The Controversial Big Bang Theory Scene You Can't Watch On TV
No matter how early in the morning or how late at night, you can turn on the TV and find "The Big Bang Theory" playing on at least one, if not multiple, channels. And that's not even counting the show's growing cadre of spin-off shows, like the prequel "Young Sheldon" that gave us the origin of Bazinga, sequel-to-the-prequel "Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage," which continues the origin story of Sheldon's brother, and the upcoming "Stuart Fails to Save the Universe," a direct offshoot coming to HBO Max in 2026.
But even with all this content on the air, there's one scene from "The Big Bang Theory" that you will not see on TV ever again.
If you watch the pilot episode on TV today, you'll first see Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) and Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) when they meet aspiring actress Penny (Kaley Cuoco) moving into the apartment next door. The meet-cute between Leonard and Penny is the main thrust of the show's early seasons, but there is actually a different scene that opens the pilot that you won't see in syndication.
The pilot's actual opening scene involves Sheldon and Leonard stepping into a "high IQ sperm bank" to "make a deposit" to earn a little extra cash to afford faster internet. Sheldon quickly talks himself out of it, and the two leave — but this scene has since been excised completely from reruns.
Sheldon's visit to a sperm bank was removed because it was 'awkward' and doesn't fit the character Sheldon would become
In the oral history book "The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series" by Jessica Radloff, series co-creator Chuck Lorre explains that this scene "was so wrong" and that they cut it from subsequent airings on TV because "the show truly began with those awkward hellos between Penny, Sheldon and Leonard when she's unpacking boxes in her apartment."
Jim Parsons agrees, adding: "At the time, the sperm bank scene didn't bother me," but now he sees that it doesn't gel with the character Sheldon would become. "It is confusing information now, and I get why Chuck took it out of syndication, because the episode is much stronger and more special without it."
That's not to say the scene is impossible to watch now. It is present in Episode 1 when streamed on HBO Max.