HERE ARE THE FACTS...
Most of the time, Leonard has no lenses in his glasses.
Recurring guest Mayim Bialik is the only cast member to have a PhD. In 2008, she completed her neuroscience studies. She earned her Ph.D. in Neural Biology.
When Sheldon plays the theremin, (which is widely regarded as one of the hardest instruments to play) that is actually Jim Parsons playing the theremin.
Jim Parsons audition for the role of Dr. Sheldon Cooper was so good that creator Chuck Lorre immediately asked Parsons to come in for a second one, because Lorre wanted to be 100% sure Parsons was as brilliant as he seemed. After the 2nd audition went perfectly, Lorre cast Parsons on the spot.
The actors learned to actually play their instruments for the show. (Amy plays harp, Sheldon plays Theremin and recorder, and Leonard plays Cello)
Sheldon's soothing song, "Soft Kitty", is based on an Australian children's song from Executive Producer Bill Prady's daughter's pre school.
The two main characters (Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter) are named after late television producer Sheldon Leonard.
Kaley Cuoco missed filming two episodes of season four because of a broken leg that was the result of a horseback-riding accident. In her first appearance following the accident, she was filmed standing behind a counter.
Sheldon frequently wears T-shirts with the characters or symbols of Green Lantern, the Flash, or the old TV show The Greatest American Hero (1981). The shirts from the "Green Lantern" comic book series are various colors with a corresponding symbol, with each color representing a different corps of heroes or villains (e.g. Red Lanterns, Orange Lanterns, etc). In the comics, each color also represents an emotion, thus possibly giving the viewer a clue to Sheldon's temperament for the day.
During the third season, the producers became aware of a series called "The Theorists," produced and broadcast in the country of Belarus, that was a virtual copy of The Big Bang Theory (2007). Legal action over copyright infringement would have been futile, since the production company was pretty much owned by the Belarus government. However, a lawsuit turned out not to be necessary, because when word got out that the show was a rip-off, the actors quit and the show was immediately canceled.
On 14 January 2011, CBS gave the series a rare vote of confidence when it issued a three-year renewal through the 2013-14 season. It then received another three-season renewal on March 12, 2014, meaning the show will run at least ten seasons. This marked the first time in modern television history a scripted television series received back-to-back three-season renewals.
Even though Jim Parsons' character Sheldon Cooper is a huge Star Trek (1966) fan, Jim himself has never seen the show. The same is true for Doctor Who(1963).
Raj's inability to talk to women except when drunk is based on an old co-worker of executive producer Bill Prady when he worked at a computer company.
On January 3, 2013, a team of Brazilian biologists announced their name for a newly-discovered species of orchid bee: Euglossa bazinga. This was to honor the show and specifically Sheldon's mocking catchphrase "bazinga". Long mistaken for another bee, Euglossa ignita, the new species was deliberately tagged "bazinga" for its history of fooling entomologists. Executive producer Steven Molaro responded in a press release: "We are always extremely flattered when the science community embraces our show. Sheldon would be honored to know that Euglossa bazinga was inspired by him. In fact, after Mothra(1961) and griffins, bees are his third-favorite flying creature."
Although Sheldon does not drive, Jim Parsons gets motion sickness from riding in cars, and prefers to drive them.
Despite the fact that some viewers take Sheldon's behavior, mannerisms, and social skills as a sign that Sheldon has Asperger's syndrome or otherwise falls on the autism spectrum, the show-runners have persistently denied in many interviews that Sheldon has Asperger's or any other type of autism. It should be noted however, that actor Jim Parsons (Sheldon) has stated that he does think that Sheldon actually does have Asperger's syndrome and portrays him as such.
Kevin Sussman, who plays Stuart Bloom the comic book store owner, actually worked in a comic book store before becoming an actor.
In fall 2010, Kaley Cuoco revealed to CBS's Watch! Magazine's Behind the Scenes (2008) that she and her "Big-Bang Theory" co-star and love interest Johnny Galecki had secretly dated for two years earlier in the run of the show, but they were no longer together.
During a first season episode, Raj, Leonard, and Howard are trying to find a fourth person to replace Sheldon on their Physics Bowl team. Raj suggests the actress Mayim Bialik, saying, "You know who's apparently very smart, is the girl who played TV's Blossom. She got a PhD in neuroscience or something." Leonard responds, "Raj, we're not getting TV's Blossom to join our physics bowl team." During Season 3, Bialik started playing the regular role of Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler on the show; Dr. Fowler has a PhD like Dr. Bialik, but in neurobiology rather than neuroscience.
Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper wears numerous shirts containing the number 73, this is also the year Jim was born in real life 1973, and Cooper repeatedly states that 73 is his favorite number.
Floors two, three, and four of Sheldon and Leonard's apartment building are the same set just re-dressed for each scene. This can be seen in the fact that the scuff marks on the moulding are identical on each level as they walk up the stairs.
On five episodes or more of season six, Mayim Bialik's right hand was hidden in certain ways and camera shots to conceal the injury and glove with which she covered her hand because of an automobile accident that occurred in August of 2012.
Sara Gilbert (Leslie) who plays a former girlfriend of Leonard's, also played Johnny Galecki's girlfriend inRoseanne (1988). Laurie Metcalf, who plays Sheldon's mother, was also his co-star in Roseanne (1988) and Sara Gilbert's aunt.
Sheldon wasn't always OCD about knocking on doors. On the fifth episode of season 1, he knocks on Penny's door without knocking and calling her three times.
Sheldon can be seen wearing various versions of "Flash"-T-Shirts throughout the series. In the series "The Flash", character Cisco Ramon frequently wears "The Big Bang Theory"-based Shirts, such as one with Sheldon's catchphrase "Bazinga!".
Each of the male characters has a signature clothing article that is worn in virtually every episode: Sheldon: t-shirts worn over long-sleeve shirts; Leonard: hoodies worn over a T-shirt and under a jacket; Raj: sweater-vest worn over a shirt and usually under some type of outerwear; Howard: dickie worn under some type of outerwear. Howard usually has a pin on the left side of his dickie of the head of a space alien, and he wears large belt buckles.
Out of the main male cast-members, Howard is the only one who hasn't seen Penny naked in person; despite being the first to flirt with her.
Kaley Cuoco presented the award Best Performance by an actor in a television series--musical or comedy at the 2011 Golden Globe Awards to co-star Jim Parsons
With the exception of the pilot, every show name follows the same format as the show's title, that being the name of a scientific episode or theory.
Both Raj's and Bernadette and Howard's apartment are filmed on the same set and are just completely redecorated to change scene, this is why it is rare to see both apartments in one episode.
The full names and occupations of the characters are as follows: Dr. Leonard Leakey Hofstader, Ph.D., Experimental Physicist; Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper, B.S., M.S., M.A., Ph.D., Sc.D., Theoretical physicist; Howard Joel Wolowitz, M.Eng, Aerospace Engineer; Dr. Rajesh Ramayan Koothrappali, Ph.D., Astrophysics; Dr. Bernadette Mary Ann Rostenkowski Wolowitz, Ph.D., Microbiology; and Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler, Ph.D., Neurobiology.
One of Johnny Galecki's early roles was in an episode of Blossom where he played Mayim Bialik's love interest who takes her to a "make-out party".
Bernadette did not originally have such a high pitched voice. When she first appeared, she had a rather normal pitch voice and as her character began to take shape, she adopted the quirky high pitched voice which Melissa Rauch says she based off her mother's voice "without the Jersey".
The opening cast shot always features the series' regulars enjoying dinner together. The opening cast credits cast shot in seasons two through four, for instance, depict Howard, Raj, Leonard, Penny, and Sheldon, on what appears to be pizza night. However, Leonard is seen holding a plate with a white meat and some type of vegetable, such as asparagus spears. This is apparently a reference to his lactose intolerance, which would make him adverse to pizza. Amy and Bernadette were added to the shot starting in season six, even though both had been regulars on the show since season four.
The quick response (QR) code, which is visible in Stewart's comic book store contains a link to the website for the comic book center of Pasadena.
The theme song uses the line "Autotrophs began to drool." This is a science joke. The word "autotroph" means "self-nourishing" and refers to life-forms (plants and algae) that create their own food internally and don't need to eat.
Johnny Galecki was originally approached to play Sheldon, but felt that he would be better fit to play the role of Leonard.
Penny was an add-on from a different sitcom concept. She had been originally envisioned as Katie, a more cynical, hard-drinking, streetwise girl who worked at a makeup salon. In the original unaired pilot, she was played by Amanda Walsh.
All the figurines and posters in Howard's room (and later on in his house with Berndette) are female super heroes or science fiction characters. The one non-female figurine, Jabba the Hutt, has Princess Leia (in her slave girl costume) sitting in front. Later on in the series, they accumulate a figurine of Bernadette after the episode where he and Raj got a 3D printer.
In the early episodes of Season One, Sheldon has two character traits that were not established right away. First, Sheldon understood the nature of romantic/sexual relationships. In the first few episodes, he chides Leonard for his hopes of getting into a relationship with Penny, often telling Leonard that he has no chance of having sex with her. Also, Sheldon understood the nature of sarcasm as he occasionally used it himself in the early episodes. Later, his character evolved into a purely intellectual person and an emotional "man-child" who does not fully understand sex, love, or sarcasm. Second, in the early episodes, Sheldon did not use his 3 times knock. (I.E.: Knock-knock-knock "Penny", etc.) that has become one of the character's now well known idiosyncrasies that did not begin until midway through Season One.
During his appearance on "Inside the Actor's Studio", Jim Parsons revealed his three favorite scenes: Sheldon receiving a gift from Penny - a napkin signed and used by Leonard Nimoy, Sheldon presenting Amy the relationship agreement, and Sheldon drinking Long Island Ice Tea for the first time.
While a guest on the National Public Radio program "Talk of the Nation," Mayim Bialik confirmed that the university that the characters attend and/or teach at is based on the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasedena. Additionally, in one episode, the character of Leonard stated that he worked at Caltech.
In the original unaired pilot, the theme song of the show was "She Blinded Me with Science" by Thomas Dolby. Later on, however, a short MIDI rendition of the song is used as Howard's ringtone in The Big Bang Theory: The Lizard-Spock Expansion (2008)
Leonard's last name, Hofstadter, refers to two well-known scientists: Robert Hofstadter, the 1961 Nobel Laureate in Physics, and his son Douglas Hofstadter, who researches consciousness and cognition, and whose best-selling book about philosophy, mathematics, puzzles, art, and music, "Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid," was published in 1979 and won him the 1980 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction.
Wil Wheatons house number (1701) is the same as the hull number of the USS Enterprise on Star Trek:The Next Generation (NCC 1701-D).
Barry Kripke (played by John Ross Bowie) has exactly the same speech impediment as Elmer Fudd - also a Warner Bros. property.
According to numerous entertainment reports, CBS has reported a large jump in the series' ratings for Season 6 and have attributed the increased audience to the exposure of the show in re-runs on TBS which airs the series three nights a week in prime time blocks of up to three hours.
The mother of Aarti Mann, who plays the role of Raj's sister Priya, is an obstetrician and gynecologist. In the show, Raj often states that his (and Priya's) father is a gynecologist.
As avid comic-book fans, the guys frequently talk about comic book characters or are wearing t-shirts or other paraphernalia of comics. They frequently mention DC Comics characters such as Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, the Flash, and Wonder Woman. Both DC Comics and the series are owned and produced by subsidiaries of Time Warner.
The equations written on the boards in various episodes that Leonard and Sheldon are working on, are real physics equations and are verified as accurate by consulting physicists.
Raj says that Spock had a date every seven years. He is referring to Pon Farr, the Vulcan mating cycle that occurs every seven years. Vulcans must mate in the time of Pon Farr, otherwise they will die so Spock has a mandatory hook-up every seven years.
In early episodes of Season One, Sheldon mentions having an older brother in addition to his twin sister, Missy. In one instance he mentions being bullied by this older brother. However, while Missy has been seen on the show, the brother was never mentioned again, even when his mother visits. She only mentions Missy. He was mentioned in season 3 episode 4 as well. In later seasons, Sheldon's brother was mentioned in S07E11, S08E20, S08E23, and S09E05
Leonard is the only regular male character who wears glasses. His on-again/off-again girlfriend Penny is the only regular female character who doesn't wear glasses.
Sheldon's apartment flag that is on the refrigerator is supposed to be turned upside down only if the apartment is in distress, however, it is seen upside down in a number of episodes.
Sheldon verbally reveals his and Leonard's Pasadena apartment 4A's location as being 2311 Los Robles in "The Desperation Emanation." In the 100th episode, Sheldon also reveals that their apartment building is across the street from the Colorado Avenue Chevron gas station, making their building a corner location, on the corner of Los Robles and Colorado. There are two incidences of this intersection in southern California, both located in Los Angeles County, the first one is E. Colorado Boulevard & N. Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101, and the second one is Colorado Boulevard & Los Robles Street, Los Angeles, CA 90041. However, 2311 Los Robles is not an address by either one of those intersections. Leonard does reveal, however, that they live in Pasadena while declaring himself the Darth Vader of Pasadena.
Howard's mother was almost never seen, only heard, despite often being as close as the next room. Conversely, via Skype, Raj's parents are quite often seen, despite being across the world in India except when his father visited Pasadena.
In the German-dubbed version, the voice actor for Sheldon Cooper is the same person who usually dubsLeonardo DiCaprio.
Sheldon has invented a time of day called preevening. In Turkish language, there's an actual time of day called "aksamustu" which basically means preevening.
Raj, Priya and Bernadette are the only characters to have had both their parents introduced in the series.
Some of the signs in the laundry room read "No open containers on the machines," "Do not leave laundry unattended," and "Please keep your clothes on while doing laundry."
Leonard's middle name is Leakey. Leakey is the name of a renowned family in the fields of archaeology, anthropology, and paleontology. Louis Leakey (1903-1972) was a British archaeologist and naturalist whose critical work helped to establish human evolutionary development in Africa. He also created or co-created several organizations for future research and for protecting wildlife in Africa. He also helped to establish a tradition of palaeoanthropological inquiry, and was able to motivate the next generation to continue, especially within his own family. Mary Leakey (1913-1996), Louis's wife, was a British archaeologist and anthropologist, who discovered many firsts. For much of her career she worked together with her husband, Louis Leakey, in Olduvai Gorge, uncovering relics of ancient hominines. She also developed a system of classification the relics they found. After the death of Louis, she became a leading palaeoanthropologist, helping to further establish the Leakey name and tradition with the training of her son, Richard.
In one of the episodes Raj and Leonard run into the actor Nathan Fillion. They greet him and tell him they are big fans of Firefly (2001) and Dr Horribles Sing Along Blog (2008) Simon Helberg (Howard) played the character "Moist" in Dr. Horrible
The names Sheldon, Leonard, Cooper and Hofstadter all appear on the list of Nobel Laureates in Physics. Further, Sheldon and Cooper are names of physicists who won the prize for theory and Leonard and Hofstadter are names of those who won for experiment.
No two bumpers are exactly alike. Bumpers are those short videos used to separate scenes in the show.
Melissa Rauch playing the role of Bernadette, who is a Catholic in the series is Jewish in real life.
Leonard is the only male lead character who hasn't taken his pants off while under the influence: Raj took his off at the coffee shop while under the influence of an experimental personality altering drug, Howard took his off on the international space station after his teammates gave him a shot for his anxiety and Sheldon took his off on stage while accepting an award in science after Penny gives him multiple glasses of wine.
In the same scene that Raj says that "Blossom" would be a great addition to the Physics Bowl team, he also mentions that the "girl from 'The Wonder Years'" was also smart. In a later episode, Danica McKeller (who plays Winnie on 'The Wonder Years') plays a character who makes out with Raj.
While having lunch at the University canteen or other eating scenes, characters don't actually eat most of the times. Howard only pretends to eat the food by moving his mouth like he is chewing it, Sheldon and Leonard just play with their food with fork.Amy and Penny are sometimes shown eating food actually. They only talk most of the time.
The first season references the show "Blossom" and the star actress that got a neroscience degree. This was before the hired the actual actress to be Amy.
Sometimes in the second or third floor of Sheldon and Leonard's apartment building, the caution tape on the broken elevator will come undone. Sheldon will sometimes stop and fix the tape.
In tribute to Carol Ann Susi, who plays Howard's mom, who recently passed, a small picture of her is on the side if Sheldon and Leonard's fridge. It is a small square that can be seen in episodes after her death. The picture is so small that it can not be recognized; however in the behind the scenes DVD feature it is mentioned that it is her.
Leonard wouldn't eat dairy (lactose intolerent) or drink wine (sulphates) at the start of the show. Now he drinks wine all the time.
In an unaired pilot episode instead of Raj and Howard, Leonard and Sheldon had a female companion named Gilda. Who had a big crush on Leonard
Chuck Lorre leaves a small insert at the very end of each episode. If you were to pause it at the end, you could read the insert.
In the 19th episode of the 5th season entitled "The Weekend Vortex", for some reason, Kaley Cuoco is omitted from the credits - dispite appearing in the episode. In the beginning of the episode while Leonard, Howard and Raj are walking up the stairs the credits start with "Starring Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar. ..." instead of "Starring Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, KALEY CUOCO, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar. ..."
Sheldon once mentioned he views himself and Howard to be acquaintances in the third season. In reality, Parsons and Helberg are good friends with each other.
While Wil Wheaton was appearing on the show, he took a photo of the set's coffee table and posted it on his much-followed blog. Among the materials on the coffee table were copies of "Mental Floss" magazine; "The Sandman Vol. 6: Fables and Reflections" by Neil Gaiman; a package of Pepperidge Farm Sausalito milk chocolate macadamia nut chunk cookies; a package of Red Vines licorice; and a package of Tim's brand original-flavor lightly salted potato chips.
When Chuck Lorre first pitched the show to the studios, he intended for it be an adult version of the show as seen today. In hopes of attracting as many male viewers as possible he wrote the show with an all female cast. The female characters associated with the male main characters reflect the original characters' personas: Sheldon was originally Missy (a tall, attractive brunette from Texas who lacked intelligence), and lived with an older woman named Beverly (an intelligent scientist from New Jersey who took advantage of her roommate. Penny lived, as she does now, across the hall, but originally had an Indian roommate named Priya (a lawyer from New Delhi). It could be assumed that characters like Bernadette and Amy might have been potential characters to add later, as well as a single male love interest in the form of unintelligent Zack.
The characters often mention how Raj cannot talk to women "unless he's drunk", but in fact he only needs one sip to lose his inhibitions, as evident in many of the episodes.
It is both stated and implied, in several episodes, that Leonard's character does not snore but later there is an entire episode dedicated to him snoring and the resulting surgery.
Sheldon's routine knocking ritual was actually done by penny in season 2 before sheldon did it on the same episode.
In season 1 episode 7 (The Dumpling Paradox) when Leonard talks about cutting Raj in half to play Halo, Raj speaks with Penny in the room. If you look at the table you will notice that Raj does not have an alcoholic drink.
In one Halloween episode, Amy and Sheldon are brainstorming couples-themed costumes to dress up in. Sheldon has a list of their suggestions written on a whiteboard, and while his half of the board has various genre characters listed, Amy's half has mostly romantic couples. The only exception is a listing that reads "Blossom and Joey", a reference to the title character Mayim Bialik portrayed in a previous series and that character's brother.
The Chinese food containers used in a lot of the episodes are the same as in a lot of films such as Night at the Museum 2 (2009).
Brian George, who plays Raj's father, has also done various voice work for DC animated movies. Johnny Galecki did some voice work for Batman Beyond (1999).
In The Interview (2014), this is Kim Jong Il's favourite show. James Franco starred in The Interview (2014) and the Sam Raimi Spider - Man trilogy, which is occasionally referenced on the show.
Casey Sanders (Bernedette's dad) plays a cop, he also appears in Sons of Anarchy as a lead sheriff (S3,ep12) a show also based in California but different areas. Big bang theory being Pasadena and SOA being in a town called charming.
In the Unaired Pilot episode, Sheldon is portrayed as having a lot of qualities he didn't have in the finished script. He was able to understand sarcasm and wasn't as condescending as normal. He also was revealed to have engaged in sexual relations.
Sheldon & Leonard are atheists yet the scientific theory that is the basis for their careers (and the show's title) "The Big Bang Theory" was actually proposed and developed by a Catholic Priest, Father Georges Lemaître.
Brian Posehn, who plays Bert, actually starred in a comic book movie; he played the wedding minister in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007).
The UK's Channel Four and E4 appear to have slightly edited dialogue from certain episodes as the audience laughter abruptly starts/stops/jumps suggesting bad "cut and shunt" editing, not consistent with the professional editing standards Warner Bros Television usually releases. This may well be a result of UK Broadcast Standards compliance edits made as the 2 Channels show the programme multiple times stripped across daytime, afternoon, evening and night-time slots.
Sheldon was born in Texas. In season 2, Leonard's girlfriend Stephanie mentions that she did her medical internship in Texas.
