This Friday, I'm moderating the Big Bang Theory panel at Comic-con. The entire cast will be in attendance, as well as series creators Bill Prady and Chuck Lorre. We only have an hour, which always goes by faster than we think, so I'm going to start out with a handful of my own questions before I invite questions from the audience.
While preparing my questions, I've talked to some friends of mine who are fans of the show, and I also thought that I had a unique opportunity to reach out to a larger audience, right here on my blog.
So: If you could ask the cast and creators of The Big Bang Theory something about the show, what would it be? What are you interested in knowing from them?
Ask your question in a comment here, and I'll take some of them with me to the panel this Friday.
Edited at 8:52am 7/22: Wow, over 200 questions and comments! Awesome. I used your questions to get some idea of what fans of the show (well, this is a small sample size, but you're the ones who responded, so you get to speak for the entire audience) wanted to know. I picked out a couple of specific questions from some of you, too.
You can keep commenting here, but any questions you ask I won't be able to use, because I have to get on the road in about 15 minutes, and my questions are now chosen and locked in. But, sincerely, thank you for taking the time to contribute here; I feel more confident and secure about moderating this panel now than I did 24 hours ago.
Will cast and creators of the Big Bang Theory come to Russia?
Several of us who are volunteers for Dragon Con would like to know when the cast of Big Bang will join us. We would also like to know that for the Guildies, and of course, you, Wil.
When is the elevator going to be fixed ?
Can you ask the folks if they would like the true geek dream of being immortalized in cardboard? I own a company that manufactures trading cards, (which automatically means I am a fan of the show). We do mostly art and historical stuff but we are willing to make them some if they would like a 2.5 by 3.5 inch rendition of themselves.
Jason (www.Cult-Stuff.com)
David Saltzburg is the resident expert. He writes about some of the cool science stuff here: http://thebigblogtheory.wordpress.com/
You see the downstairs neighbor while Penny and Leonard are arguing in the season 3 finale. She says “Yee Haw”. Her name is Mrs. Gunderson.
For Bill Prady–how would California be different today if voters had made a wiser choice and elected you governor instead of Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003? Your campaign was deeply courageous, and I salute your service.
For Chuck Lorre–I think America has waited long enough for this: which of the dads in “My Two Dads” was the real dad? My money’s on Evigan. He had that Tiger Beat thing going, and smelled of monkey musk.
I would like to know, if BBT is going a bit “back to the roots” (= season one) because with each season passing the nerd factor was lowered a bit. Especially when Leonard and Penny were finally related it was a bit more of the typical sitcom, lacking some of the funny nerdy stuff from season one (like the halo 3 night).
While I think season one was hilarious I had some “meh”-moments in season 2 and even some more in season 3. So I’m a bit worried BBT is becoming more “mainstream”.
Forgive me if this has been asked, but there are a lot of comments…
Do the actors on the show actually know Klingon in real life? Do you know Klingon?
Are they ever going to fix that elevator?
I would really like to know if Simon Helberg needs help putting on his pants or if he can manage that alone…those things look awfully tight!
I must have missed that. (makes note to check DVR when home) She's not
a recurring character, though.
One would have thought that the groups' shenanigans would attract more
attention or maybe they are all afraid after they blew up the
elevator?
Excellent question.
I bet if Sheldon ran a game it would be one of the rules-heavy, all bases covered systems like Rolemaster.
or maybe the socks were a contributing factor to the split.
Are they open to receiving content suggestions for episodes and storylines? And, if so, how do we submit our ideas?…
If these guys are working at a university, even as research scientists, and all (but Wallowitz) hold doctorates, why don’t any of them have to teach any undergrad classes or mentor any students working on their doctorate or masters degree?
I think it would be funny to ask one of the standard tech support questions that friends and family always ask us geeks. Such as… “I’m having trouble with my wireless router. Do you think you could…”
I love the show, but my biggest concern is it seems they are going to insist on pulling a “Ross & Rachel” with Leonard and Penny. I really think they need to make an effort to do something new instead of using the same “will they or won’t they” plot we’ve all seen a hundred times. What are their plans to address this while maintaining the awesome chemistry of the ensemble?
The comments are tldr, so I apologize if this was already asked.
The promos for BBT this Summer on CBS have been basically showing it as slapstick humor with Sheldon’s “Bazinga!” catch line.
How are the writers going to avoid the powers-that-be pressure to turn this currently smart and witty sitcom into a lowest common denominator show, especially with its move to the prime Thursday slot?
I came here to ask something pretty similar. The first time I saw BBT, I found Sheldon’s character to be, well, a fairly offensive stereotype. Then I realized that if I think of him as autistic, the protrayal is almost perfect.
Do the writers actually consider Sheldon to be autistic? Have they actually done any research on this?
I’m beginning to wonder if I’m the only person in the world who actually finds Sara Gilbert attractive…
One of the things I admire most about Wil is his strong conviction in and support of Creative Commons and that via Creative Commons, a large community can come together to take something awesome and elevate it to something totally unique and uber-awesome.
So my question is for the creators of TBBT. How they feel about Creative Commons and do they grok the idea of it too?
TBBT != “representation of true geeks”;
TBBT == “lowest common denominator stereotypes”;
Just commenting again to thank you for thinking to ask for fan input for your panel.
Are any of them fans of RFB?
To Chuck:
“What is it you did to have CBS screw you so hard by moving the show to Thursday at 8?”
Because, if anyone else made them then people like you (who from your photo looks to be non-ethnic) would complain that they are being racists.
Why do you think it’s ok for people to discount an entire series based on a small part of a few episodes?
If you have a sense of humor then you are missing out.
If you don’t, then feel free to get a job as a studio executive.
If they don’t, I do
Wil,
I hate to say this but….
I feel like the ComiCon panel was a letdown to the real geek fans of Big Bang Theory.
Watching the video I felt like the crowd had more interest in what YOU were saying rather than the cast. Not in a bad way, but more like when you realize people are only actors and the characters they play are just that.
Truth be told the fans loves those characters, and so do the actors who portray them, but you bring more cred to the show than anyone because (other than being the dick) you were the person you portrayed.
It’s almost like when I was young and I saw Harrison Ford in Blade Runner…Whoa.
Still, the show, its actors and crew are the best thing on TV
another episode of Wil vs Sheldon. The contest; geocaching.