It has been less than a year since Big Bang Theory reached its series finale, and we can’t help but feel a tad nostalgic.
The show had gone strong for 12 years , which is more than I can say for most television series. But unfortunately, we had to say farewell to Sheldon and the gang once and for all (excluding re-runs).
Here are some Big Bang Theory BTS fun facts that you can totally bust out at trivia later!
Mayim Bialik is the only character from the show who has a PhD in real life.
While the entire cast made it seem very believable that they were all geniuses on- and off-screen, Mayim is the only one that has her PhD IRL!
She completed her neuroscience studies in 2008, and then went on to earn her PhD .
You go, girl!
All of the characters that play instruments on the show are actually highly skilled musicians in real life as well.
So, they may not all have their PhDs, but they can play instruments in real life!
Mayim Bialik actually learned to play the harp for the show, which was aided by the fact that she already plays the piano, guitar, and the trumpet, . And, as seen on the show, Johnny Galecki plays the cello, Kunal Nayyar plays guitar, and Simon Helberg plays the piano. Finally, even though it is widely regarded the hardest instrument to play, Jim Parsons actually plays the theremin.
A copyright infringement lawsuit was issued over the iconic song, “Soft Kitty.”
If you remember nothing else from the show, there’s no way you can’t remember the song “Soft Kitty.”
While we all loved it, it actually caused the show quite a bit of grief.
Ellen Newlin Chase and Margaret Chase Perry claimed the lyrics of the song were written by their mother. A judge later dismissed the claim.
If you can believe it, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, and Johnny Galecki were (at one point) some of the world’s most well-paid actors.
I know I, personally, find this to be a bit surprising.
But at the height of The Big Bang Theory ‘s success, these three were raking in the cash !
Back in 2012, biologists discovered a new species of bee, and named it after Sheldon’s catchphrase.
Remember Sheldon’s catchphrase, “bazinga”?
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Well, fun fact : To honor Big Bang Theory , biologists decided to name a newly discovered species of bees, Euglossa bazinga .
All of the main female characters had their first exchanges on the show with the character they would wind up dating.
This is a small detail that most people may have not realized at the time.
But each of the female characters introduced to the show would go on to share their first lines with the character they’d ultimately end up dating .
At one point, a show called *The Theorists* aired, and it was a complete ripoff of the show, right down to the characters’ names!
The Russian series shared, essentially, the exact same premise as The Big Bang Theory , and the main character’s name was Leonard.
Naturally, the show was eventually taken off the air and the creators faced some legal dispute over it.
Jim Parsons has never seen any of Sheldon’s favorite movie or TV show.
While Sheldon Cooper was a very believable Star Wars and Doctor Who fanatic, in real life, he has very different taste.
In an interview with Radio Times , he admitted he hasn’t seen either films, and prefers to watch shows like American Idol, Lost, Three’s Company , and Grey’s Anatomy .
Kaley Cuoco was absent for two episodes in season four because she fell off a horse and broke her leg.
It’s fairly common in long-running TV shows for certain characters to be MIA for a few episodes here and there!
But little did we know, Kaley was missing from two episodes in season four due to a nasty horseback- riding accident that left her with a broken leg.
I think that’s a pretty solid excuse to call in sick!
However, that wasn’t the only cast injury. In 2012, Mayim Bialik was involved in a car accident that injured her hand.
Instead of addressing it or involving it in the storyline, the writers worked around it, and Amy was filmed on certain angles that hid her injury .
Leonard’s glasses don’t actually have any lenses in them.
Supposedly, due to the height difference between Leonard and Sheldon, every time Johnny would tilt his head upward to look at Jim, it would cause glare on his lenses that would show up on camera .
The reason you’ve never seen Raj or Bernadette and Howard’s apartments in the same episode is because they are the same apartment.
The same set is used for both spaces!
If you look closely, you can see that it’s the exact same layout, just decorated differently.
Well played, Big Bang Theory , well played.
Leonard and Sheldon are named after a famous actor named Sheldon Leonard. But originally, Sheldon was going to be named Kenny.
If that were the case, the main characters would have been, Lenny, Penny, and Kenny — awful, I know.
But when Sheldon Leonard passed away, the creators of the show changed the name to honor him .
Kaley Cuoco’s character, Penny, doesn’t have a last name on the show.
Despite every other character’s last name being well-known to fans, Penny’s last name was never once mentioned on the show.
And since the series ended with Penny marrying Leonard and taking his last name, we’ll likely never know what her maiden name was.
Kevin Sussman has a phobia of water.
And unfortunately for him, his fear caught up to him on-set! In one scene, he was required to put his head underwater.
“I don’t like putting my head underwater ever… a bunch of people had to coach me, you know, ‘it’s going to be okay, we have a lot of people around,'” he explained . Thankfully, he was able to get it done!
The stairway to nowhere.
I know what you’re thinking: how is it that in a group of friends consisting of an engineer, an astrophysicist, and a string theory expert, they never figure out how to fix the elevator that has been broken for over a decade?
Those stairs are also only one level . The crew rearranges the set and changes numbers on the doors to mimic multi-levels.
The origins of “Bazinga!” began with a grapefruit.
It was apparently Stephen Engel’s word for “gotcha.” He at one time hollowed out a grapefruit, and when a fellow writer named Bill Prady went to eat it, Stephen yelled ” Bazinga !”
From then on, it became one of the most beloved recurring jokes in the series.
Speaking of Bill Prady, an old friend of his was supposedly the inspiration for Raj’s women troubles.
In the early days of the show, Raj couldn’t talk to women at all. Unless of course, he was drinking.
An old friend of the producer had what he called, “acute shyness,” and was the overall basis for Raj’s character.
Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki had an off-screen romance.
“It was such a huge part of my life and no one knew about it. It was a wonderful relationship, but we never spoke a word about it and never went anywhere together,” Kaley said during an interview.
They have real-life scientists consult on the show to ensure an element of realness.
The brain behind the scenes is David Saltzberg .
He’s responsible for everything from the theories on the whiteboards, down to tiny details like proper microscopes. All items are fact-checked and rigorously enforced.
Jim Parsons failed one of his science courses in college!
“I was very fascinated with meteorology at a young age. I lived on the Gulf Coast, and hurricanes blew through there. That is the class I failed in college: meteorology. I didn’t have an interest in the particulars — but what a wonderful basis for a show.”
All the pictures on Penny’s fridge tell a story.
Judging from Penny’s fridge , she’s pretty popular.
It turns out that all of those pictures are real-life cast and crew members! It’s a pretty inventive way to give a nod to those people working behind the scenes.
Amy’s apartment number has special significance.
If you look at Amy’s apartment door, you’ll notice the numbers 314.
3.14 are the first three numbers in the mathematical constant Pi. I’m not even close to intelligent enough to be able to explain what Pi is, but you can have a look for yourself here .
There was a lawsuit filed over the show’s theme song.
Steven Page, former frontman and lead singer for The Barenaked Ladies , sued his own band for royalties not received!
Page estimates that his total earnings would be worth well over $200,000 dollars! Bazinga, that’s a lot of dough!
The crew was always on the lookout for belt buckles.
One of Howard’s most revered fashion accessories were his belt buckles . Over the years, the show acquired stockpiles of them!
Every new town they visited or any time a member of the team was shopping, they always checked the belt buckle section!
Jim Parsons was very ill the first time he and Mayim Bialik shared an on-screen kiss.
Parsons apparently was sick with the flu and was sweating profusely the entire time! Bialik recalls that she was swishing mouthfuls of hydrogen peroxide to kill the germs!
I truly hope that was a joke, Mayim. It’s called mouthwash! Use it!
The dinner scenes are the cast’s favorite to shoot (for obvious reasons).
Most of the time in TV or film, the food is either fake or the actors spit it out after they’re done chewing.
As you can see from this video (especially Kaley Cuoco ) the cast chooses to go in a different direction.
Jim Parsons couldn’t wait to get back into bed with Mayim Bialik.
When asked what specifically he liked about filming in the boudoir, Parsons said:
“Not unlike life, there is an intimacy to it that allows us to have conversations in a tone of voice that no other set allows you. You find yourself expressing aspects of your character that you didn’t know were in there, because they’re quieter and more subtle.”
No, Melissa Rauch doesn’t actually sound like Bernadette in real-life.
She says that it’s one of the things that throws fans the most when they meet her in-person.
Melissa said that she based the voice off of her own mother, just without the New Jersey accent.
