One of the sitcom most beloved of American and international television is about to turn 15 years old. Therefore, to celebrate this important anniversary, Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady talked about the pilot of The Big Bang Theory that never aired and was very different from the one we know. One character in particular evolved after not getting a very good reception during test features.
It’s about Penny, the friendly and charismatic aspiring actress who is also Leonard and Sheldon’s neighbor. From the first episode, she gives a warm welcome to the leading scientists, overlooking the fact that for the rest of society they could be just geeks misfits.
However, his treatment of friends was more aggressive and mocking in the first iteration of the chapter that triggered 12 seasons. As part of an interview with Entertainment Weeklythe writers recalled that they thought of Penny as a dangerous person.
“That pilot was actually the second one we had done after the first one didn’t work out for a bunch of reasons. In the first pilot, the female character (who, at the time, was named Katie) is a bit tough. She’s dangerous in a way and she wasn’t very nice to guys,” Prady said.
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For his part, Lorre mentioned that, precisely in the test functions, they realized that the public did not connect with the young woman’s attitude, since many people saw Leonard and Sheldon as childish and naive, so they did not accept that someone abused them.
Lorre asserted the following:
“[Quienes asistieron a la función] they hated her But what was impressive is that they were defending Sheldon and Leonard a lot.”
To this, Prady added:
“Yes, at first we didn’t realize that the public saw them as children. They were very naive and childish, regardless of how smart they were. They were very vulnerable, and the public didn’t want a toxic presence around them. That’s why we rewrote Katie to become Penny. [Kaley Cuoco] and we made her a lot more charming to boys and nice to them, rather than a woman taking advantage of them.”
In addition, the creatives talked about the actress who brought Penny to life in the pilot of The Big Bang Theory before Cuoco. Her name is Amanda Walsh, and although they have nothing but praise for her performance, they mention that, as the role was rewritten, it was necessary to use another actress. These were her words:
“She was actually a very sweet person, and it took a lot of work for her to become that tough character. Afterwards, he wanted to come back for the new version of Penny, but he had identified so much with that first character that it didn’t happen ».
The Big Bang Theory is available on HBO Max.
Jose Roberto Landaverde Film buff and music lover. I am fascinated by writing, listening, reading and commenting on everything related to the seventh art. I am a fan of Rocky and Back to the Future and of course one day I will climb the “Philly Steps” and drive a DeLorean. Faithful believer that the cinema is the best teleportation machine, and also that we can all see ourselves represented on the big screen. Constantly, like Scott Pilgrim, I ask myself: “Does bread make you fat?”