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'The Big Bang Theory' Put Microchips In Their Props To Keep The Cast From Stealing

Actors taking items from sets is nothing new.

In 2016, Lauren Graham revealed that she stole a jacket from the set of Gilmore Girls.

But some sets are stricter than others.

It was recently revealed the extreme lengths The Big Bang Theory set would go to keep props from being stolen. This is intense.

Now that the *Big Bang Theory* is over, all of the secrets are coming out.

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The beloved comedy ended on May 16, 2019 after 12 seasons.

Recently, it was revealed that the show could have gone on for two more seasons had it not been for Jim Parsons (Sheldon's) departure.

*Big Bang Theory* production designer John Shaffner told *Metro*: "Warner Bros and CBS wanted to sign for about two more years."

Instagram | @therealjimparsons

"What had occurred was Jim Parsons had been in touch with Chuck Lorre over the hiatus week and had said he couldn’t come back and do anymore," he said.

"And Chuck had always said if one member of the cast left the show then the show would have to end."

So when the cast got together for a quick table read midway through Season 12, only Chuck and Jim knew that the show was going to end.

When news broke, John recalled things getting really emotional.

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He found Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco hugging and crying after they found out what was going to happen.

After all, the cast and crew had become like family after working together for so many years.

While it was his decision to move on, Parsons later revealed that he initially felt lost without the show.

Instagram | @therealjimparsons

"It was only a few months after [it] had ended. I'm not going to tell you what I was looking for, because I didn't know," he told The Globe and Mail.

"I thought I'd know it when I saw it," he continued.

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Thankfully, American Horror Story's Ryan Murphy soon came along and approached him about starring in his Netflix series called Hollywood.

"Then Ryan came along and that's all I needed to know," he explained.

He went on to share how he felt right at home with this new project.

"I love the people he surrounds himself with and the kinds of projects that he does. It always feels very right, like a part of my artistic family."

There are no Sheldon-like one-liners with Parson's new character.

In Hollywood, he plays Henry Wilson, a real-life talent agent who specialized in beefcake stars.

He told the Globe and Mail that not knowing much about the real-life agent actually helped him.

"It was sort of a gift to not know who Henry was, because the research and scripts that I read came then from an outsider’s point of view [where I didn’t consider the character before taking the part]," he said.

"Then it was all about reading through the filter of 'I have to play this man, I have to play this human.' I think some of the more outlandish and darker things about him would’ve been maybe easier to generalize and lump into the category of 'Evil Hollywood Man.'"

Interested in other juicy show secrets?

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Set designer Ann Shea recently spoke to Metro and bared all.

She explained the insane lengths the studio would go to keep their props from being stolen.

Get ready for this because it's intense.

Since the characters were quirky, this meant that there were a lot of random knick-knacks to keep track of.

This includesdknick-knacks in Leonard and Sheldon's apartment to the equipment at Caltech.

"Warner Bros was so strict," Shae told Metro.

She went on to explain their unusual methods for protecting items.

Instagram | @therealjimparsons

"Normally heads of department would have access to the stage so we can go work on the weekends. But they closed the stages down months in advance on the weekend."

She continued:

"And they micro-chipped every single item on all of the sets and made sure they could track it. We were instructed to give everything we had for archives and so we did. It took months and months of packing and logging," she said.

If the cast members wanted an item from set, they had to go to the bosses to ask for it.

"Warner Brothers doesn’t typically give away stuff to the actors, so if the actors did get anything, all I can say is they dealt with Warner Brothers directly."

Ann did think of something, though:

She said that she made hundreds of replica door numbers to give to the cast and crew. So sweet!

For more of Ann's interview, you can read it here!

h/t: The Metro