Over 12 seasons, “The Large Bang Concept” put all of its predominant characters by way of the wringer at one level or one other. Many of those issues had been romance-related, a few of them heartbreakingly so, however a few of them had been nothing greater than straight-up sitcom shenanigans. Positive, we’d’ve associated to Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and the gang on a human degree at occasions, however what saved viewers tuning in for over a decade was the prospect of sheer silliness.
It is onerous to say if anybody bought it worse than the others, however it definitely seems like Penny (Kaley Cuoco) bought a tad greater than her share of abuse. As a younger lady from Omaha, Nebraska looking for stardom within the wilds of Hollywood (who was virtually an android in an early iteration of the sequence), Penny has to take care of manipulative producers and gatekeeping casting administrators. It is onerous on the market for a Cornhusker within the Golden State. Nevertheless it’s downright excruciating when you end up caught within the sequel to the terrible, unreleased horror film that you simply’d desire your mates not find out about.
And whereas this was tough for Penny, it proved to be a horrendous ordeal for Cuoco.
Serial Apeist was a furry state of affairs for Kaley Cuoco
Within the season 7 episode “The Friendship Turbulence,” Penny turns down a suggestion to seem in “Serial Apeist 2: Monkey See, Monkey Kill,” the sequel to the godawful “Serial Apeist.” Costly automotive hassle finally forces her to rethink, and he or she quickly finds herself in a cage, coated in hair and coping with the horror that’s Wil Wheaton.
Penny hates it within the episode, and Cuoco loathed the expertise in actual life. As she advised TV Line:
“The worst expertise was filming ‘Serial Apeist’ and getting coated in f***ing hair from head to toe. I used to be like, ‘Actually, you guys? That is what’s taking place?’ And Chuck simply thought it was so humorous. He cherished it. I by no means understood why.”
It is in all probability chilly consolation to Cuoco – truly, it would make the state of affairs worse — that Lorre admits to not caring for the “Serial Apeist” arc himself. So why did he put his star by way of such a attempting expertise? Per Lorre:
“We needed Penny to have some small success in her from of being a profitable actor, however it’s not my favourite episode. Doing a present inside a present — writing the ‘unhealthy’ scenes that she’s in an in any other case good present — was not our most interesting second. The aim was legit, which was to place her in a foul film and see her struggling to make one thing work.”
That appears extremely not value it (particularly since, from title to idea, “Serial Apeist” simply is not humorous on any degree), however it’s onerous to argue with a person who’s produced a number of the most profitable sitcoms of the twenty first century. Nonetheless, Cuoco deserved significantly better from the producer who would not have had a long-running hit with out her sensible efficiency. A minimum of we all know the expertise hasn’t put her off revisiting Penny someplace down the street.