After ending in 2019, fans of The Big Bang Theory continue to rewatch the series for their share of science exploration, comic book jargon, and the incredible friendships that the group had. As different as Sheldon, Leonard, and co. could be, they rallied around each other and ed one another throughout life's inevitable changes.
The more fans watch the series, the more small details they've missed before pop out to them. Fans have gone to Reddit to share the things they've noticed in hopes other fans could help answer their question or validate their findings.
Jim Parsons Broke Character
Jim Parsons plays Sheldon Cooper. In real life, Parsons created unbreakable friendships with Mayim Bialik (Amy Farrah Fowler) and the rest of the cast. A snippet of how well Parsons gets along with his colleagues is seen in the background of a scene, according to a Reddit .
"Spotted Jim Parsons breaking character with Kaley Cuoco," the Redditor wrote. In the scene, the camera is focused on the conversation between Leonard and Bernadette, but in the background, Sheldon is seen genuinely laughing with Penny and Amy. However, this laugh and demeanor aren't normal for Sheldon. This was very much Jim Parsons casually talking with his friends since he wasn't the star of the scene.
A Russian Spelling Error
Howard was thrilled at the chance to go into space on a Russian rocket. After months of training, Howard was nervous but ready for a new experience.
In the scene where Howard is launching off to space, afar one of Howard's coolest jobs.
Background Details
Fans on Reddit love dissecting the props and background art found in the apartments or labs of TBBT characters. In a few scenes, there's a large, grey detail in apartment 4A that had fans divided. While some thought it was something from Star Trek, others knew it was something more scientific.
After Reddit u/Superblinky asked "What is the poster?", u/Fleetyy responded that it was an "Electromagnetic Spectrum chart." Fans validated the 's response from a blog called Chasing Props, which confirms it. Having a poster relating to quantum physics in their apartment is on-brand for the two and great work by set production.
Sheldon's Original Laptop Is Discontinued
It's not just books or posters that Redditors want to know more about in TBBT, they're interested in the tech the gang uses as well.
Sheldon has had a few different laptops in the series, but Reddit u/Young_Pedro asked "What laptop is this?" The consensus, according to Reddit u/Begley291 was that it was not an "Alienware" product. "Not an Alienware, just an early Dell XPS model. Sheldon doesn’t get an Alienware until later," they wrote. What makes this noteworthy for fans is that during the time period, the games they were playing would have worked better on a desktop computer instead of their laptops, according to Reddit u/GrapeJuiceCheese.
Penny's Last Name?
While fans love Penny's Friendship with Sheldon and her romance with Leonard, there were a few things that didn't make sense about Penny. Among the group, Penny was the only character without a last name. It was never said and couldn't be seen anywhere.
However, in one episode, Penny is opening a package she got in the mail and Reddit u/Quell_Alma noted something blurry on the package's postage. "Penny's maiden name is Teller," they wrote. If fans zoom in, they can see it's delivered to a Miss Penny Teller — a mystery that fans have been trying to solve for years.
One Word: Tomatoes
One of the things that The Big Bang Theory got right about working at a university was that the men regularly took their lunch breaks at the same time in the school's cafeteria. These scenes where the group conversed or argued over lunch were some of the best. However, the way the characters eat on TBBT has caused a wave of criticism.
The characters played with their food more than they ate. Reddit u/gb715 wrote about the small detail they noticed: "Anyone else notices how during dinner/lunch scenes the cast play with their food while talking but end up picking one cherry tomato and put it in their mouth? Why is it always the cherry tomatoes?" Fellow fans chimed in that cherry tomatoes were easy to chew on camera but now it's a detail fans look for.
Sheldon's Email Address
In one episode, Sheldon is beside himself when a stray bird flies into his apartment. Sheldon is afraid of birds and wanted them out of his life as quickly as he could. The longer he spent time with the bird, however, he began to like it and his fear faded. Facing his fear with the help of friends was one of Sheldon's more relatable moments.
Eventually, he made a flyer for his apartment complex to alert those that he found a bird. A minor detail that Reddit u/Flelk noticed was Sheldon's email at the bottom of the flyer. Reddit u/Daveywheel even went so far as to email the address. "Nothing so far... Usually, TV emails bounce back immediately with some sort of content or advertising, but I tried it an hour ago, and no response," they wrote. Fans are hoping to receive a response once the creator checks the .
The Fourth Wall In Apartment 4A
Since The Big Bang Theory is filmed in front of a live audience, there are walls of the apartments, comic book store, and Caltech that audiences rarely see. However, a few Redditors did spot a few shots where this detail was shown.
Reddit u/RChase wrote, "As far as I can tell, this is the only shot of the '4th wall' of Sheldon and Leonard's apartment." In the scene, Sheldon plays a throwback video for Amy of him pranking Leonard while he's at his desk. Reddit u/KingOfSpades also shared a shot where the gang looks at the camera, showing the fourth wall in the background. "A rare look at the wall we never see," they wrote. This detail is rarely talked about it so it's amazing that Redditors spotted these moments.
Amy's Apartment
Before Amy and Sheldon's relationship timeline became hot and heavy, she lived alone across town. Amy's apartment was the perfect reflection of herself before she moved out and moved in with Sheldon.
There was one detail about her apartment that Reddit u/WhitneyFayth caught. "I just realized Amy's apartment number was 314. I feel silly for not noticing this sooner!" they exclaimed. The significance is that 314 is the beginning of Pi — a mathematical constant. Other fans chimed in that most of the characters' home numbers reflected something scientific or important.
Details On The Tardis
As much as these two love each other, Bernadette and Howard's relationship timeline has been bumpy with a few doses of sarcasm and jokes. And while Bernadette loved her husband, she didn't want his life-sized Tardis taking up space in their garage anymore.
Howard didn't want the Tardis to leave but it looks like Amy ended up taking it home and turned the Tardis into her bedroom door. Reddit u/JCogn noticed a small detail on the Tardis that differed from when fans first saw it. "The door handle was different on the Tardis in Howard's house vs. the one attached to Amy's bedroom," they wrote.