I have seen this having watched nearly every episode of TBBT and am glad this episode was never commissioned for a series and it was changed. The characters lack what made TBBT so good for so long.
Glad I've seen it but won't hurry to watch it again!!
11 Reviews
An alternate TBBT universe
tymedindin-7751821 November 2019
I didn't watch this unaired pilot until TBBT was in about it's 5th season. While I'm glad the series played out as it did, I think it would have been fun to have included this pilot as some sort of dream sequence/alternate universe episode...kinda sad that it never happened.
Would have been a lot different: A scene by scene guide.
lettybabe117 August 2012
Warning: Spoilers
For a starter the theme tune is completely different and quite frankly it doesn't appeal as much as the normal theme tune. It is implied that Sheldon masturbates as he has a rude magazine in his sock draw. Im glad they didn't go with this and towards the end of the episode we find out that he and Gilda (Iris bahr) had sex at a star trek convention. Also instead of refusing to donate sperm they go ahead with it and accept the cheque. They then meet Katie (Amanda Walsh) on the street as she is crying on the phone to her mum and they go to help her. This is obviously after pursuing an awkward interaction with her in which he discusses bowel movements. They then invite her to dinner and she agrees to come along. Also instead of having a specific seat in their apartment he has a specific spot at a table in the restaurant they eat at. After explaining it Katie proceeds to explain why she was crying in the street. Also in this episode Sheldon says "I have seen 6 women naked, Some of them not even relatives". Whilst eating Katie says she needs a place to stay and shortly after they agree that she can stay in their spare room. After dinner they go back to the apartment and she asks if she can have a shower. Gilda shows up and Katie comes out in a towel, Gilda then proceeds to set the ground rules around Katie being friends with Leonard. Gilda, Sheldon and Katie try to work out if Katie is evil whilst she finishes showering. Katie then comes in and asks them if they want to come for a drink and they decline and then they check her out as she picks up her back. In the next scene Leonard hears something break and comes out with a light saber. Katie had accidentally broken a lamp and then explains why she has come back. Katie then writes a silly equation as to why she is so sad and then Leonard then corrects her equation to explain why her being sad is her own fault for making stupid choices. They have an argument and the next day they discover she has gone and Leonard suggests they go looking for her and bring her back. He finds her working as a beautician and then apologizes for calling her stupid. In the next scene Gilda suggests that she and Leonard go for a drink and then proceeds to tell him that she and Sheldon had sex a star trek convention and it was because Sheldon was doing such a good job at "Playing a Vulcan caught up in the pot farm mating fever" and that they had stayed in costume. In the midst of this conversation Katie shows up as the door and says she will stay with them because she has nowhere else to go. The next scene is all of them in a club and she asks if they will dance. they decline but then dance really weirdly because they should experiment. The last line is "They don't get out much". In all i enjoyed this pilot but preferred the other a lot more and I'm really glad that they didn't use this because the show would not be as successful as it is today. If you have any other questions just message me :)
Horrible but funny
maxwell-9914 December 2013
Warning: Spoilers
It is amusing to see a scrapped idea of the big bang theory where Sheldon masturbates and penny does not exist. But there is so much wrong with it. Starting with the theme which is horrible and not indulging like the uplifting current theme. Secondly, the whole thing looks like a 80's show and is just poorly made. Lastly, Sheldon doesn't have what makes him Sheldon, his smirk remarks, his ability to not understand common sense, and he is just plainly a boring character. So yes watch this, but be happy they never went with this storyline. review- Okay. Rating 5.8. Also one mistake i forgot to add is the idea of sheldon liking butt, he is clearly a boob man.
it's kind of cool to see Sheldon and Leonard in an alternate universe but i wouldn't want to live there!
mossmangene29 November 2016
love it. proof positive of the multiverse theory. true, the new pilot and series are much better. this one wouldn't have had the same impact. reminds me of the book "the many loves of Dobie Gillis" each story was completely different if i remember correctly. interesting....Sheldon a non virgin? an "ass" man? people don't seem to like Katy. she's pretty hot to me. she's not penny but penny didn't exist at the time. there's a ton of lines that were used in what we now call TBBT. the first episode i saw was "nerdvana annihilation" knew nothing of the show. didn't like it. even though i've been a nerd all of my life. then i caught "the desperation emanation" that's when i fell in love with the whole concept. anytime the nerd gets the hot chick is fine with me. if anyone knows Paul George, Sarah Slaby or anyone who studied Crypto in the army in 75 please tell them that "Q" is alive and well!get in touch!
In a parallel universe this is the series we could be watching.
zacpetch1 December 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This was something I came across by mistake, not knowing it even existed until a few months ago and only recently witnessing it.
Fans of the show will know that Sheldon (Jim Parsons) is, generally asexual. That's not true here. He's claiming to have slept with several women (at least five)! He's know to have many fetishes too. That's just wrong, especially since the rest of his character is largely the same. At least there's nothing too awful with Leonard (Johnny Galecki).
Also of note are the absences of Penny, Howard and Raj. Instead of Penny we have Katie (Amanda Walsh) who is manipulative of the nerds and manages to con her way into their apartment, rent-free. Feedback from the live audience: Don't let that nasty woman near those nice young men.
We also meet a precursor of-sorts to Leslie Winkle (remember her?) in the form of a possible love-interest for Leonard, Gilda (Iris Bahr). She serves little role in this, only fantasising about love with Leonard. She's also one of Sheldon's ex-lovers, apparently. This could have led to an interesting confrontation if it had come to a full series and would be interesting to see, but frankly it's just too predictable, bad sitcom material, not suited to TBBT's 1st season. More season 6-onwards of this show when it lost its USP and became a Friends clone.
To conclude: Don't bother. If you want to see how the series started watch the actual pilot, not this. Watch it as a piece of trivia about the series so that you can mention it and annoy your friends, just like the Real Sheldon would!
Fans of the show will know that Sheldon (Jim Parsons) is, generally asexual. That's not true here. He's claiming to have slept with several women (at least five)! He's know to have many fetishes too. That's just wrong, especially since the rest of his character is largely the same. At least there's nothing too awful with Leonard (Johnny Galecki).
Also of note are the absences of Penny, Howard and Raj. Instead of Penny we have Katie (Amanda Walsh) who is manipulative of the nerds and manages to con her way into their apartment, rent-free. Feedback from the live audience: Don't let that nasty woman near those nice young men.
We also meet a precursor of-sorts to Leslie Winkle (remember her?) in the form of a possible love-interest for Leonard, Gilda (Iris Bahr). She serves little role in this, only fantasising about love with Leonard. She's also one of Sheldon's ex-lovers, apparently. This could have led to an interesting confrontation if it had come to a full series and would be interesting to see, but frankly it's just too predictable, bad sitcom material, not suited to TBBT's 1st season. More season 6-onwards of this show when it lost its USP and became a Friends clone.
To conclude: Don't bother. If you want to see how the series started watch the actual pilot, not this. Watch it as a piece of trivia about the series so that you can mention it and annoy your friends, just like the Real Sheldon would!
Why This Could've Been So Much Better
klelzorb6 February 2019
Warning: Spoilers
The thing about TBBT is that it's about socially awkward people who have bizarre idiosyncrasies. It's a show about four boys, despite them being almost thirty they're still boys, that don't know how to act or what to do and are found in a challenging situation when a beautiful and outgoing young woman gets in their lives. This is the basis that works for the series and has worked for a long time and it's what we're used to see. But the alternative version offers something so much different.
Even though Sheldon is the show and his 'quirks' are considered the funny basis for the show, we can all agree that he is flat out obnoxious. And after a few seasons his lack of social skills or regard for other people's feelings has gotten stale. It's not funny to see him not understanding his mistakes or having some sort of epiphany by the end of each episode just to see him going back to obnoxious and selfish in the next. That's why the series doesn't really work anymore... But this alternative pilot gives a much different approach to the characters, one that definitely is worth watching.
As a woman I'll dive right into the female part of the story that I enjoyed and simply say that I like this pilot more than the other because the women are better. First of all the boys have a FEMALE companion, instead of two awkward misogynistic nerds who think that their intelligence makes them superior and their creepy demeanor is endearing, and the girl is just as smart and involved as they are. Also Katie, the girl that preceded Penny, is a woman who yes, is also obnoxious and yes, is cliché in her reactions, but HAS A PERSONALITY! She's strong and makes sense and although she's a mooch, she's funny and how a NORMAL person would react or act in general. In the eventual pilot all we see is a very attractive woman - and that's it. Penny doesn't have a personality, she's just the pretty person that appears in their lives just to say that there's someone else there. Everyone is smart and has a significant trait - Sheldon is peculiar, Leonard is trying to find a balance between his intelligence and his need to be social, Howard is corky and Raj is awkward but still funny and sensitive in his own way - and then there's Penny, who's defying characteristic is 'I work at the cheesecake factory'. Like that's it; that's all there is to her!
Although the series moved on with the different pilot and it evolved in something we all have enjoyed (in various degrees), I can't help but wonder what would happen if we had that pilot instead? Because yes, the series is fun in its own way, but this pilot offers something far better, honestly. It shows a more realistic representation of people and it's funnier to have geeky characters trying to interact in the 'normal' world than some that are so much closed in their own little world that don't even understand what is normal and what isn't. Even with Sheldon having a sexuality and even with a girl instead of two awkward male besties, this pilot manages to surpass the eventual series in everything - including possibilities and funny approaches. In conclusion I don't know why this pilot wasn't picked up, but knowing how TV works I think I can get a sense of it. I honestly much rather watch this series developing because it offers something I think would be more aesthetically pleasing and has many more possibilities that could be funny. I like Katie much more than Penny (who I think I need to remind you that as a character is so disposable that she doesn't even have a last name - yes, it's been 12 years and she still doesn't have a last name of her own... Think about that for a sec...), because she has a personality and isn't just a girl just so people can say there's a girl in the series. I like Gilda more than I like Howard and Raj because she's not obnoxious, she's straight forward and appears to be more in touch with reality and the things she wants (she's like a less evolved version of Leslie Winkle, one that doesn't bicker with Sheldon as much). I like Sheldon more, because although he's still eccentric he's much more approachable and honestly funny (he uses real jokes and not the kind of jokes that the series use, in which he speaks about something so convoluted that everyone's left wondering what the hell he just said and people laugh because it's a sit com and it feels like that's what they were supposed to do...). And I like Leonard more, because although he's aloof and flaky he's still smart and in touch with his intelligence without allowing the want to be sexual with Katie take the best of him, turning him into a mindless mass of bad decisions in the name of possible sex with a girl he's never met before and all those weird things that the 'normal' Leonard does...
I know that people said that they like the original series more because the characters are so far out of reality that they become funny but I strongly disagree. I think that this pilot offers more realistic characters and yes, that's a good thing. Because in time, the characters of the series have become jokes of themselves, doing messy and obnoxious things just for the hell of it. This is a much more realistic approach and a more entertaining one, because the characters are still smart but not condescending, they're still diverse, they're in touch with their sexuality without dismissing it as something unnecessary and gross and there's no hidden message. You know what I'm talking about. The hidden message that lies in the series all throughout until season five, when the guys have finally had some experience with relationships and such... The hidden message that those are the 'good' people and that even though they're awkward they're still nice and that the girls that reject them are heartless monsters that can't walk past their nerdy and geeky figures... But that's a conversation for another time...
So yeah... I really like this story more and I'm sad we don't get to see it because I think it'd be much better to watch...
Even though Sheldon is the show and his 'quirks' are considered the funny basis for the show, we can all agree that he is flat out obnoxious. And after a few seasons his lack of social skills or regard for other people's feelings has gotten stale. It's not funny to see him not understanding his mistakes or having some sort of epiphany by the end of each episode just to see him going back to obnoxious and selfish in the next. That's why the series doesn't really work anymore... But this alternative pilot gives a much different approach to the characters, one that definitely is worth watching.
As a woman I'll dive right into the female part of the story that I enjoyed and simply say that I like this pilot more than the other because the women are better. First of all the boys have a FEMALE companion, instead of two awkward misogynistic nerds who think that their intelligence makes them superior and their creepy demeanor is endearing, and the girl is just as smart and involved as they are. Also Katie, the girl that preceded Penny, is a woman who yes, is also obnoxious and yes, is cliché in her reactions, but HAS A PERSONALITY! She's strong and makes sense and although she's a mooch, she's funny and how a NORMAL person would react or act in general. In the eventual pilot all we see is a very attractive woman - and that's it. Penny doesn't have a personality, she's just the pretty person that appears in their lives just to say that there's someone else there. Everyone is smart and has a significant trait - Sheldon is peculiar, Leonard is trying to find a balance between his intelligence and his need to be social, Howard is corky and Raj is awkward but still funny and sensitive in his own way - and then there's Penny, who's defying characteristic is 'I work at the cheesecake factory'. Like that's it; that's all there is to her!
Although the series moved on with the different pilot and it evolved in something we all have enjoyed (in various degrees), I can't help but wonder what would happen if we had that pilot instead? Because yes, the series is fun in its own way, but this pilot offers something far better, honestly. It shows a more realistic representation of people and it's funnier to have geeky characters trying to interact in the 'normal' world than some that are so much closed in their own little world that don't even understand what is normal and what isn't. Even with Sheldon having a sexuality and even with a girl instead of two awkward male besties, this pilot manages to surpass the eventual series in everything - including possibilities and funny approaches. In conclusion I don't know why this pilot wasn't picked up, but knowing how TV works I think I can get a sense of it. I honestly much rather watch this series developing because it offers something I think would be more aesthetically pleasing and has many more possibilities that could be funny. I like Katie much more than Penny (who I think I need to remind you that as a character is so disposable that she doesn't even have a last name - yes, it's been 12 years and she still doesn't have a last name of her own... Think about that for a sec...), because she has a personality and isn't just a girl just so people can say there's a girl in the series. I like Gilda more than I like Howard and Raj because she's not obnoxious, she's straight forward and appears to be more in touch with reality and the things she wants (she's like a less evolved version of Leslie Winkle, one that doesn't bicker with Sheldon as much). I like Sheldon more, because although he's still eccentric he's much more approachable and honestly funny (he uses real jokes and not the kind of jokes that the series use, in which he speaks about something so convoluted that everyone's left wondering what the hell he just said and people laugh because it's a sit com and it feels like that's what they were supposed to do...). And I like Leonard more, because although he's aloof and flaky he's still smart and in touch with his intelligence without allowing the want to be sexual with Katie take the best of him, turning him into a mindless mass of bad decisions in the name of possible sex with a girl he's never met before and all those weird things that the 'normal' Leonard does...
I know that people said that they like the original series more because the characters are so far out of reality that they become funny but I strongly disagree. I think that this pilot offers more realistic characters and yes, that's a good thing. Because in time, the characters of the series have become jokes of themselves, doing messy and obnoxious things just for the hell of it. This is a much more realistic approach and a more entertaining one, because the characters are still smart but not condescending, they're still diverse, they're in touch with their sexuality without dismissing it as something unnecessary and gross and there's no hidden message. You know what I'm talking about. The hidden message that lies in the series all throughout until season five, when the guys have finally had some experience with relationships and such... The hidden message that those are the 'good' people and that even though they're awkward they're still nice and that the girls that reject them are heartless monsters that can't walk past their nerdy and geeky figures... But that's a conversation for another time...
So yeah... I really like this story more and I'm sad we don't get to see it because I think it'd be much better to watch...
Whoever rejected this saved big bang
decc018 June 2022
Look while I'm sure there still would've been some viewers I feel this would be cancelled after 1 or 2 seasons. Only the first episode of what would be and it already sells itself out by relying heavily on objectifying women.
what could of been!
jack_andrew_c12 April 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This is crazy! i'm a massive TBBT fan and am so happy that this cast is not what makes up the big bang that we all know and love. The only way i can bring myself to watch this is to imagine it as a parallel universe after all that's what Sheldon would do! In this Leonard is a lot more outgoing, Katie the girl that's suppose to be some-sort of penny is a awful, And Sheldon well he has has several sexual partners and is an "ass woman" this just makes me feel uncomfortable. watch this or don't it wont change your like at all. it wasn't aired for a reason! 4/10
Horrible
mrpattinson-0768919 July 2020
It was little funny but I find it more like dark, new version of TBBT is colorful and delightful. Seems like Katie person is kind of gold digger and say not a nice person (can't say the word here). and who's Gilda something?? Is she supposed to be Howard's or Raj's former character? She wouldn't have pulled up like Raj and Howard. I must say I like penny better than the Katie. I won't be addicted to this show if they would have gone with this horrible episode. In alternative version we got best Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, raj, penny, Amy, Bernadette. Thank god they've decided to go with colorful version of big bang theory and perfect introduction song.
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