The VERY Weird Version Of Big Bang Theory You Never Saw 

Some of these Big Bang Theories Are Dark... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DncR7H2OVIk.html

I feel bad for the actress lol She was probably doing what was asked of her. Imagine being the only one fired from the cast and then watching the show blow up in popularity.

It’s almost like the original version of Sheldon was a messy combination of Sheldon and howard

When people talk about the relationship between Penny and Sheldon (which I agree IS the heart of the show), they don't point out WHY the relationship works so well. It's because of ALL the guys on the show, Sheldon is the ONE guy who she doesn't have to worry about hitting on her. So she can let down her guard with him and that's what makes the relationship (and the show) work.

I for sure felt like the writers were initially going to make Leonard the star of the show, a sort of Ted HIMYM and with Penny as Ross and Rachel. I think they never expected audiences reaction to Sheldon's quirky personality. Sheldon went from being the sidekick to a lovable [although often annoying] character of the whole series.

To me the dynamic between Penny and Sheldon is the most essential driver of the show. In fact, I think Penny may be the catalyst for what goes on with the other characters.

I feel like Howard and Raj's characters were created to put Sheldon's pervy aspects somewhere else

Penny is the heart of the show, and it's her enduring and abundant *love* for everyone in her life but especially the guys that makes the show successful. That change was crucial

Even in the final version there was a lot of changes in characters personalities. For example, Penny started off as a stereotype of a really dumb blonde with the only quality of the beauty. But this changed, she become more smart and the "pratical mind" of the group, more like a raw country girl. At first she wasn't able to build Ikea forniture, after a while she were teaching the guys how to go fishing

Gilda is NOT AMY. Gilda is Lesley Winkle, who was in the first season. Amy wasn't even imagined until after season 2 and the writers have said that themselves. If you look at Lesley and Gilda you will see nothing but similarities. They are the same character.

Even weirder, the show was originally going to be called "Lenny, Penny and Kenny". Lenny would become known by his real name, Leonard, Penny kept the same name, and Kenny became Sheldon.

Kaley Cuoco nailed the role! Her stunning beauty combined with impeccable comic timing gave us one of the best performances seen on TV! ❤

The replacement Penny was their best decision! She couldn't have been more perfect for the role! It was very believable and I quite enjoyed the chemistry between all the characters of the show. I still haven't completed the entire series, but I have been catching up.

When I first watched the unaired pilot, it was very strange. The original Penny felt super cold and unfriendly.

The old Penny seems more like an Always Sunny character than a BBT one

As an American show, yes that pilot didn't work. But as an English show i feel it could of. One thing i see in a lot of our English comedies are characters like the original Penny. With good writing, story and ultimately change and growth in her character, i feel would of been good appeal over here. Who knows.

Penny has taken advantage of the guys, but she was subtle and sensitive to how they were so naive, which allowed the manipulation look and feel innocent enough.

I think you’re wrong on one point: I think Gilda was the template for Leslie Winkle. They’re both (from what you’ve shown) dominant intellectuals and wanting sex but not love from Leonard. Amy was extremely awkward and initially almost robotic. Then they changed her into a more “normal” but still socially awkward person.

At first, I thought this was gonna be about how Penny went from a high school burnout who wasted her youth partying, to magically rich and successful.

The thing is, is Penny is one of the nicest and most forgiving characters on the show. Most of the time though, all the characters are being mean to each other. The show certainly wouldn't work if everyone were nice.

I'm so glad that it all got changed, it just wouldn't be the same big bang without quirky Sheldon, Raj, Amy, and the whole story line. Thank you for informing me about this original pilot. One more random fact I can add to my noggin. 😁❤️

Gilda is definitely the prototype for Leslie Winkle not Amy

To be fair, even in the final version, it still took a few episodes for the showrunners to know exactly what to do with Sheldon. Case in point, the very first scene, which is the two boys visiting a sperm bank! We know from later episodes that Sheldon, while not rich, is comfortable enough financially that he has thousands of dollars that he can loan Penny on a whim. And imagine a world in which Sheldon would touch himself for money! There is absolutely no possibility that the final version of Sheldon as we know him, would ever visit a sperm bank.

I think it's cruel to say she was fired. She was hired for a pilot. Then they recast when it didn't work along with script changes, changes to characters etc. It's not unusual at all. Fired would be if they kicked her out half way through shooting the pilot.

What a difference, the peny we got was more human and wasn't above making herself look silly while original penny looked down on others and had a unbalanced femdom persona. As a girl I prefer, the imperfect penny we got than the cookie-cutter one on the unaired pilot. I dislike those "I'm perfect" girls like that. Sheldon and Penny we got were more wholesome.

"The mean lady should stay away from the sweet boys" 💀

In many ways Penny is the antithesis of Sheldon and hence that pair is what the show revolves around. Yes Penny is romantically involved with Leonard but Penny & Sheldon’s interaction causes both of them to grow as is the catalyst for the growth in the other character..

The resulting BBT was so different on every level, the dynamic of Penny in the group and in the one-on-ones of the group gave a rich circle of friends story, the geeky guys also living more of a life you might expect, not a lot of love life and plenty of games and sci-fi movies, the comic book thing was really a touch. What they hit right was the second dynamic, Penny was not the all confident, clearly smarter and wiser type, she had plenty of vulnerabilities besides not being as well educated as the boys. Penny and Sheldon were almost like bothers and sisters, purely platonic and feisty.

The Sheldon and penny dynamic was amazing because they both had what the other person wanted, Sheldon was the kind caring person who was a best friend and someone who she could always rely on, and penny was the person who got Sheldon out of the his shell even without him knowing

It’s crazy how close this show was to a one season flop

Not only I’m so grateful for Penny, but for Raj and Howard too! Can’t imagine the show without them! They are just as essential as Sheldon and Leonard.

Raj and Howard were much more critical to the success of the show than the actors were given credit. They deserved equal billing.

I really wish the show continued another season or 2 and would wrap up Rajs story and Howard finally coming face to face with his dad, etc. But oh well.

Why is all the pilot footage so dark? Makes everything feel even more like a fever dream.

I know the original actress, we went to school together. My heart broke for her when I found out she’d been replaced. It wasn’t her fault, the writing and character wasn’t because of her

The character dynamic is what made the show, Penny’s personality and Sheldon’s merge greatly for friendship

I'm glad we got the version of TBBT we have today. It's one of my favorite shows, if not my favorite.

Ironically that first version of "Penny" is probably what most nerds experience in real life way more often.

In some ways, the pilot was a more accurate representation of what the show would become by around season 6 rather than how it would start out. It's like they did make the changes, but once it was successful they reverted back to a lot of the original plans.

Very interesting to learn something new about one of my favourite sitcoms. Would have been nice to have longer clips to illustrate your points but I’m guessing you may have been limited by copyright rules?

The original actress was great, it was her "character" that was dark and abrasive. Fire the writer, not the actress.

despite all the hate this show gets, i’m so glad that it pushed Jim Parsons closer to the spotlight. He is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors from his works since this show. With the boys in the band, hollywood, extremely wicked, the man is a joy to watch.

The message of this video is profound: Listen to criticism. It might not always be valid, but you have to swallow your pride and listen to it. I love that, because people today are all about “not listening to haters” and ignoring criticism when in reality, some criticism and introspection is good for you.

Nothing against the pilot episode actress. She's awesome in her own way. But Kelly Cuoco defines Penny, such an iconic and memorable role! Her comedic timing was phenomenal. Really love her.

What makes me wonder is how the makers replaced katie with Penny but still wrote such a horrible character like 'Anu' for Raj? And the actress selection is even far worse.

I think we're missing the one thing that changed and made the show successful. The lighting. Holy hell was it bad in that pilot.

I can't help but feel that pilot was truer to Chuck Lorre's writing. There's always this mean spiritedness boiling under the surface in his shows, that exploded in some moments in Two And A Half Men, and this pilot has that laid bare. In most sitcoms you have the sense that we as an audience are laughing with the characters, but in his shows we are supposed to be laughing AT them. There's not this sense of comradery between the cast and audience like you'd find in a show like Friends or 30 Rock, just mercilessly mocking these characters and revealing in their pain.

Love your analysis of this great sit com. Thanks for sharing.

@Nerdstalgic Hey, what's the music @6:59 ? It sounds extremely similar to Ik Kudi by Arpit Bala, however that was only released in the year 2023. The intro has astounding resemblance.

I feel like the girl who moves in upstairs with the sound system in an early episode is almost an homage to the original character of Katie.

its one thing to write a pilot and for it to fail, its another thing to write a failed pilot, and COMPLETELY flip it to be one of the most successful shows. Such amazing writers

Interesting content. I would have never guessed how the initial show started out and was revamped into what could be described as genius!

What I do not understand though, is that the writers and the directors were the ones responsible for how the Katy(Penny) character flopped.. not the actress. So instead of firing her, couldn't they change her script?

It looks like sheldon got split into Sheldon and Howard, and Gilda got split into Leslie and Amy.

Not only is it worth mentioning that Katie movies in while Penny just moves next door, it is also worth mentioning WHY their stories are different. Katie moves in because her mother kicked her out after finding out Katie was having an affair with Katie's mother's boyfriend. No one feels bad for that; Katie deserves what she got. Penny moves door because she's a country girl with big dreams of becoming an actress. When Penny is down on her luck (e.g. working for Cheesecake factory), you do feel bad for her. Therefore, like you said, you root for Penny to get together with Leonard, but you root for Katie to stay away with Leonard. In fact, you would rather wish for Gilda to get together with Leonard instead of Katie, which throws off the premise of the show.

Gilda reminds me more of Leslie Winkle. Oh and I actually do see chemistry between those CGI characters and the human actor

Good video! I didn't know about this about big bang theory...

I've seen the original pilot, and the character of Katie is fundamentally unlikeable. It is also ridiculous that two people would invite a homeless woman they just met to move in with them, and even more ridiculous that she would accept their offer. It is much more plausible that a new neighbour would befriend a couple of nerds in spite of the differences in their education.

I feel sorry for the pilot actors that got fired from these shows before they even aired only to see their substitute become millionaire stars

I never knew there was an unaired pilot. Great video.

I love how they still have the laugh track added to the unused pilot.

Why's the lighting so.. horror-vibe? When you showed the quick cut of the actual set @ 4:37 with the warm, bright, inviting lights, the contrast was unbelievable.

I could NOT imagine this show without Howard and Raj. It feels so incomplete.

I don’t understand how you made the ‘failed’ Penny character the problem, where she just followed the directions she got from her directors and producers, the problem wasn’t with her

I felt like what youve described about the chemistry between the actors youve perfectly encapsulated the problems I had with the mid and later seasons. The first few seasons felt so genuine, Lenard was an awkward nerd and was called out for it constantly and Sheldon was just an autist that has never been forced to interact with "normal" people, like Penny for example. She was mean, yes, but not because of ill-intent, it was just the people she surrounded herself with that thought her this behavior, which in turn made it feel believable and even relatable. My point being, they all had major issues and were awkward towards one another but this is what made the show so great, it felt like a real situationship that could happen, with real people. Then they had to shoehorn in girlfriends and other love-interests and the show kinda deviated from it original premise, awkward nerds interacting with frat people, to just do every relationship, proposal, wedding, child episode they could think of. Also they did Raj so dirty in the later seasons, not because he couldnt find a girl but because all of his character development went to shit, except that he can talk to women now,

While I agree with most of what you said, I feel like this mindset is the reason why we have so few women main characters in ensemble casts. The problem wasn't that there were two women, it's that the writers decided that if there were two women, then they must be in competition with one another.

as one of the few people on the internet who actually likes TBBT thank you for going 9 minutes without shitting on it and staying objective

Where can we find this episode/where did you get the footage?

I watched that pilot. There was NO chemistry or tension between the characters. It wouldve been a flop if they stuck with her.

I thought Gilda was more retooled into a Leslie Winkle, before they decided Amy was a better long-term fit for the cast.

Gilda actually reminded me more of Leslie Winkle than Amy

Great advice. Every artist, whether it be writing, painting, music etc, needs to remain open to constructive criticism. The hardest lesson I had to learn as a writer is that every word I put on a page is not gold. Great scenes, no matter how well written, sometimes just don’t work and will need to be scrapped.

Imagine getting cut off , and watching the remaining memembers of the cast getting to be millonairs, especially the girl who replaced you.

It sounds like Proper Penny would have beat up Original Penny for being mean to her boys.

Such a great video. Thank you

Good breakdown. The main issue was a casting issue as well. Better writing came with the chemistry of the cast. The four added characters are arguably the best or most memorable. Not a show I watched but have been forced to watch some episodes that turned out to be watchable and entertaining. It was a hard transition. If you get the wrong episode you may never try watching it again. Which was my experience.

This reminds me of a later episode. Where a new neighbour moved in upstairs and manipulated the guys and didn’t care about them. Penny initially felt abandoned by the guys but after talking to Sheldon went back and defended them

I feel like Gilda was possibly partly the inspiration for Leslie Winkleman, as well as for Amy. And maybe even a little bit for Bernadette.

I remember Watching this episode/pilot a long time ago, before the big bang was on tv.. but cant remember where I watched it

Glad they hit the nail on the head in the end,, loved the series and miss it.

It’s funny that even when they brought Gilda back as Amy three seasons later they still decided to completely change her character later

I’ve never actually watched Big Bang Theory but this video was *super* interesting. Great job!

They took the cues, rewrote, made sure nothing was actually funny, pump in a laugh track, and voila! A hit.

The one exception to your point at 4:55 is Two Gentlemen of Verona. Then again that probably only works because it is Shakespeare and very few people if any could ever come close to his prowess lol 😅

Why is Raj the only one who ends up without a girlfriend whenever he is by far the most attractive

when i was in highschool i unwittingly bought a t-shirt with a reference to the show, without ever seeing the show. people would say weird shit to me when i wore that shirt and i was very confused abt it for a while 💀

Very interesting beginning for a great show and a great moral at the end. Well done. While AFF ended up being what the final Sheldon needed, I enjoyed the Gilda character and actress.. rawr. We often debated which of the ladies we would prefer and based on what little I saw in your video, she honestly is near the top of the list for me already.

i love the penny we got instead. she was sweet and even though she is plain and stereotypical (who in that show isn't) she has a personality and it deepens as the seasons go by. i loved sheldon and penny's relationship, it was genuine.

I'll say this: This, to me, explains some of the directions the Penny character took. In later seasons, I've felt like she became more harsh and such, while the opening version is more softer and kindly. I wonder if they may have been working out the version they wanted, in Katie, into the character of Penny, later on in the show.

I actually think a show like this could have worked if all the main characters were intentionally unlikeable.

So, if Penny’s (Katy) character is bad, it’s the actor, but when Sheldon’s character is bad it’s entirely the writing. Is this what we’re going with?

Ok, I have never EVER thought that I would write this abt this video. But it was so inspiring and motivating. I know, it's very odd, but seriously, this was the most motivating video I have seen recently. Even if you have something crap at hand, you can make a turnaround!

I feel so bad for the original actress

From the scenes you showed, Gilda strikes me much more as a Leslie prototype than an Amy

I knew this failed episode existed I've just never been able to find footage of it so thank you

Someone once told me that if someone tells you there is a problem with your writing, they are almost always right. If they try to tell you how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.

I have seen the full original pilot and I had to watch it twice😳 simply because I could not believe how first incredibly bad it was and second how even more grateful I am for what we actually did receive. Oh thank you for stopping this first rendition before it was out there. I have as many millions of others spent many hours enjoying the only version of the Big Bang we will ever need.

Amanda Walsh later went on to write nearly 30 episodes of Schitt’s Creek!

I love the relationship between 3 of them... Leonard and Sheldon are brother and best friend Penny and Leonard are Lover and Best friend Sheldon and Penny are brother-sisters and Best friend If they turned out to be a love rival, I don't know if I can love the character or not...

It's so funny to me that the narrator mentions Gilda looking familiar and then says she is the same character as Amy later in the show, when I looked at her mannerisms and immediately saw Stuart from the comic book shop.