“To disregard that audience attachment was a mistake”: Chuck Lorre May Still Not Have Forgiven Kaley Cuoco for a Grave Mistake That Threatened the Show’s Popularity

The Big Bag Theory epitomized the nerd culture in a way that made it cool and accessible to the general audience. The sitcom also catapulted a handful of ingenious actors to the forefront of the industry – Kaley Cuoco being one of them.

Serving as the foil to the group of socially awkward physicists, Cuoco blended in perfectly with her outgoing personality that managed to tend and neutralize the eccentricities, idiosyncracies, and quirks of each of the four members. Cementing herself with the character of Penny, the actress even became the hook, line, and sinker for the show, at one point becoming even more famous than the four leads, and drawing in more audience with her presence.

However, one misstep on Kaley Cuoco’s part not only made the show’s creator, Chuck Lorre furious but also garnered negative reactions from the viewers, which could have easily landed her in much hotter waters if it had caused The Big Bang Theory‘s ratings to plummet.

What Makes Hollywood Sitcoms So Iconic?

As iconic as the sitcoms of the ’90s and early 2000s are, they can also be summed up in a single word when it comes to their overall aesthetic. In the process of staying true to their look and feel from the series pilot episode, it was most economical for the show to stick to the elements that made them distinct and unique.

Central Perk was to F.R.I.E.N.D.S. what the bar was to How I Met Your Mother. The beach house in Two and a Half Men equated to the apartment in The Big Bang Theory. Each of these iconic sitcoms had individually separate settings that helped set up the show’s aesthetics without making them seem uniform and repetitive to the viewers.

Beyond that, the most important element was the actors themselves. Characters were always set up in terms of their look and personality to make them instantly familiar – Monica for her OCD, Barney for being a playboy, and Rachel for her love of fashion.

For the characters of The Big Bang Theory, it boiled down to their iconic looks – Penny with her long blonde locks, Amy with her sweater-weather get-ups, and Howard’s turtlenecks and tight jeans. However, after almost a decade of sporting the same look, Kaley Cuoco took a radically drastic step that almost sent Chuck Lorre’s blood pressure skyrocketing through the roof.

Kaley Cuoco’s ‘Mistake’ Incurred the Creator’s Wrath

In the run-up to Season 8, Kaley Cuoco, tired and annoyed by her iconic long blond hair, chopped it off in a pixie cut. Later, she admitted, “Something needed to shake up. I was bored and sick of the hair,” in The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series.

However, in the eyes of the creator of The Big Bang Theory, Chuck Lorre, Kaley Cuoco’s massive judgment call was not simply a subject of shaking things up but a shock to the senses for the viewers. He claimed in the book:

The audience had become infatuated with the character, and not just the character’s behavior and flaws and strengths, but in how the character looked. They became iconic, and to disregard that audience attachment was a mistake. And I witnessed it first-hand.

The only drastic change to the looks of the main cast could be seen in Season 3, Episode 1, titled The Electric Can Opener Fluctuation, where the physicists were shown returning from a 3-month-long expedition at the North Pole.

However, in Cuoco’s case, no substantial explanation was written into her Season 8 arc that accounted for the change in her appearance, understandably resulting in a massive backlash from the fans who complained that the new haircut was inconsistent with her character as Penny. By Season 10, Cuoco ended up growing her hair back, despite pulling off her short hair look very well.

The Big Bang Theory is available for streaming on Max and Hulu.