Penny & Raj Hookup Was So Bad, Even TBBT Creators Regretted It Instantly
The Big Bang Theory never seemed to lack fun storylines and the show's writers definitely knew how to entertain their fans. But while most episodes may have seemed so well thought out, that wasn't always the case.
Blunders were made along the way, as one can expect from a show that ran for 12 years. However, some moments were more questionable than others.
In the recently released book The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series by Jessica Radloff, cast members and producers revealed storylines they struggled with and one of them was Raj and Penny's hookup. It was, in fact, so bad that even the creators of the show regretted it!
From the get-go, Leonard has always been positioned as Penny's love interest. But before we got to the big finale where they announced they were expecting a child, they were seeing plenty of other people throughout the seasons. However, when it comes to the season 4 finale, where Penny and Raj woke up in bed together, both naked, it was surprising, to say the least. Talk about ending a season with a bang! Well, as it came out later, nothing actually happened, and this left fans even more confused than they already were.
Now, there are two reasons why this moment didn't make sense. First of all, Raj was Leonard's best friend, so this wasn't a great plot move. Secondly, despite Raj being the only one out of the group whose love life wasn't stable, he had way more partners throughout the show than Penny, so the joke fell a bit flat.
The mastermind behind this controversial cliffhanger was showrunner Chuck Lorre, who wanted to shake things up. However, creator Steve Molaro instantly regretted this creative decision and realized he had made a huge mistake. He felt that the plot twist didn't match the characters and who they had become during the show. And he even admitted he spent the entire hiatus upset about it and wanted to salvage the situation as soon as they got back to work.
"I went upstairs to [Lorre's] office right when we got back to work [on Season 5] 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 revealed.
Eventually, Lorre found a resolution for the 'happy ending' (pun intended) and came up with the idea of showing the audience that nothing really happened between the pair thanks to Raj's excitement being a bit premature.