In hindsight, it’s hard to imagine the latter seasons of The Big Bang Theory without the Mayim Bialik’s Amy, as apart from being a great character herself, Amy’s involvement also contributed to Sheldon’s growth as a person. However, when she was initially brought into the mix, not everyone was certain whether her character would click with viewers or not.
Bialik herself was aware of the risk of introducing Amy’s character so late in the game, as by the time she arrived, Jim Parson’s Sheldon Cooper was already a household name.
Mayim Bialik Was Doubtful About Amy’s Inclusion in The Big Bang Theory
During the sitcom’s initial years, Chuck Lorre championed the idea of Sheldon being an asexual with science being his lone mistress. Considering fans were already accustomed to Sheldon’s asexual traits onscreen, Amy’s introduction as the former’s potential love interest could’ve gone easily wrong.
In an interview with Howard Stern, Bialik recalled:
I was told of everybody’s beloved favorite character played by Jim Parsons, who’s incredible, and people loved him so much the way he was, there was a huge risk that… Do we need a female version of the person that we love, who also was identified as very kind of like asexual and not interested in females.
But this wasn’t the lone concern that stemmed from her character in the beginning, as prior to being offered the gig of Amy, Mayim Bialik confessed that she had no clue about TBBT and Jim Parsons, adding “I thought it was a game show”.
I had never seen it. I don’t watch TV, so I had never seen The Big Bang Theory.
Considering that she was being constructed as the person, who could give Sheldon a run for his money in terms of geekiness, it’s easy to see why this was seen as a huge risk.
Chuck Lorre Made Sure To Be Cautious When Approaching Sheldon’s Love Life
Interestingly, Jim Parsons had no issues with the new-found direction, which retconned his character’s sexuality. Moreover, keeping in mind that the initial three seasons shed light on Sheldon’s asexual traits, Chuck Lorre was cautious with the progression of the new romantic angle, as instead of rushing it, they took a gradual approach to it (via USA Weekly).
[When we] … eventually did enter Sheldon into a relationship … we did it very slowly, and in a way that made us feel like we hadn’t done a 90-degree turn at all.
Although things could’ve gone south had the writers attempted to shoehorn Amy into Sheldon’s life without any natural progression, fortunately, things turned out quite well for both the show and Bialik.
The Big Bang Theory is available to stream on Max.
