The Big Bang Theory Quotes

“And when he came to our runthrough on the stage, it just so happened that Simon had to be doing an impression of him. Simon was like, “Oh my God.” He did the scene and then immediately turned to Professor Hawking and said, “I’m so sorry! They made me do it!” And everyone cracked up. But then a buzzer on his wheelchair went off, and we saw his handlers come in to move and check things, and we were so concerned. My first thought was, Oh my God, Simon, you killed Stephen Hawking! But his handler assured us, “No, he was laughing!” The only way he could communicate was off of his glasses with a sensor on his cheek, so the buzzer would go off when he laughed. We were like, “Thank God!” He just had the best time seeing behind the scenes of our world and how it was done. I still can’t believe it.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“Johnny Galecki: It’s not manual labor, so I don’t want to paint it that way, but even ten years in, I would wake up at 3 a.m. to work on my script and make notes. You want to show up for the writers, the cast, the audience, and not let anybody down.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“Over the years, I went through like two bottles of it. One day I forgot to spray it on and didn’t realize it until I was in the middle of a scene, so I asked our second AD [assistant director] to grab my cologne from the bathroom. I had to have it. And I know that makes me sound like a crazy person, which is somewhat true, but everyone’s process is what it is. And then you become kind of superstitious.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“Kaley Cuoco: Oh my gosh, the backstory and the research! He probably made fun of me because I had done zero research to play Penny. I’d give him a hard time and be like, “Got your binder?! It’s season ten, hope you know what your backstory is now!” I gave him so much shit. I was like, “What was Leonard doing before this last scene? Where was Leonard? Tell us!”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“Steve Molaro: I mean, the fact that he looked to a meerkat for some of Leonard’s mannerisms with the hands together and the head up, is one of the many reasons why Johnny is awesome. If you really look, Leonard carries his body differently than Johnny. It was fascinating to watch.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“Professor David Saltzberg: Jim would really research all these words on the page. And it was remarkable how I never had to tell him how to pronounce something because he did the work. In fact, once, he even found a little mistake. We had the words “electrical dipoles,” when in fact somebody would say “electric dipoles.” And he figured that out from his research, and we fixed it. I said to him after that, “You know a lot more than you’re letting on.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“Throughout the years, Parsons was always asked if he learned anything about physics, or if he felt smarter as a result of playing Sheldon. Jim Parsons: I’ve always had a respect for science and a fascination with certain aspects of it, but I didn’t learn a goddamn thing, I’ll tell you that. Nothing stuck. [Laughs] [Professor] David [Saltzberg] definitely made it easier. He was really helpful in that he was able to usually tell me, “Here’s all you need to know.” For instance, “You’re going to point at this when you say that; you’re going to point at that when you say this.” He was the perfect combination of being scientifically brilliant and being able to talk to a science dodo bird like me. He understood the kind of paint-by-numbers aspect that was necessary for the acting to get to the comedy.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“Kevin Sussman: When people talk about what Jim was like on set… while he had a lot of fun, he was the one that had the most work. Every episode he had these frickin’ monologues with all this jargon, and so much of what I remember about hanging out on the set—which was mostly like hanging out with your friends at summer camp—was Jim constantly walking around with a big stack of index cards going over his lines. I used to think to myself, Holy cow, he’s doing this every episode.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“But what we did do is get interstitials with different colors and movement that reflected the scene that just happened or previewed the one to come. I started to match what my comedic take on the end of a scene was with what the interstitial was doing. I gave them names. One was called “Up Yours,” so if somebody slams somebody [or has a comeback to what they say], the atom would swoop up like an arm coming up at you. If it was a goofy ending, I had one that would swirl through called “Oogle Google.” If the scene was a hard-hitting, funny moment, it would come straight at the camera, which I called “Coming at Ya.” And then if the scene was with Penny, Amy, and Bernadette, I had one with three atoms called “Triple Threat.” If the four guys were in the scene, it would be atoms from the four corners that would come straight at you. I also started to match the colors to the scene. I would use the aquamarine color if we were coming out of or going to Penny’s apartment because it matched her couch or what they were wearing. My assistant and I knew, and that was it. I never told anybody.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“Proof that Penny never had an official last name before she became Mrs. Hofstadter. Over the years, prop master Scott London, who wanted every prop on the show to be authentic, sometimes gave her his last name, or Teller (for Penn & Teller), or even her first name, Penny. Courtesy of Scott London”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“Wouldn’t it be funny if your name was Penny Penny Penny, and Sheldon knew the whole time and then everyone just started doing the knock, and then later he was like, ‘I knew that was your last name!’” But no, I kind of love that it was just Penny, and then Penny Hofstadter, which I thought was so cute.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“Bill Prady: Scott said, “I have to have a last name,” and I said, “Will we ever be able to read it?” and he said, “No.” And I said, “All right, well, make sure it’s Greeked enough that you can’t make it out.” And he said, “What should I put there?” And I think I might have said “Teller” because of Penn and Teller, Penny Teller.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“Penny receives a delivery of her Penny Blossom accessory creations. The props department, led by Scott London, weren’t about to put a shipping label that just said “Penny.” And so, years later, eagle-eyed fans zoomed in on that label and found a very hard-to-make-out surname: Teller.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“Sam [Huston Jr.], who worked with Scott on props, had to load me up every time. And I just remember both of us understanding that we needed it to look as awkward as possible to the point you could barely see me because you could only see gift baskets. Mark Cendrowski came out to help rearrange where everything should go, like I was a Christmas tree. But that’s the point! It was certainly one of those things as an actor, you know how it feels, but you can’t know if it looks funny until you see it on screen.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“And the napkin was really signed by Leonard. We sent it to him, and got it signed at the last minute before we shot it.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“You gave me the DNA of Leonard Nimoy.” And I looked at Eric, and Eric goes, “All I need is my own healthy ovum and I can make my own Leonard Nimoy,” and Chuck burst into laughter. It was just magic from the first time it happened. And that napkin scene was a turning point for me. I felt like that moment cemented me and Chuck.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“Sheldon completely loses it, and Parsons gives a performance so well executed, it is the singular moment most referenced among fans and TV critics.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“Our solution was the line, “I’m not crazy. My mother had me tested.” And that put it to rest. Mary took Sheldon to a general practitioner in East Texas in 1990 who said, “Oh, he’s fine! He’s peculiar, but he’s fine!” It was probably a doctor who was still smoking! I think not having a label gave Jim a great deal of more freedom to play the part as he wanted to play it, as opposed to how we might have been pressured to do for a very-real syndrome that can be difficult.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“Sometimes it would take as long as an hour to come up with a title.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“Bill Prady: By the way, I have a friend named Howard Wolowitz. When I was in the computer business, Howie was my partner. He’s in his seventies now, living in Connecticut, and nothing like Wolowitz; I just liked his name because there was this musicality to it. I asked him at one point if that was okay if we used his name and he thought it was fun and wouldn’t really affect his life much. Of course, he then spent years putting down a credit card or a driver’s license and people going, “Really? No, really, that’s your name?” [Laughs] Howie and Simon got to meet, actually, and he was also an extra in an episode.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“We wanted Penny to work somewhere that was pedestrian and wonderfully quotidian. Here are these guys who are trying to unravel the secrets of the universe, and Penny introduces herself by saying, “I work at The Cheesecake Factory.” The juxtaposition of scientists working in the quantum field, perhaps changing the world with their work, and “I work at The Cheesecake Factory” seemed to be a funny dichotomy. And the cheesecake is great! I personally really love their chocolate chip cheesecake. And the menu went on for days—it was like a book! There was a lot going for it, and the company was very gracious about letting us use their name. Surprisingly, the California Institute of Technology (abbreviated as Caltech) wasn’t as enthusiastic when it came to establishing Sheldon and Leonard’s workplace. Chuck Lorre: Caltech wasn’t keen on us using their name or likeness early on, so we obliged for a while, and then when the show took off, they communicated with us again and said something along the lines of, “Please feel free to use the word Caltech in your show,” because it was a good promotion for Caltech! [Laughs] Someone over there recognized that being associated with this burgeoning hit show was not going to damage their reputation.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“The struggle that Jim creates, and the battle that Sheldon ultimately loses until he finally reclaims his spot is so fascinating to watch. Look at that struggle. That’s the whole character. He knows it’s rude to ask guests to move if they’ve seated themselves. He knows that. His mama raised him right. But he can’t do it. And that’s the struggle of that character encapsulated in a moment.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“Amanda did exactly what was asked of her, and she did it beautifully. I certainly didn’t understand that despite Sheldon and Leonard’s intelligence, they were like children, and you couldn’t put a toxic character next to them like that. It broke your heart. And again, I was very much under the influence of Two and a Half Men, and thought that edgy humor would carry over to Big Bang. It did not. And I had a lot to learn because of that.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“We didn’t want to cut corners. He wasn’t able to stay on, but he recommended David Saltzberg, who inextricably became the most valuable player for the rest of the series.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“We had a physicist, Professor Peter Gorham from the University of Hawaii, come on board for the original pilot because we all agreed to make the science as real as we can.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“He didn’t just come in and read the lines. 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. He had decided how this character handles his body, how he occupies space, or is uncomfortable occupying space. It was a whole other level of audition. And it was not the character that I envisioned. Frankly, I don’t remember what kind of character I envisioned,”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“where I’d put a pencil in my mouth, bite down with my teeth and articulate through that because it forced my tongue to overarticulate. That way when I took it out, all these strings of words with all their syllables floated out with more of an ease. It was an oddly physical process. And I really just drilled it into my brain. I was excited to present their material to them because I liked it, regardless of whether I ended up getting the part.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“Simon Helberg (“Howard Wolowitz”): I very vividly remember thinking, Oh my God, the actor that has to go in for this role… because it was a two-page monologue about sitting at the right position where the cross-ventilation is.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“I also liked the idea of co-opting something that was already part of the culture. I remember some Nobel Prize–winning scientist once mentioned in an interview—to his horror—that when you Google “the Big Bang Theory,” the show came up first. [Laughs] Not the theory of how the universe began!”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series

“we wanted to pay homage to TV producer-director-actor Sheldon Leonard [the Emmy-winning producer and director of shows like The Danny Thomas Show, The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and more], so that’s where Sheldon and Leonard came from.”
― Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series