Big Bang Theory EP Reveals The One Episode He Hates: 'My Least Favorite... Of The Whole Series'
Former "Big Bang Theory" showrunner Steve Holland is not mincing words when it comes to his least favorite episode from the hit CBS sitcom's 279-episode run.
During the latest installment of the official "Big Bang Theory" podcast, Holland tells host Jessica Radloff that he never liked Season 4, Episode 10, "The Alien Parasite Hypothesis."
"I hate that episode," he says. "It's my least favorite episode of the whole run of the whole series."
At that point, Amy Farrah Fowler (played by then-newly minted series regular Mayim Bialik) has, like Sheldon, shown no interest in a sexual relationship. But that changes when she suddenly finds herself attracted to Penny's ex-boyfriend Zack, while Sheldon — perfectly content to keep their relationship platonic — encourages his not-girlfriend to follow her endocrine system.
Why Steve Holland Hates 'The Alien Parasite Hypothesis'
"There was a lot of debate in the room then about what Amy meant to Sheldon [at the time]," Holland explains. "It was slow, but Sheldon liked her in a different way... so I didn't like Sheldon sort of pimping her out to Zack. I just didn't like it. It didn't sit great with me. I'm sure it's a good episode, very funny, but....
"There's a moment at the end where she even reaches out to hold [Sheldon's] hand... and she lets it drop, and I just I didn't like it," Holland continues. "I felt like that was the wrong the wrong tack on that relationship."
At the time, Holland didn't have the authority he would later wield as showrunner in Seasons 11 and 12. "I was just a middle-level writer then, so that was not an argument that that I won... and it probably allowed that relationship to grow nice and slowly, which I think was really important for it," he says. "But I never liked that episode."
Holland would go on to executive-produce and serve as showrunner on the prequel series "Young Sheldon," and co-create the spin-off "Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage" with fellow "Big Bang" EPs Chuck Lorre and Steve Molaro. All three shows, along with "Stuart Fails to Save the Universe," stream on HBO Max.