How TBBT Ensured Howard's Mom Was a Part of the Show Until the Very End

Summary:

• The Big Bang Theory was a CBS sitcom that aired from 2007 to 2019.
• One of the longest-running gags on the show was the voice of Howard's mother. It was never intended to reveal her appearance.
• When actress Carol Ann Susi, who voiced the character, passed away, the showrunners honored her through Bernadette and Howard's first child.

There isn't a single TV series or movie production that hasn't been affected in one way or another by personal events involving the crew or cast. While in the vast majority of cases, it's possible to keep things private so that any changes go unnoticed by viewers, sometimes it's up to the writers to step up and explain the devastating news.

This was the case for The Big Bang Theory's writers' room in 2014 when the entire production behind the show found out that Carol Ann Susi had lost her battle with cancer.

Susi was known to fans of the show as the voice of Howard's mother, who was used as a running gag on the show for many years. She never appeared on screen but was known to scream for her son so loudly that her voice could be heard in almost any room.

The decision not to recast the actress, but to lay the character to rest, was finalized in the episode "The Comic Book Store Regeneration," when the audience learned of Howard's mother's death in The Big Bang Theory universe. However, that was not enough to honor Susi's work, so the show's creators came up with a rather unusual solution.

Why Halley Wolowitz Wasn’t On Screen Before The Last Episode

Howard and Bernadette welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Halley, in the episode The Birthday Synchronicity. However, viewers never get a chance to coo at the screen, as the baby is never actually in the frame.

One of the show's co-creators commented on the mystery surrounding little Halley's appearance to TVLine. It turns out there was no intention to hide the baby for comedic purposes. If anything, the reason was as practical as it was sentimental:

“She is a loving tribute to her grandmother — this is a nice way for us to keep [Mrs. Wolowitz] alive. It also means we don’t have to have a baby on the set, so it solved lots of problems,” Moralo said.

The first time Halley appeared on screen was in the very finale of the show. The little girl entered the frame crying, which made her voice slightly similar to her grandmother's, which was a final sweet touch suggested by the creators to pay their respects to the beloved character as well as the beloved actress.

If you want to catch up on the last two episodes of The Big Bang Theory, you can stream the sitcom on Max.

Source: TVLine