The Big Bang Theory co-creator Chuck Lorre has shared how Kaley Cuoco's character was developed, saying it "took a while" to make Penny less "clichéd".
Penny was first introduced as Leonard and Sheldon's attractive neighbour, who lived across the hall of their apartment building. After catching Leonard's eye, bubbly Penny quickly became a part of the geeky friend group and a firm favourite among fans.
Appearing on The Official Big Bang Theory podcast, Lorre and former Warner Bros. Television Group chairman Peter Roth reflected on the original, unaired pilot of the sitcom and discussed how Cuoco had reshaped the initially "one-dimensional" character.
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"We had so many episodes to go before we started to understand that there was a brilliance to Penny's character that we had not explored," Lorre told host Jessica Radloff. "We did the very clichéd — in the beginning — goofy blonde who says foolish things. It was a clichéd character, the dumb blonde. We missed it."
"We didn't have that right away — that what she brought to this story, to these other characters, was an intelligence that they didn't have. A kind of intelligence that was alien to them. You know, intelligence about people and relationships and family."
Lorre explained how Penny "brought a humanity" that was "lacking" from the socially awkward scientists. He added: "And that took a while to figure out. In the beginning, she was sadly one-dimensional in too many ways."
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The unaired pilot featured another character named Katie (played by Amanda Walsh), who was later replaced by Penny. Lorre and Roth agreed that Cuoco brought a softness to the show, to contrast Sheldon and Leonard's "obnoxious" behaviour.
"The magic of Kaley was, Kaley's character — as we figured this thing out on the fly — was amused by them, not critical. If she got angry, it wasn't harsh. The audience really responded to that," said Lorre.
Roth added: "Not only was she was never judgmental about these characters, they brought more judgment to her than she did ever of them. And I thought that was also an important difference between the character of what Penny brought versus the character of what Katie brought in the original, unaired pilot."
"There was a sweetness and endearment that she felt towards them. I think the audience wanted to protect these two boys, these two men, these two innocents. And she honoured that."
The Big Bang Theory can be streamed on Netflix and Prime Video in the UK, and on Max in the US.
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