hamill did to make this book come to life.

I’ll never forget what Jim Parsons said on the first of what would be over twenty hours of interviews: “I’m reading Mike Nichols’s biography right now and you just love to go back and hear the stories about how it was made, because you felt something for the work. It moved you. It changed you in some way. And that’s a real honor. It’s one of the reasons I was so glad to say we should do these conversations, however many we’re going to do, because if it’s worth looking into, it’s worth getting new and interesting facts out there. When stuff is good, it celebrates humanity, and I think that feeling is what’s hard to ignore and not be moved by.”

Here’s the thing: I was never going to be a scientist (full disclosure: I never wanted to), but The Big Bang Theory resonated with me as a viewer—and impacted me as a journalist—more than any other show I’ve covered. As Glamour’s senior West Coast editor, I wrote more than 150 features / articles / think pieces on the series. I also met many of you throughout the years, whether through social media or in person, and have been forever touched by the stories of what Big Bang meant to you.

And I got it. As a kid and young adult who always felt different and socially behind—three learning “disabilities” will do that to you—I related to Amy’s desire for a best friend; I understood Sheldon’s habits, work ethic, and OCD; I got Raj’s desire to find the love of a lifetime—as well as his doubts about when or if it would ever happen. If my fantasy was to be just as cool as the characters I saw on Friends, the truth is that I—and I think most of us—relate a hell of a lot more to who we saw on The Big Bang Theory. A show that started as four “nerds” and the hot but ditzy female neighbor became a smart, socially relevant blockbuster of a sitcom that tackled topics like intimacy, consent, motherhood, marriage, career, and money with humor, poignancy, and heart. And as a result, it became one of the greatest sitcoms of our time.




Chapter 1

WHERE IT ALL STARTED

A show like The Big Bang Theory is not supposed to be a mainstream success. Not when the two lead characters are a theoretical physicist and an experimental physicist. Or when episodes involve the Born-Oppenheimer approximation and Schrödinger’s Cat. Or when a lot of attention is paid to whiteboards and theorems. It’s just not. And it probably wouldn’t have gone further than the idea bin if it weren’t for the power and respect that creator Chuck Lorre commanded, when in 2006, he—along with Bill Prady—went to CBS with an idea for a new series built on that very concept. In almost any other setting, it wouldn’t have made it through the door, and then if it had, it would have been greeted with a “Thanks, we’ll get back to you.” But Lorre had a plan—albeit a risky one. And to understand how it came together, you have to go back to childhood obsessions, computer programming days, and a determined television executive by the name of Peter Roth.

Chuck Lorre (co-creator, The Big Bang Theory, co-creator Two and a Half Men): Growing up, I devoured all things DC Comics, and then Marvel came along and elevated the whole genre. Everything changed when I read Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles as a kid. That changed my life. I became obsessed with devouring every book by every sci-fi author I stumbled upon. And that led to Robert A. Heinlein, and Isaac Asimov, and Frank Herbert’s Dune, which led to Roger Zelazny. I was an enormous fan of Star Trek in the ’60s, so much so that when it got canceled after three seasons—the same year The Smothers Brothers got canceled—I said, “That’s it for television. I’m through with television! Any medium that would cancel Star Trek and Smothers Brothers is not worth my time!” I would tell anybody that would listen that television was a stupid medium and we need not spend any time with it. And then during the next decade, I didn’t even own a TV. Unless I was dating a woman with a television, I didn’t watch it. I was also stupid poor, so any money I made certainly wasn’t going to be spent on buying a TV.

Ironically, the man who declared himself “through with television,” is now one of the most prolific and successful television producers in history, having been called “the king of comedy.” And while Lorre has proven himself to be a hitmaker again and again, he will be the first to tell you that no successful comedy is a solo effort.

Peter Roth (former chairman, Warner Bros. Television Group): In 1994, I was at 20th Network Television (now 20th Century Fox Television Productions). My boss, Peter Chernin, said to me, “Peter, you do a great job in drama, but frankly, you suck in comedy.” [Laughs] And he was right. That led to my team and I putting together a list of what we considered to be the seven greatest comedy creators and showrunners in the business. Number one on that list: Chuck Lorre. Number two on that list was Danny Jacobson, who created Mad About You, followed by five others who will remain anonymous because none of them succeeded. I brought that list to Mr. Chernin, who said, “How much do you think it’s going to cost to [get those people]?” It was going to cost an extraordinary amount of money, especially in those days. The next week we went to see [then chairman and CEO of News Corporation] Rupert Murdoch about why we should be investing this money. Rupert just looked at us and said, “Do it!” I walked out of the office, my knees buckling, thinking, Oh my God, I can’t believe this man just committed this amount of money. More importantly, I can’t believe the onus is now on me and I have to execute all of this.

Roth, who was responsible for hit dramas like The X-Files, Picket Fences, 21 Jump Street, and more, had never met Chuck Lorre, but he sure knew of his work and read his material. For that reason and more, Roth was relentless in his pursuit to sign him. And it worked. In the end, Roth made deals with all seven comedy creators on his list.

Peter Roth: But only two of those deals actually worked out well. And only one of them paid for the entire investment and literally quintupled the original amount—and that was Chuck Lorre, with one show—Dharma & Greg.

Chuck Lorre: It was a very low point in my life when Peter walked in. I created Grace Under Fire and ended up quitting the show because it was a very toxic environment. I wasn’t capable of sustaining any kind of sanity there. I went to producers Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner, and wept in their office. I told them I couldn’t do this anymore. It was just an emotional battering that was involved in working with a very unhappy lead actress (Brett Butler). They said, “Well, just finish the season, and then we’ll find someone else.” And I agreed, but for reasons that should probably be kept between me and a therapist, I agreed to develop a show for Cybill Shepherd. But the gold of that was that I became friends with Christine Baranski. Cybill was a runaway hit immediately, which was exciting as hell, but going into the second season, everything changed. Cybill was no longer my biggest fan or supporter. She wanted me to rewrite a script, and I didn’t think it needed to be. As a result, I got fired. So enter Peter Roth saying, “Let’s talk.” I wasn’t feeling really good about myself. I had somehow stumbled into creating two hit shows and now I was on neither one of them.

Christine Baranski (“Maryann Thorpe,” Cybill; “Beverly Hofstadter,” The Big Bang Theory): I did Cybill because of Chuck Lorre’s writing. After winning the Emmy, I thought to myself, Damn, girl! You made the right decision, and here we are! And then the next season he was fired. I actually went to Les Moonves’s office and asked to be let out of that show. I said, “I did the show because of Chuck Lorre, and because of the writing. I don’t know what I’m in for now, but I don’t think this is good and I’m really unhappy!” And Les said to me: “I need you. Sorry, but I need you.” And I stuck it out for three and a half years. But I saw Chuck slumped in a chair the day he was fired. He was at a very, very low point. So the fact that he then went on to become one of the most successful television writers-producers of all time, to me, is just a tribute to his ability to pull himself up and say, “I’m just going to keep going.”

Chuck Lorre: I was definitely a little lost. But then Peter made me an unbelievable offer, which was overwhelming. He had more faith in me than I did. And that faith was contagious. I got a little cocky. [Laughs] I was like, Maybe they’re right! Maybe I can do this again! It was a clumsy start, but creating Dharma & Greg in 1997 was an effort on my part to create an alternative approach to a female-driven comedy. And it worked. It gave me a great deal of confidence that I didn’t necessarily have at that moment in time.

Although Peter Roth was a tremendous ally and supporter of Lorre’s, he left 20th Network Television in March 1999 to become president at Warner Bros. Television. Lorre couldn’t believe it.

Chuck Lorre: I was only a year into my deal when he left. I went, “Wait a minute, where are you going?! I came here because of you! And now you’re leaving!” But in 2000, towards the end of my four-year deal at Fox, I went to Warner Bros. Peter was confident I could make something happen again. And I certainly didn’t. I proceeded to let him down for three years.

And then, in September 2003, Lorre created Two and a Half Men with Lee Aronsohn, which not only became one of the most successful series ever produced by Warner Bros. Television, but would change Lorre’s life forever.

Wendi Trilling (executive vice president, comedy development, CBS, 2004–2015): Two and A Half Men was a perfect pilot. It felt like a hit show that would be on the air for ten years. That’s not usually the case, and it doesn’t usually feel that way. The Big Bang Theory didn’t feel that way. We had to do two pilots. It was a process.

Chuck Lorre: There’s no Big Bang without Two and a Half Men. I just didn’t have the horsepower to get CBS on board with a show about theoretical physicists without Two and a Half Men being a rip-roaring success. I truly think that gave CBS the patience and a willingness to let us grow.

Peter Roth: But it must be said that Chuck is the most brilliant comedy creator I’ve ever worked with in my forty-six and a half years. He simply is. He has an eye and ear for story, especially in half-hour form. People don’t think you can tell a good story in twenty-two minutes. The fact is, you must. And no one does that better than Chuck Lorre.

While Two and a Half Men was killing it in the ratings, producer-writer Bill Prady (who was an executive producer on Lorre’s Dharma & Greg, and had begun his career at Jim Henson Productions) was looking for his next project.

Bill Prady (The Big Bang Theory co-creator): I was doing a show on the WB called Related, from Liz Tuccillo, who co-wrote He’s Just Not That Into You, and executive-produced by Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman. It was a job that I was so ill-suited for. I was hired to be the number two person in charge, but I ultimately quit because I was so unhappy doing it. I was just simply the wrong person for it; it was a drama about four sisters.

Chuck Lorre: Bill was a dear friend—we’re still very close—so we knocked around all sorts of ideas for months. We were circling around this idea about a young woman who moved to Los Angeles trying to find her way in the world. We actually met with some actresses to play this lead role, but we never really could put that into a coherent form that we were happy with. But one weekend, Bill was telling me about his computer programming days back in the ’80s, and these wonderful characters that he worked with who were beyond brilliant, but entirely inept in the real world. They could figure out Pi to eighty decimals but couldn’t figure out a tip in a restaurant because there were too many variables. And I recall saying, “Well, that’s the show! That’s the show we should be doing! That’s fantastic! These are great characters.”

Bill Prady: That specific conversation happened in his office in Burbank, where we started talking about the guys I worked with at our software company. The specific calculations one guy could do in his head were remarkable. He was a mathematical savant. He also had selective mutism around women. We broke those two qualities off [between Sheldon and Raj], because although it was based on an actual person, it would have seemed unbelievable on a show at the time, even though this person really did suffer in that way. Now we look at these things and have a better understanding of people who are neuro-atypical and who process the world differently, but at the time, he was just that dude! And he did that stuff!

Chuck Lorre: But I didn’t want to do the computer “nerd,” the guy with the pocket protectors and the pens and the glasses with the tape in the middle. It felt like a cliché, which I was eventually wrong about because Silicon Valley did something similar [in concept] and it was a terrific show. [Laughs]

Bill Prady: Chuck also said it’s hard to show people at computers in a multicam because they’re hunched over a computer. I just remember thinking out loud, “What’s smart that you do standing up?” And then as I was writing, I said, “Oh, I’m writing on a whiteboard,” which quickly became, “Oh, scientists!” It was more shootable [to show a whiteboard versus a computer screen].

Chuck Lorre: I recall suggesting that these characters were not interested in getting rich, but unraveling the secrets of the universe. I didn’t even know what that meant. A Beautiful Mind with Russell Crowe had already been out, which was a little darker than we wanted to go. We decided to go for brilliant minds without the psychosis. [Laughs] And then our abandoned idea that the young woman who comes to Los Angeles to find her way in the world suddenly made sense because if we could put her in the world of these physicists, she would be the audience. She would be us. They’d have to explain to her, thus explaining to us—the audience—what the hell is going on. And so the two elements kind of came together very quickly.

Bill Prady: Early on, I would do a draft of a scene and then send it to Chuck, and he would tell me why it was terrible. [Laughs] And then we’d work some more at his house and then go out to lunch. There was this bookstore nearby, and I really wanted Chuck to read the memoirs of the physicist Richard Feynman, so I bought him the works of Feynman.

Chuck Lorre: By the way, there was a moment where I thought perhaps the female character was an android that the guys built. We wrote a test scene and had a couple actors read the scene for us. And they were halfway through the scene when I went, “Never mind.” [Laughs] It was terrible. It was just terrible. But I needed to get it out of my system and move on. Looking back, you can’t regret any of those initial ideas because they were all necessary to get where we got.

Once Lorre and Prady abandoned the idea of a female android and settled on something a bit more realistic, they invited Peter Roth, and Warner Bros. Television’s head of comedy, Len Goldstein, to Lorre’s office for a private reading of this new show, which didn’t have a title.

Peter Roth: It was around the fall of 2005, and I remember Bill and Chuck just wanted to hear our thoughts. Mark Roberts, who went on to co-create Mike & Molly, played one of the roles in the script, along with actor J. D. Walsh, who was in a pilot of Chuck’s called Nathan’s Choice that never made it to series. And it was there that they read us two early scenes from what would be The Big Bang Theory. There were too many ‘Sheldon is a genius’ jokes, but I remember thinking, Boy, these characters are really cool

Genre:

  • NAMED A BEST COMEDY BOOK OF 2022 BY VULTURE

    "[An] exhaustive, almost academic oral history... [T]his book serves as a general, and fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at how television is made."—Vulture
  • "[T]here may be no one better to document the series than journalist turned author Jessica Radloff, who undertakes the herculean task in the new, 500-plus page opus, The Big Bang Theory."Forbes
  • "From who was almost cast on the show — literally Marisa Tomei nearly played Penny — to the failed pilot that had to be reworked, [The Big Bang Theory] goes into all the behind-the-scenes details, and it's a fascinating read."—Buzzfeed
  • "Each and every interview subject shares with Radloff the kind of stories that most folks save for their memoirs."—TV Insider
  • “The book is a must for any The Big Bang Theory fan, but also a fascinating look at the television industry for even the casual viewer.”—Paste Magazine
  • "At some point while talking with Jessica, I realized how easy it had been for me to kind of put all 12 years of my time on Big Bang Theory under one general umbrella, as it were. The questions she asked and the information she’d reveal to me from someone else she’d interviewed forced me into a frame of mind where each season - and sometimes each episode - became it’s own, separate entity again, revealing how much we as people had changed through this process, how much the characters changed… but also how certain things remained the same. Frankly, it turned into a version of therapy I hadn’t realized I’d needed and couldn’t have known how much I’d enjoy it, going down memory lane like this."—Jim Parsons
  • "I'm so excited for fans to finally see my behind-the-scenes Polaroids for the first time. These photos are very special and super personal, so knowing Jess was taking such care with them, as she did with this book, was very comforting to me."—Kaley Cuoco
  • "There is no one more enthusiastic, more knowledgeable, more competent, or more dialed into the pulse of TBBT than Jessica Radloff. Jessica cultivated deep and rich relationships with all of us on TBBT over many years so that she can bring you the most detailed, delightful, and authentic TBBT book there will ever be. Bravo, Jessica, for putting up with us for so many hours of discussion, reminiscence, laughter and tears; thank you for being a part of our show's impact with this thorough and exceedingly well-researched work of art!"—Mayim Bialik
  • “I knew we would learn things in this book, but...wow.”—Simon Helberg
  • "Jessica Radloff is the ultimate Big Bang whisperer...if you're a fan of the show, you owe it to yourself to read every fascinating word she unearthed in this incredible book!"—Melissa Rauch
  • “We spent 12 years together in a very safe bubble. There is no one we trust more than Jessica to share all those years on stage 25. You know the characters, now you’ll get to know the people who played them.”—Kunal Nayyar
  • "[T]his book is an excellent testament to the show that will leave fans wanting to rewatch the entire series. . . This extensive and enjoyable oral history of The Big Bang Theory will make fans feel nostalgic for its glory days."—Library Journal, starred review
  • "A fun look at the sitcom megahit. . . Entertaining in its own right, this book examines the how and why behind the success of a landmark series."—Kirkus Reviews
  • “A definitive and immensely entertaining oral history. . . Filled with delightful memories and charming candid photos, this is a treat for TV fans.”—Shelf Awareness
  • “The book is undeniably a valentine to the show.”—New York Daily News
  • “If you’re looking for the perfect Christmas gift for someone in your life who happens to be a big fan of “The Big Bang Theory,” there is no better gift than this new book…”—Williamson Daily News
  • "The Big Bang Theory, an epic behind-the-scenes oral history by Jessica Radloff, is a must-read book that goes above and beyond. . . I’ve read oral histories before but none have gone to the level of detail. . . It’s impossible to put down and the minute you do, you want to read more!"—Solzy at the Movies

On Sale
Oct 11, 2022
Page Count
528 pages
ISBN-13
9781538708491

READ AN EXCERPT

INTRODUCTION

HOW THE REUNION CAME TO BE

Two years. One hundred and twenty hours of brand- new interviews over ten months. Thousands of pages of transcripts. One hundred and fourteen pages of notes from rewatching 280 episodes (279 that aired, plus the original pilot that didn’t). I could keep going with statistics, though most likely that’s not why you picked up this book. But they do matter. Those staggering numbers only happened because the creators, cast, producers, writers, studio and network executives, guest stars, etc. of The Big Bang Theory put together a show of such brilliance and magnitude that anything less could not do it justice.

For hours on end, they all thoughtfully answered the longest list of questions they’ve ever been asked. They watched iconic moments with me, texted and emailed me an endless amount of photos (prop master Scott London even dug up the Star Trek transporter room boxes and Penny’s old résumé and driver’s license during our Zoom), and dug up scripts and documents from that first, unaired pilot. And while there was plenty of laughter and joy and tears, no one shied away from going deep when it came to discussing the more difficult moments over the years, whether it be contract negotiations, pay cuts, divorce, miscarriage and loss, to the tumultuous few days when it was decided the show’s twelfth season would be its last. If you’re going to tell the full story of why The Big Bang Theory became one of the most successful, popular, and beloved shows of all time, then it has to be told from all angles and all perspectives. And it is. Thanks to them.

But perhaps even more remarkable was the time and access they gave of themselves to do that. It’s not like they weren’t busy with other projects; all of them have numerous TV shows or films going on, but it was continued proof just how important Big Bang was and is to their lives. Bill Prady got on Zoom for a follow‑up interview (after doing hours of interviews as it was) the day before leaving for his wedding in New York. Melissa Rauch and I did interviews often while she was doing the dishes at 11 p.m. after working on new scripts for Night Court and getting her kids to bed. Kaley Cuoco had me over to her home to go through pictures for this book, which just happened to be the same day she was nominated for her first Emmy award (you know, casual). Truthfully, I blame executive producer Steve Molaro for setting the tone when he did a nearly four- hour interview for our first session, which I ended only because I got hungry. And that’s just scratching the surface of what everyone from Chuck Lorre to Mark Hamill did to make this book come to life.

I’ll never forget what Jim Parsons said on the first of what would be over twenty hours of interviews: “I’m reading Mike Nichols’s biography right now and you just love to go back and hear the stories about how it was made, because you felt something for the work. It moved you. It changed you in some way. And that’s a real honor. It’s one of the reasons I was so glad to say we should do these conversations, however many we’re going to do, because if it’s worth looking into, it’s worth getting new and interesting facts out there. When stuff is good,  celebrates humanity, and I think that feeling is what’s hard to ignore and not be moved by.”

Here’s the thing: I was never going to be a scientist (full disclosure: I never wanted to), but The Big Bang Theory resonated with me as a viewer— and impacted me as a journalist— more than any other show I’ve covered.

As Glamour’s senior West Coast editor, I wrote more than 150 features / articles / think pieces on the series. I also met many of you throughout the years, whether through social media or in person, and have been forever touched by the stories of what Big Bang meant to you.

And I got it. As a kid and young adult who always felt different and socially behind— three learning “disabilities” will do that to you— I related to Amy’s desire for a best friend; I understood Sheldon’s habits, work ethic, and OCD; I got Raj’s desire to find the love of a lifetime— as well as his doubts about when or if it would ever happen. If my fantasy was to be just as cool as the characters I saw on Friends, the truth is that I— and I think most of us— relate a hell of a lot more to who we saw on The Big Bang Theory.

A show that started as four “nerds” and the hot but ditzy female neighbor became a smart, socially relevant blockbuster of a sitcom that tackled topics like intimacy, consent, motherhood, marriage, career, and money with humor, poignancy, and heart. And as a result, it became one of the greatest sitcoms of our time.

What's Inside

Introduction

HOW THE REUNION CAME TO BE

Two years. One hundred and twenty hours of brand- new interviews over ten months. Thousands of pages of transcripts. One hundred and fourteen pages of notes from rewatching 280 episodes (279 that aired, plus the original pilot that didn’t). I could keep going with statistics, though most likely that’s not why you picked up this book. But they do matter. Those staggering numbers only happened because the creators, cast, producers, writers, studio and network executives, guest stars, etc. of The Big Bang Theory put together a show of such brilliance and magnitude that anything less could not do it justice.

For hours on end, they all thoughtfully answered the longest list of questions they’ve ever been asked. They watched iconic moments with me, texted and emailed me an endless amount of photos (prop master Scott London

even dug up the Star Trek transporter room boxes and Penny’s old résumé and driver’s license during our Zoom), and dug up scripts and documents from that first, unaired pilot. And while there was plenty of laughter and joy and tears, no one shied away from going deep when it came to discussing the more difficult moments over the years, whether it be contract negotiations, pay cuts, divorce, miscarriage and loss, to the tumultuous few days when it was decided the show’s twelfth season would be its last. If you’re going to tell the full story of why The Big Bang Theory became one of the most successful, popular, and beloved shows of all time, then it has to be told from all angles and all perspectives. And it is. Thanks to them.

But perhaps even more remarkable was the time and access they gave of themselves to do that. It’s not like they weren’t busy with other projects; all of them have numerous TV shows or films going on, but it was continued proof just how important Big Bang was and is to their lives. Bill Prady got on Zoom for a follow‑up interview (after doing hours of interviews as it was) the day before leaving for his wedding in New York. Melissa Rauch and I did interviews often while she was doing the dishes at 11 p.m. after working on new scripts for Night Court and getting her kids to bed. Kaley Cuoco had me over to her home to go through pictures for this book, which just happened to be the same day she was nominated for her first Emmy award (you know, casual). Truthfully, I blame executive producer Steve Molaro for setting the tone when he did a nearly four- hour interview for our first session, which I ended only because I got hungry. And that’s just scratching the surface of what everyone from Chuck Lorre to Mark Hamill did to make this book come to life.

I’ll never forget what Jim Parsons said on the first of what would be over twenty hours of interviews: “I’m reading Mike Nichols’s biography right now and you just love to go back and hear the stories about how it was made, because you felt something for the work. It moved you. It changed you in some way. And that’s a real honor. It’s one of the reasons I was so glad to say we should do these conversations, however many we’re going to do, because if it’s worth looking into, it’s worth getting new and interesting facts out there. When stuff is good,  celebrates humanity, and I think that feeling is what’s hard to ignore and not be moved by.”

Here’s the thing: I was never going to be a scientist (full disclosure: I never wanted to), but The Big Bang Theory resonated with me as a viewer— and impacted me as a journalist— more than any other show I’ve covered.

As Glamour’s senior West Coast editor, I wrote more than 150 features / articles / think pieces on the series. I also met many of you throughout the years, whether through social media or in person, and have been forever touched by the stories of what Big Bang meant to you.

And I got it. As a kid and young adult who always felt different and socially behind— three learning “disabilities” will do that to you— I related to Amy’s desire for a best friend; I understood Sheldon’s habits, work ethic, and OCD; I got Raj’s desire to find the love of a lifetime— as well as his doubts about when or if it would ever happen. If my fantasy was to be just as cool as the characters I saw on Friends, the truth is that I— and I think most of us— relate a hell of a lot more to who we saw on The Big Bang Theory.

A show that started as four “nerds” and the hot but ditzy female neighbor became a smart, socially relevant blockbuster of a sitcom that tackled topics like intimacy, consent, motherhood, marriage, career, and money with humor, poignancy, and heart. And as a result, it became one of the greatest sitcoms of our time.

Jessica Radloff

About the Author

Jessica Radloff is the Senior West Coast Editor at Glamour. She joined the brand in 2011 as West Coast entertainment correspondent before becoming West Coast Editor. She regularly appears on Access Hollywood, The Talk, Good Morning America, TODAY, and more on behalf of the brand. 

Prior to Glamour, she wrote for AOL, The Huffington Post, Modern Luxury Media, WHERE Los Angeles, and Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals GameDay magazine. She is a member of the Television Critics Association, the Critic’s Choice Association, and Screen Actors Guild. She is also an Associate Member of the Television Academy.

Learn more about this author

Praise

  • NAMED A BEST COMEDY BOOK OF 2022 BY VULTURE

    "[An] exhaustive, almost academic oral history… [T]his book serves as a general, and fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at how television is made."—Vulture
  • "[T]here may be no one better to document the series than journalist turned author Jessica Radloff, who undertakes the herculean task in the new, 500-plus page opus, The Big Bang Theory."Forbes
  • "From who was almost cast on the show — literally Marisa Tomei nearly played Penny — to the failed pilot that had to be reworked, [The Big Bang Theory] goes into all the behind-the-scenes details, and it's a fascinating read."—Buzzfeed
  • "Each and every interview subject shares with Radloff the kind of stories that most folks save for their memoirs."—TV Insider
  • “The book is a must for any The Big Bang Theory fan, but also a fascinating look at the television industry for even the casual viewer.”—Paste Magazine
  • "At some point while talking with Jessica, I realized how easy it had been for me to kind of put all 12 years of my time on Big Bang Theory under one general umbrella, as it were. The questions she asked and the information she’d reveal to me from someone else she’d interviewed forced me into a frame of mind where each season – and sometimes each episode – became it’s own, separate entity again, revealing how much we as people had changed through this process, how much the characters changed… but also how certain things remained the same. Frankly, it turned into a version of therapy I hadn’t realized I’d needed and couldn’t have known how much I’d enjoy it, going down memory lane like this."—Jim Parsons
  • "I'm so excited for fans to finally see my behind-the-scenes Polaroids for the first time. These photos are very special and super personal, so knowing Jess was taking such care with them, as she did with this book, was very comforting to me."—Kaley Cuoco
  • "There is no one more enthusiastic, more knowledgeable, more competent, or more dialed into the pulse of TBBT than Jessica Radloff. Jessica cultivated deep and rich relationships with all of us on TBBT over many years so that she can bring you the most detailed, delightful, and authentic TBBT book there will ever be. Bravo, Jessica, for putting up with us for so many hours of discussion, reminiscence, laughter and tears; thank you for being a part of our show's impact with this thorough and exceedingly well-researched work of art!"—Mayim Bialik
  • “I knew we would learn things in this book, but…wow.”—Simon Helberg
  • "Jessica Radloff is the ultimate Big Bang whisperer…if you're a fan of the show, you owe it to yourself to read every fascinating word she unearthed in this incredible book!"—Melissa Rauch
  • “We spent 12 years together in a very safe bubble. There is no one we trust more than Jessica to share all those years on stage 25. You know the characters, now you’ll get to know the people who played them.”—Kunal Nayyar
  • "[T]his book is an excellent testament to the show that will leave fans wanting to rewatch the entire series. . . This extensive and enjoyable oral history of The Big Bang Theory will make fans feel nostalgic for its glory days."—Library Journal, starred review
  • "A fun look at the sitcom megahit. . . Entertaining in its own right, this book examines the how and why behind the success of a landmark series."—Kirkus Reviews
  • “A definitive and immensely entertaining oral history. . . Filled with delightful memories and charming candid photos, this is a treat for TV fans.”—Shelf Awareness
  • “The book is undeniably a valentine to the show.”—New York Daily News
  • “If you’re looking for the perfect Christmas gift for someone in your life who happens to be a big fan of “The Big Bang Theory,” there is no better gift than this new book…”—Williamson Daily News
  • "The Big Bang Theory, an epic behind-the-scenes oral history by Jessica Radloff, is a must-read book that goes above and beyond. . . I’ve read oral histories before but none have gone to the level of detail. . . It’s impossible to put down and the minute you do, you want to read more!"—Solzy at the Movies