One TBBT Romance That Almost Had Steve Molaro And Chuck Lorre Fight

Summary:

• The Big Bang Theory was a CBS sitcom that aired from 2007 to 2019.
• The season 4 finale ended with Penny and Raj sleeping together, which came as a shock to the viewers.
• As it turned out, the storyline was also controversial among the writers, with Chuck Lorre coming up with the idea and Steve Molaro ultimately vetoing it.

As the television audience, we've heard the phrase ‘creative differences’ many times before. Usually, however, these words cover a conflict that is far worse than you can imagine and comes after someone has left the team.

In the case of two co-creators of The Big Bang Theory, Steve Molaro and Chuck Lorre, creative differences were very real and had to do with the development of two main characters, Penny and Raj. The least expected union marked the finale of season 4 and was met with much controversy.

Fortunately, the writers were able to put out the raging fire when they returned with season 5, but this one became a real challenge for the two creators to find common ground.

Why Did Penny Sleep With Raj

While Leonard was happily dating Raj's sister Priya, the one-night stand between Penny and Raj was supposed to symbolize some kind of karmic comeback. In reality, however, the whole situation just felt very rushed and messy.

Penny's body became a twisted way for the two men to work out their issues, and the decision to sleep with each other to hurt Leonard turned out to be a major developmental setback for both of them. Neither Penny nor Raj wanted to do it, and even Steve Molaro wasn't happy with the idea from the start.

Unfortunately, it was decided that the twist would make it into the episode anyway. The idea seemed daring and provocative to Chuck Lorre, but kept Molaro up at night throughout the hiatus. In the end, it was decided to settle for a compromise that would minimize the damage already done:

“I spent the entire hiatus being upset about it. I went upstairs to [Lorre’s] office right when we got back to work and said something like, ‘This is really bothering me. I think I have a way that we can get out of it and preserve the characters as they are.’ He didn’t love it, but he knew it was important to me to the point that he conceded,” Molaro told TVLine.

The decision was to have Raj admit that they never actually had intercourse because he was too aroused and finished much earlier than planned. Of course, this in no way excused the motives behind the situation, but it at least made it more bearable for Leonard and Penny's viewers to move on.

If you want to watch the most chaotic part of The Big Bang Theory again, you can stream the season 4 finale on Max.

Source: TVLine