Sheldon's Bazinga Catchphrase Created a Very Real Problem for TBBT
Why stop doing something that everyone likes? There must be a real reason.
The Big Bang Theory became a hit for a reason, and not just one. The story of four geeky friends has given us a lot, and not just some phenomenal knowledge of physics that we will never use in our lives (if we got it right in the first place, that is).
The show is full of true friendship stories, revenge stories, and creepy and really confusing ones as well. But all of this was always accompanied by jokes and laughter.
There were also a lot of lines that became fan favorites over the years. Like Sheldon's "Ah, gravity, thou art a heartless b*tch!" or "I'm not crazy, my mother tested me.
But there was one particular phrase (word?) that immediately became his catchphrase. Yes, it's "Bazinga!".
It's easy to explain what the use of that word meant to Sheldon. As we know, Sheldon has his problems with the world of humor, although he wasn't quite aware of it.
Nevertheless, he used "bazinga" to emphasize that he was making a joke at the moment of speaking and that what he was saying was not something serious.
The phrase quickly became extremely popular. No wonder: it's short and catchy, and Parsons' delivery was hilarious. So the writers thought it would be good for the show to use it frequently, but as it turned out, they were wrong.
After the fifth season you will never hear the phrase again, and there is a reason behind that.
The Big Bang Theory co-producer Steve Holland explains it in Jessica Radloff's book, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series.
"We had a complicated relationship with bazinga because it felt like it was becoming a catchphrase in a sort of not-great way, so we retired it almost entirely. After season four or five, we almost never said it, but it was always the thing that was associated with Big Bang. And sometimes in a detrimental way, because people would use it to mock the show", he said, according to the book.
Well, it seems that the success of the word backfired on the show.
Still, fans around the world use it in Sheldon's voice when talking about something ridiculous, which means "Bazinga!" wins!