The Big Bang Theory/Trivia

• Actor-Shared Background: Raj was originally going to be an American-born Indian until Nayyar was cast, with him being much more Indian (actually raised in India) than planned. Jim Parsons is also from Texas like Sheldon is and although Parsons' accent doesn't come in very often with Sheldon, Sheldon's mother and sister have very thick drawls. Mayim Bialik, who plays neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler, has a PhD in neuroscience.
• Adored by the Network:
  • In Australia, the Nine Network has this feeling toward the series; it usurped Two and A Half Men as their go-to filler whenever there's a gap in the timetable, and between the main Nine channel and its spillover GO!, it's shown with incredible frequency.
  • It's in constant looping on the UK's "E4" channel as well. Not just one loop either, but two. The loops are deliberately out of synch so that one might be in season 3, while the other is still in season 1.
  • In the U.S. it's replaced The Office as TBS's Tuesday night marathon show.
• Dueling Shows: With Community, due to the focus on geekdom.
• Hey, It's That Girl/Guy!: An in-universe example, when Summer Glau appears (as herself) in the episode "The Terminator Decoupling"
  • Sheldon's old room mate is Glenn
  • Also, c'mon, how many people freaked out when they realized "hey, that's Moist!"
    • Or "hey, that's David!
      • What about, "Hey! That's Darlene!"
        • Or "Hey! That's aunt Jacky!"
  • The aggravated insect specialist is Lewis Black from The Daily Show.
  • Hey, it's the pineapple incident girl !
  • Hey, that's Blossom!
    • Oddly, in an earlier episode, Raj had mentioned the actual actress Mayim Bialik. So in this universe, Amy Farah Fowler (played by Bialik) and Bialik herself both exist.
    • Even stranger, Johnny Galecki had a very brief appearance on Blossom--he played Blossom's date.
      • Possibly Actor Allusion in one episode where Galecki's character Leonard then went as Amy's date to a wedding.
  • Hey, that's Bridget from 8 Simple Rules!
  • Hey, Its Lisa Simpson helping Sheldon find a new vocation in "The Einstein Approximation"!
  • Wheeeeeeeeeeeatooooooon!
  • Hey, Jackie is playing The Fundamentalist as Sheldon's Mom, and stealing the episode doing it.
  • Hey, Penny's ex is Encino Man from the Generation Kill HBO Miniseries
    • Imagine if Leonard had really pissed him off.
  • Hey, it's Christine Baranski, who played an Expy of Patsy Stone on Cybill. As Leonard's mom.
  • Hey, it's Sara Rue.
    • In one of the same episodes she appeared in, Penny is trying to make Leonard jealous by kissing on Keith Dudemeister
  • Ohhh, Echo's been imprinted as an FBI Agent again!
  • Hey, Penny's dad is Agent Lundy! And he still wants a son despite having had FIVE sons in Complete Savages.
  • Hey, Leonard is Rusty all grown up!
  • Didn't Bernadette briefly date Hoyt Fortenberry?
  • Hey, Raj and Julian Bashir have the same father!
  • Hey, Dave Underhill used to be used to be an ace Pyramid player!
  • Hey, it's Billy from Charmed!
• Hey, It's That Voice!: In "The Einstein Approximation", Mark Hamill's DCAU Joker laugh can be heard as Leonard's ringtone.
  • In the same episode, Lisa.
• Life Imitates Art: Leonard and Penny actually did date for two years; they did so in secret and only revealed it after they had seperated.
• One of Us: Nobel Laureate George Smoot made an appearance on the show after expressing his love of the show to the producers, with the episode actually written for him.
  • Melissa Rauch said she was a fan of the show before she was cast as Bernadette. On the other hand, Mayim Bialik admitted she didn't watch the show before she auditioned.
• Romance on the Set: Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco--yes, Leonard and Penny. However, they kept it secret until after they broke up... which was around the time their characters first got together. (They kept it secret because of the work environment and remain friends.)
• Throw It In: A noted aversion. The cast has said that they know almost as much about the nerd culture references as they do the Techno Babble. Going off script would be suicide.
  • Melissa Rauch said that her vocal pitch for Bernadette was based on her mother's voice and thought it would fit the character, though she decided not to push it by including a New Jersey accent.
  • In "The Boyfriend Complexity" Sheldon angrily tosses a large stack of loose papers in the air in frustration over hard work that was ultimately pointless. As the pages floated to the ground one managed to perch perfectly on his shoulder, and Parsons managed to stay in character long enough for that shot to remain in the final cut (trying to stare in anger at Galecki, he wasn't able to say his next lines without cracking up).
• What Could Have Been: The original (unaired) pilot for the series was quite different; Sheldon and Leonard were really the only carry-overs into the actual pilot. Penny was originally cynical and manipulative, Kaley Cuoco wasn't cast as Penny in the original pilot because her actual personality was closer to the modern Penny, bubbly and warm.
  • To elaborate, the first version of Penny was named Katie (played by Amanda Walsh), and wasn't a new neighbor, but instead a new roommate. Also, instead of Howard and Raj, Leonard and Sheldon's only friend was a fellow female scientist, Gilda (Iris Bahr), who had a crush on Leonard, felt threatened by Katie's presence, and had at one point slept with Sheldon, who was less asexual than the final version.
• The Wiki Rule: The Big Bang Theory Wiki
• Word of Saint Paul: Jim Parsons has said that Sheldon has Asperger's.