The season finale of The Big Bang Theory, titled “The Countdown Reflection,” aired tonight, and now we can finally share some of what co-creator Bill Prady, actor Simon Helberg (Wolowitz), and special guest, astronaut Mike Massimino had to say at last week’s screening and Q&A session.
If you haven’t yet seen the finale, beware of spoilers!
When the show returns, Wolowitz might not be back home immediately. “We’ve talked about leaving Wolowitz in space for the first couple of episodes,” Bill Prady says about what to do when the show returns for Season 6. He does add, though, that a decision hasn’t even been made yet about where the storyline will be, and how much time has elapsed, when we see the characters again.
Getting two characters married is “a natural evolution of a group of people at this age.” “It would be odd if they didn’t start getting married,” Prady says. The writers haven’t decided where Wolowitz and his new bride Bernadette will be living – though “every discussion” has come up, including the couple living at the Wolowitz house, taking over the master bedroom, getting their own place, and even getting their own place but having Mrs. Wolowitz “temporarily” moving in.
In space, can Wolowitz get a break from his mother’s shrieking? Prady seemed to imply that there would be a way, and Massimino shared a story about how, when preparing the routine for liftoff, his wife interrupted the happenings with a not-so-urgent call – wanting to know where his kids’ science paper went to.
Massimino compares the camaraderie of the Big Bang crew to the people he worked with at NASA. “It was a blast. Being with these guys and being around their team was like being around a family,” he says. “It was just fun. I enjoyed every minute of being around these guys.”
For Helberg, what was the most uncomfortable part of being in a space suit? “The most uncomfortable part just was actually – I guess it’s accurate – the size of the capsule. It was very tight. I’m speaking as a smaller man, but yeah. We didn’t get out for all of those scenes. We shot them all in sequence, so it was a few hours in there,” Simon says. “I could always yell ‘help’ and jump out, but it was very cool. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing, but it didn’t bother me,” he adds.
Yes, Sheldon really was speaking Klingon.
If you watch this episode closely, you’ll see Wolowitz’s mother as the satellite view goes up at episode’s end. “If you listen to the characters on the show, she seems to weigh in about 8500 pounds. She’s been described as larger than a bus,” Prady explains. “I think, when we talked to the fellow who does our special effects, we used the phrase ‘a stout woman in an ugly dress and hat.’ I think it’s kind of fun, because it’s just for a second, and she’s got a hat on, so you just see that mass of pink… there’s been a desire not to go into the Home Improvement territory and start seeing pieces of her on screen, the ‘behind the menu’ thing. There was a conscious decision not to do that, but this scene’s fun. As to how she looked, we got the footage back from the special effects house, and we said ‘yeah, that’s pretty good’,” he enthuses.
How will Raj deal with this new marriage? “I think that this has the biggest effect on him. His best friend got married. It’s been a-brewin’. I think in the same way, I think that Howard is going to love marriage. I think he’s one of those guys who loves to get the word ‘wife’ into a sentence. I think he’s going to love that. I can’t imagine that wouldn’t be hard for Raj.”
When Sheldon held Amy’s hand, does that imply his shell is cracking? Has he changed? “There will be no changes in that character. I think the character is capable of things that we haven’t seen, and I think that is an important distinction to make. Sheldon, from the beginning, is a character who represented withdrawal from the world. That’s his choice in life. We’ve seen him be capable of things that have been surprising, but we hope haven’t been inconsistent with his character as established,” Prady explains.
Speaking of unusual behavior, didn’t Raj speak in front of women more than once in this episode? Prady assures us that both times, Raj had imbibed alcohol.
All in all, the Big Bang event at the Paley Center was a lot of fun, and if you haven’t checked it out, you can see the Soyuz capsule from tonight’s episode at the Paley Center in Beverly Hills through May 17. Don’t miss it!
