21 Mar 2016
by: 2L344, Guest Contributor
Moderator Adam Savage, Showrunner Steve Molaro, Steve Holland and Tara Hernandez from ‘The Big Bang Theory’ Writers’ Panel at Silicon Valley Comic Con March 20, 2016. Image:
The Big Bang Theory Writers’ held a panel at the Silicon Valley Comic Con this past weekend to a contingent of avid fans. The Writers’ Panel turned out more popular than the organizers planned for. They originally set it up in Room 3 of the San Jose Convention Center, which was set up for 125 attendees. When the organizers saw the line stretch to at least double that attendance they quickly moved an auction from their larger capacity room into Room 3 to accommodate the Big Bang fans. The panel spent 45 minutes with fans answering a multitude of questions.
Moderated by the tech-popular Mythbusters star, Adam Savage., the writers on the panel included Showrunner and Executive Producer Steve Molaro, and writers Steve Holland, Tara Hernandez, Maria Ferrari, and Dave Goetsch. There were no further surprise cast guests but from a fan perspective it was good because it was a treat to hear from the creators their perspective of the show. I take that back, one of the actors was present, but only in wax form – Jim Parson aka Sheldon Lee Cooper!
Adam Savage introduced himself as “a friend of these writers” and was very comfortable navigating a litany of questions and topics for them. Not a lot was discussed about future shows or where it was headed, which is not of surprise. A question came in asking if the writers had decided on a name for the Howard and Bernadette baby. Molaro stated that coincidentally the writers had just spent a large amount of time mulling this one over, however he chose to not divulge the name.
When it came to Howard and Bernadette’s baby announcement, Molaro said it almost developed from a whim. Originally the episode with the hot tub had nothing to do with the baby. Molaro said as they finished writing it, it occurred to them that the rescue of the baby rabbit by Bernadette was rather motherly. It got them thinking that maybe its time they pulled the pin on the baby issue and went ahead and wrote in the line that Bernie says at the end about picking another time to tell Howard she’s pregnant. Molaro said they presented the script to Chuck Lorre, who had no idea that would be in there. The following day Lorre said “sure why not” and gave his blessing for the arc to begin.
Savage asked the panel if they related on a personal level with any of the characters. Molaro related a story involving his affection for Leonard. He explained that he was a “pudgy” guy when he was younger and had “zero” dates as a result. He stated there was a point when he lost a lot of weight and went from “zero” dates to dating the popular girl in school, his “own Penny”. He stated, like Leonard, he just didn’t know what to do with this gal, who is now an ex. He further related that this ex-girlfriend later in life became a pharmaceutical rep like the character Penny, which elicited some laughs from the audience. Tara Hernandez joined in and recounted when this ex- girlfriend came to visit, all the writers, who were familiar with Steve’s history and this woman, interrogated her with questions about young Molaro. The girlfriend described the young Molaro as “nerdish”.
Savage asked if any of the writers specialized in any specific topic area within the episodes. Ms. Hernandez admitted to being the resident Harry Potter expert and then went on to describe how she would characterize each character on the show in the Potter houses. She placed Sheldon in the “Ravenclaw” house for obvious reasons, though she said she thought most people would make him a Slytherin because of his mean behavior sometimes. She said Leonard was clearly a Hufflepuff because of his extreme patience in life. Molaro pointed out that Goetsch was the resident Star Wars expert, and whenever there was a question concerning that topic they would turn to him and that you could just see his mind playing entire movies looped in his head in order to come up with a solution.
Season 9 was the main emphasis of discussion. The coitus arc with Sheldon and Amy was a hugely popular topic. The writers, who reiterated that they never have much of a game plan prepared for their episodes much less their season, however did say coitus was planned for season 9. They are huge fans of Star Wars and thought they could time it with the premier of that movie, which was a big deal. Molaro said he definitely wanted Professor Proton’s spirit to be involved, and Hernandez said she came up with the notion that the guys (Raj, Leonard, and Howard) would be as nervous as Amy when it came to the “big moment”.
Molaro emphasized that it was important that the story be dealt with tenderly and that Sheldon would be the one who made Amy feel okay with everything. Sheldon too was nervous and unsure about what sex would be like, but Sheldon explains to Amy that “they would explore it together”.
Hernandez recounted the story of how the Star Wars tickets sale became part of the story. She stated they were taping a different (earlier) episode when someone found out the Star Wars tickets went on sale sooner than what was anticipated . Many of the writers and crew were frantically trying to get into the ticket cues to purchase tickets, but were continually being interrupted because they were in the process of taping takes of scenes of the episode in progress. In between takes, the audience and those on the taping floor could see a lot of the crew get back onto their cell phones. At one point one of the producers asked what the heck was going on. Once it revealed to him what everyone was up to, it instantly became part of the story!
One of the fans asked the panel if they ever fought about issues in the writers room. They agreed that “fight” was probably an extreme term, and that they instead got passionate sometimes when discussing hot topics because they love the characters and want to do right by them. Molaro explained that when episodes involving milestones which are developed, such as the Shamy (Sheldon and Amy) kiss on the train, they do spend a lot of time going back and forth in order to “get it right”.
The panel members each summarized how they became part of the writers circle for Big Bang.
Goetsch recounted his interview for the job in which he nervously told a story of a costume party he attended in college. He wore the “Doppler effect” costume complete with dots and lines, and as he got drunk he would mimic the sound of the Doppler effect as he walked by party goers. That story, of course, later appears in season 1 when Sheldon wears the outfit to 4B and none of Penny’s guests get what it is.
Ferrari replied that her interview went badly and that she ended it with a “see you guys later” as she exited it. She said she got to her car and just couldn’t believe she said that, but got the job anyway.
Hernandez related a funny story about her interview. She had claimed on her resume’ that she spoke conversational French which, in fact, it was a lie, and that she merely lived in France for a time, knew some French, but thought it would be good to put it in her resume’. Molaro basically called Hernandez out on the lie. Hernandez went on to say that Bill Prady, who knows all and nothing gets by him, tried to have a conversation with her in French when he saw she spoke the language. Molaro described her face as having “her blood drain” from it lol. Hernandez said she got the job anyway.
Holland basically said he was good friends with Molaro and they had worked together on a number of projects including Third Rock From The Sun. It was Molaro who pitched it to him, and he interviewed for the job and got it.
The panel concluded with basically a thank you to the fans who make it all possible for them.
There were no future story arcs discussed or the topic of whether or not they would extend beyond Season 10. They played cards close to their chest but what was clear is that the writers of The Big Bang Theory are extremely invested in the characters they development and the journey on which they take their characters. Every detail is well thought out and while not planned far in advance, it all moves a direction that they intend it to go. The stories remain organic and true to the nature of the personalities they have developed.