Read More of Bill Prady’s Essay

Three years later some scientists still say that although the series, “The Big Bang Theory” (Monday nights on CBS), is funny and scientifically accurate, they are put off by it. “Makes me cringe,” said Bruce Margon, an astrophysicist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, explaining, “The terrible stereotyping of the nerd plus the dumb blond are steps backwards for science literacy.”

Lisa Randall, a Harvard particle theorist who has visited the show’s set twice and appeared as an uncredited extra in one scene said, “I do think the writers are genuinely clever.” Lawrence Krauss, a cosmologist at Arizona State, and author of “The Physics of Star Trek,” said he had changed his initial dire opinion about the program. “First, because it is funny, and continues to be,” he said. “Second, because the characters have developed softer edges, and one of them has the girl!”

The point of the show, Mr. Prady said, is to tell small stories. “We are not doing ‘Lost,’ we’re not doing a complex novel for TV,” he said. “We follow the characters, and let them tell us what they’re going to do next. We’re telling stories about outsiders. We all feel like outsiders. Can you find love? Penny pulls Leonard to the outside world; Sheldon pulls him back.” Mr. Lorre said that the whole “challenge and joy” of a series like this is character development. “Maybe at the end of the day this will inspire some kids to go into physics,” he added, “just like ‘Cheers’ inspired countless young people to go into bars.”

CultureMap: Tell me about your time at Infernal Bridegroom Productions. What did you learn from the experience?
Jim Parsons: The experience was very life-encompassing … it really took over, and I threw myself into for a period of time. I went to undergrad at the University of Houston and graduate school at the University of San Diego, and the further I get away from those days the more I feel that my Infernal Bridegroom experience was on par with my traditional education in getting me where I am.

It gave me a chance to do a type of play that I wasn’t exposed to at university, like Beckett and Brecht. Both of my university experiences were pretty straight and narrow, with plays in spaces that were very typical, as opposed to Infernal Bridegroom performing all over the map. More often then not we were in a warehouse or parking lot, whatever we could create a show in.

There were a lot of important lessons that I learned, including the ability to perform under any circumstances. You can only learn it by getting the chance to do it, to perform in whatever room, in front of whatever audience that you have. It builds confidence that’s born of literal fact that you have done that. It’s harder to throw me as an actor than it would be had I not had that experience.

CM: Is it weird to be coming back as a special guest and honoree for the same people you started out with?
JP: It’s a little odd, but at the same time, if I can help bring attention to not just a theater group, but a group of people who have been important to my life and my growth as an actor, if I can bring attention financially, it is so my pleasure to try.

This has been for so long now such worthy work, both back when we were together and what they still do. It’s a crucial part of a cultural theme in Houston. It fills a void, I got to work and people got to see things they wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to see.

Q: What about that show appealed to you?
A: It was a Chuck Lorre pilot, and it was a multi-camera show, which is very close to theater – the world that I knew – and it was really funny. I didn’t look at it and say, oh this is a perfect geek comedy, I just read it and said, Oh my God, this is brilliant writing, this is so funny.

Q: How would you describe your character, Raj?
A: Not only does he have trouble mingling with the outside world, he also has trouble mingling because he’s a foreigner… it’s a double-edged sword he’s fighting. He feels very comfortable with these guys because they’re everything to him, you know what I mean? He’s so dependent, especially on Howard, but these guys are his family and his life, because he feels completely at ease with them.

And of course, you know, he suffers from selective mutism, which comes from his pathological shyness, and he can only talk to women when he drinks.

Inside Raj lives a beast, like a rapper or like a player or like a mogul, because every time he drinks he becomes this smooth, suave, picking-up-girls kind of guy. So I think there’s a beast that lives inside him.

Q: To what extent do you think you’re like Raj?
A: I think if Raj could let the beast out, that would be Kunal. I think Kunal is the beast that’s living inside Raj. Not that I am a mogul or a player or anything, but in essence I have the freedoms that he doesn’t.Kunal is very much like Raj because I also sometimes I have to fight that double-edged sword, fitting in socially as well as internationally. And I think Raj is kind of mischievous and I’m pretty mischievous. Things excite Raj very easily, he gets excited very easily when it comes to video games or women or anything, and I’m sort of like that too.

So now that we’ve seen Wil Wheaton a second time on Big Bang Theory, might a third appearance be in store? Could he be a recurring nemesis for Sheldon? “I would think so. Nothing’s resolved,” Parsons remarked. “And I don’t think Sheldon ever gets to win in that situation. Not to spoil anything, but Sheldon wins a lot of the time, so it’s nice to have a good person come on and always get the best of him, because the rest of them don’t always. They try, [but] he’s too smart.”

Of course as much as Sheldon hates one Star Trek alumni in Wil Wheaton, he has absolute adoration for another, Leonard Nimoy. So might we ever see Nimoy on The Big Bang Theory? Said Parsons, “I’m sure they’re trying. What’s funny is that he was kept so far away from Stan Lee, in jail and everything, and I’ve wondered if we ever got Leonard Nimoy on… I just feel like it would be the briefest of encounters. I feel like, once again, I wouldn’t get to see Leonard Nimoy more than two seconds, in the episode. Sheldon would flip though, he would explode.”

Jim also attended the College Television Awards to present an award. If a video appears online we will post it!

Gallery Link
- College Television Awards 2010 Gala (April 11)

Galecki had just been asked if the success of The Big Bang Theory, which has taken off ratings-wise in its third season, had inspired any “diva” behaviour among the actors. “Kunal didn’t used to sit like that last year — now look at him,” an amused Galecki said. Everyone turned to see Nayyar slouched in a chair, legs protruding, with an expression of ironic detachment. “What’s up, rock star?” Galecki bellowed, as both groups laughed and Nayyar meekly protested that he always sits that way. “You are very cool over there, like a member of Oasis or something.” Certainly, if anyone in TV comedy has “rock star status” these days, it’s the cast of The Big Bang Theory.

[...] Leonard and Sheldon share an apartment, and living across the hall is the fetching Penny, played by Kaley Cuoco. As the series has progressed, and against all odds, Leonard and Penny have embarked upon a romantic relationship. “I guess Kaley and I were pretty surprised, but Chuck (Lorre, co-creator and co-executive producer) explained it in a way that makes perfect sense — and not just because he’s my boss,” Galecki said. “Dangling that romantic carrot over an audience’s head has been done many, many times, and it has been done very, very well many times. But these characters come from such different worlds, I don’t think they can begin to figure anything out without taking a plunge. I’m talking like I know what makes a healthy and happy relationship. I don’t know. But let them roll the dice and see what happens first, and maybe we can keep it going for a bit.”

[...] “I hope it’s a little bit easier or else I didn’t learn a damn thing,” Galecki said. “Kaley (who had a role in the sitcom 8 Simple Rules) and I both experienced a little bit of it before, in our previous work. But it is amazing how everybody is reacting to this in such positive, positive way.”The previously unknown Parsons has been the breakout star of The Big Bang Theory with his portrayal of über-nerd Sheldon. Listening to Galecki, it sounds as if one of the things he is most gratified about is what the show has done for Parsons, and vice versa. “Jim’s story, to me, is so incredible,” Galecki said. “Having met him four years ago when he was living in Brooklyn and pounding the pavement for Dimetapp commercials, he is talented, but he works so, so hard. Every struggling actor should read his story, or pay attention to his story, because it’s hopeful and not just because he didn’t win the lotto. He worked hard and paid his dues for a long, long time. And still, with the attention he gets, he is such a great guy and it still is all about the work for him, for all of us — except the rock-star component.”

“I’m delighted and I’m really proud of that song and I’m really happy they asked me to write it,” Robertson tells Spinner while in Toronto promoting the band’s new album ‘All in Good Time.’ “It’s a really smart and funny show. The creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady were big fans of the band and they called. They said, ‘We love your writing. All we need from you is sort of a history of everything in about 32 seconds.’”

After getting a look at the pilot episode as well as a script, Robertson went to work on meshing the lyrics with a montage of “fast-forwarding series’ of images.”

“I just thought, ‘Oh I hope I get this gig, I worked really hard on it,’” he says. “And they were great to work with.”

Perhaps what was also in Robertson’s favour for the theme — which was later fleshed out to a full-length song — was pure coincidence.

“I’m a total science geek and I had just read a book by Simon Singh called ‘Big Bang: Everything You Need to Know About the Most Important Discovery of All Time,’” he says. “It’s kind of a layman’s explanation of every scientific discovery that led up to cosmological theory. So I had just read that and then I got asked, ‘Would you be interested in writing a theme song for a show called The Big Bang Theory?’ ‘Yes! Yes!’ So yeah, it was really fun.”

I will post a video as soon as one becomes available online!

Why does Raj always wear so many layers? -Haverly
Kunal Nayyar: I think the discussion that happened with the costume designer is that because he’s in a new country and because he’s a genius at such a young age, the layers act as protection. It’s like a shield for him. I also bet Raj thinks it looks good.

Will he ever get up the courage to talk to a woman? – PopWrap
Kunal: I doubt it. I think they’ll try lots of experimental drugs, so like in season eight he’ll be a junkie! [laughs] But no, I don’t think we’ll ever see him get over it, which I always wondered about in the beginning. “How will we continue to do this,” but the writers are amazing.

Do you think Raj and Howard are the 2010 Bert and Ernie? – Vlad
Kunal: There’s definitely a bromance there. That’s what is so lovely about this season you’re seeing that they can’t live without each other. In the next few episodes you’ll really see how dependent Leonard is on Sheldon and Penny. But I think Raj and Howard are endearing. I also love that Raj is becoming more needy and effeminate, like the wife in their relationship.

Co-creator Chuck Lorre said that Sheldon doesn’t qualify as gay or straight — what about Raj, does he want a girlfriend? – Linda
Kunal: I think with Sheldon, that’s obviously the case — he lives in a very specific world. As they all do, but unlike Sheldon, the guys are horny as hell! Like any single man. All Raj wants to do is pick up girls. Howard too. And you see that Leonard just wants to be with Penny. Despite growing up in labs, these guys are still driven by their lions — but it’s just difficult to carry off.

What kind of girl would Raj be able to date? – Jackie
Kunal: I thought about dating a deaf women — but that’s a hard joke to pull off sensitively. I don’t know if he’ll actually ever find love. Plus, I wonder, what’s funnier than seeing these guys fail? That’s the essence of comedy. I think they’ll succeed at being friends, but not with women.

“Betty White’s [on my guest star wish list],” Parsons said. “She’s been everywhere though lately. I don’t even know if we could get her between her Snickers commercials and ‘SNL’… she’d be a wonderful mee-ma.”

As fans of “BBT” know, Sheldon’s beloved mee-ma is his grandmother and, though she’s been mentioned many a time on the series, she’s yet to be seen.

On set this week, four of the five main cast members — each in their own separate interviews — named Kudrow as the perfect candidate to portray Penny’s mom.

“Every week we hear something whacked about Penny’s family,” Kaley Cuoco said of her character. “She has this weird family and I’ve been waiting for the episode [in which we meet them]. My ideal mother would be Lisa Kudrow. I just think she should play my mother. I have this idea that she had me when she was really young.”

There was also an interview with Kaley and Johnny Galecki about Penny and Leonard’s relationship but that was spoiler-ish so I didn’t even finish reading; you can read it here if you wish.

IGN: I love the show and I watch every week. And I keep thinking about all the people who said the sitcom was dead. You guys seem to have completely revived it. What do you think it is about the show that turned an entire show style on its ear?

Jim Parsons: Well for one thing, I don’t think there is any reinventing of a wheel going on here. You know what I mean? I don’t think anybody’s trying to do anything around here that is in any way changing the old school of thought with the traditional multi-camera sitcom. And that may be one of the biggest things we have going in our favor. We’re trying to simply execute as well as possible, a format that’s been around. That’s been related to live theater.

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If there is one breakthrough TV role over the past year or so, it is Jim Parsons’ turn as physicist Sheldon Cooper in the hit CBS sitcom “The Big Bang Theory.” Brilliant, supercilious, socially clueless, Cooper is alternately hysterical and horrifying. And Parsons’ Emmy-nominated performance is so spot-on, it seems as if the character and the actor are the same person.

But unlike Sheldon, the tall (6-foot-2), 36-year-old Parsons, a Houston native, is actually a sports fan who does not speak Klingon. Lewis Beale discussed the role and other matters with Parsons while he was on a production break.

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