The Big Bang Theory Began As Two Sitcom Pitches That Merged Into One

Everyone knows that "The Big Bang Theory" is one of the most successful sitcoms ever, but even fans of the Chuck Lorre juggernaut may not be aware that it came about when ideas for two different shows were mashed together. Lorre told Collider that he and co-creator Bill Prady were developing two very different ideas at the same time when they decided to combine them.

"One was about a woman who's pretty much getting her life started at the beginning of adulthood, and Bill was talking about the '80s and the genius computer programmers," Lorre explained. "They were such remarkable characters that it kind of took over and then we said 'What happens if we put the two ideas together?'"

Things really fell into place when Lorre and Prady decided to make the core group quantum physicists instead of computer programmers. According to Lorre, the switch meant they could show how the guys were brilliant and gifted without leaning into "geek" and "nerd" stereotypes. "They're not entrepreneurs. They're scientists. That freed us up from a lot of clichés," he said.

The reason that Bill Prady was working on a sitcom about computer programmers in the 1980s is because he used to be one. In an interview with Variety, he said that he spent part of his youth working on computers. "'Big Bang' began as the story of me in my early 20s, when I was in the computer business in New York and failing at romantic relationships," he explained. "It's the story of that time in my life and I knew I'd get one shot to tell those stories."

While he agreed to alter the jobs the main characters held, Prady was adamant about retaining the essence of the characters themselves as they came from a very real place for him. Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter were basically born from two warring parts of his own personality at the time. "Sheldon connects to that part of me that was afraid of the world and liked to retreat into 'Star Trek' and comic books and not the world that has Pennys in it," he said.

Prady was clearly protective of his characters, but combining his idea about a bunch of computer programmers with Lorre's pitch about a young woman on the cusp of getting her life together turned out to be a genius move. "The Big Bang Theory" ran for 12 successful seasons, winning a total of 10 Emmy Awards along the way. It has spawned the spin-offs "Young Sheldon" and "Stuart Fails to Save the Universe," the former of which has its own spin-off, "Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage."