Why Kaley Cuoco’s Penny Is Lacking From Two The Large Bang Idea Season 4 Episodes

The 5 unique foremost forged members on “The Large Bang Idea” — particularly, Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, and Kaley Cuoco as Sheldon Cooper, Leonard Hofstadter, Howard Wolowitz, Raj Koothrappali, and Penny, respectively — seem in principally each episode of the sequence, however there’s one main exception. Cuoco, an avid horseback rider, bought severely injured throughout a journey in September 2010 — and consequently, she missed two episodes of the present’s fourth season (particularly, the fifth and sixth episodes “The Desperation Emanation” and “The Irish Pub Formulation”).

As Jessica Radloff particulars in her 2022 e book “The Large Bang Idea: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Collection,” Cuoco was driving at a ranch exterior of Los Angeles when the horse unexpectedly threw her … and stepped on her left leg. (Based on the e book, she instructed talk-show host Ellen Degeneres of the incident, “I did not really feel something, however then I seemed and I am like, ‘Wow, my foot’s dealing with me… that is not regular.'”) Cuoco was rushed to a hospital, and as “The Large Bang Idea” creator Chuck Lorre instructed Radloff, it was a tough time for the sequence.

“That was the darkest, most horrifying time in all twelve years,” Lorre recalled. “Kaley may have misplaced her leg. It was a sequence of miracles that allowed us to get by way of that and for her to come back out the opposite finish of that wholesome.” Every part ended up okay — thanks largely to Lorre’s connections, which I will circle again to momentarily — nevertheless it’s value noting that in Lorre’s 309th vainness card on the sequence, Lorre launched “new guidelines governing acceptable leisure actions for the forged of The Large Bang Idea,” with the primary being, “No friggin’ horses. This contains these discovered on merry-go-rounds and in entrance of supermarkets.”

For her half, Kaley Cuoco additionally instructed Jessica Radloff that the expertise was terrifying … partly as a result of she signed a doc earlier than surgical procedure agreeing that docs may amputate her leg in the event that they completely wanted to. “Every part ended up superb, and I used to be up and dealing per week later, however the docs acted like I used to be by no means going to stroll once more,” Cuoco recalled, remarking that she understood that the expertise was scary … and was simply glad all of it labored out okay. “It is nonetheless an excessive amount of for me to enter, and it sounded manner worse than it was. And naturally it was spiraling and everybody was freaking out, which I get. It scared folks.” 

Not solely did Cuoco come out of this horrifying state of affairs along with her leg intact, she additionally had some weird priorities when she first wakened from her process. “My accident additionally occurred after we had been in the course of one in all our largest contract negotiations,” Cuoco instructed Radloff. “I do not know what possessed me to say this — and it’s so f***ed up given how severe the damage was — however the minute I got here out of restoration from surgical procedure, I mentioned to Johnny, ‘Did the deal shut?’ And he mentioned, ‘Yeah, we bought it.’ It had closed whereas I used to be in surgical procedure, and of all issues, that is what was on my thoughts. So horrible.”

So how did Chuck Lorre assist Cuoco out throughout her genuinely scary medical emergency? As he recalled within the e book, he was reeling over information of Cuoco’s damage when he unexpectedly ran right into a buddy, Dr. Stephen Lombardo, who simply so occurred to work in a significant orthopedic clinic at Cedars-Sinai Hospital. Lorre requested for the great physician’s help, which helped get Cuoco into surgical procedure quicker. “Nevertheless it was a completely miraculous intervention that I bumped into Dr. Steve on that golf course,” Lorre mused. “Each time I see him, I say, ‘Thanks! You saved Kaley! On a lesser stage, you saved ‘The Large Bang Idea’!'”

Everyone knows that when actresses are pregnant, TV reveals go to nice lengths to cover their rising bellies … and the identical was true for Kaley Cuoco after her orthopedic surgical procedure. Although she was cleared to return to work, she was in a boot, so Chuck Lorre and his crew got here up with a really amusing resolution.

“She was a trooper,” Johnny Galecki instructed Jessica Radloff within the e book. “They put Kaley behind quite a lot of issues on the set, just like the sofa or the bar, so that you could not see the boot.” So what bar was that? “We made her a bartender at The Cheesecake Manufacturing facility to cover her damage!” Lorre laughed. “And he or she was a horrible bartender! We simply needed to maintain her off her ft as a lot as attainable. She’s a terrific actress, however she additionally trains like a world-class athlete. She performed aggressive tennis early in her life, and he or she’s ruthless about bodily conditioning, which I believe had quite a bit to do along with her quick restoration.”

Based on Cuoco herself, there have been a number of different scenes that required some Hollywood trickery — like one along with her on-screen dad Wyatt (Keith Carradine) within the season 4 episode “The Boyfriend Complexity.” In a scene the place Penny “storms” into her bed room, Cuoco mentioned the crew got here up with one thing intelligent: “That’s not me strolling to my bed room. That was the one occasion the place we used a physique double for me as a result of I had my boot on from the accident, so when you look carefully, you possibly can inform. They needed me to storm out, however I wasn’t capable of stroll that quick but. And in all of the scenes in that episode, when you pay shut consideration, I am not transferring. It is so sensible. So the one time I needed to actually transfer, it was a physique double.” In one other scene from that season, Cuoco says you possibly can see a boot hidden in Penny’s Surprise Lady costume when you pay shut consideration. Clearly, everybody was extraordinarily fortunate that Cuoco recovered … and fortunate, the one actual end result of her damage was a handful of humorous anecdotes about filming.