Considering the fact that Johnny Galecki played the role of experimental physicist Leonard Hofstadter for 12 seasons and the same number of years on “The Big Bang Theory”, it’s probably not surprising that the guy prefers certain episodes to others. (In fact, for a while, Galecki and his co-star Kaley Cuoco, who was also his real-life girlfriend for a short time, immediately thought that showrunner and creator Chuck Lorre was playing a prank on them; it wasn’t was not the case.) So, which episodes did Galecki particularly like? In an interview with TBSwhich airs “The Big Bang Theory” in syndication — helping the lead actors reap a solid income even though the series ended in 2019 — he specifically mentioned five episodes that hold a special place in his heart, in no particular order.
Galecki begins with the Season 3 episode “The Wheaton Recurrence,” which features “Star Trek” veteran Wil Wheaton (who almost turned down the opportunity to appear in the role of himself) as as antagonist of Leonard’s best friend on screen. and his roommate Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons). While the whole gang, including Wheaton, is bowling, Leonard tells his girlfriend Penny (Cuoco) that he loves her… and when Penny feels embarrassed to say it back, Wheaton encourages him and ends up causing Leonard and Penny to break up. . “It was the very personal moments, like the character’s broken heart, that allowed us to mature him,” Galecki said of Leonard’s experience in the episode. “It was always exciting because I knew it would be a changed Leonard in the future. Still Leonard, but I would have to consider that he would see things differently.”
Some of Johnny Galecki’s favorite episodes are about Leonard’s big feelings and emotions.
So, what other episodes created fond memories for Johnny Galecki? He also praised “The Benefactor Factor,” a Season 4 episode in which Leonard, Sheldon and other employees of the California Institute of Technology must seduce potential benefactors into donating to the financially unstable institution. In the process, Leonard meets Mrs. Latham (the late Jessica Walter, known for “Arrested Development” and “Archer”), a wealthy, older woman who takes a liking to Leonard and becomes successful. enough it’s clear she’ll make a sizable donation if he… acquiesces to her wishes, so to speak. (It’s unclear if Leonard actually does the deed, but he ends up doing a stereotypical “walk of shame” to the apartment and is teased relentlessly by Penny and Sheldon.) “I loved working with Jessica Walter,” Galecki recalls. “And that Penny saw a side of Leonard that she didn’t know before.”
On the other end of the emotional spectrum, Galecki also mentioned “The Gorilla Dissolution,” an episode from the show’s seventh season in which Penny is fired from her ill-fated role in the terrible horror film “Serial Ape-ist 2 ” alongside Wil Wheaton. after responding to the director (Wheaton does the same and ends up getting fired too). Why does Galecki like this episode? After a lot of back and forth, including Pop-Tarts and pastries, Leonard and Penny realize they want to get married…at which point Leonard reveals he has a ring for Penny hidden in his portfolio for years. “I thought Leonard was heartbreakingly sweet and quietly wore a ring for God knows how long,” Galecki said. “For all his knowledge of math and science, Leonard was a die-hard romantic sentimentalist. This is never more evident than in this episode.”
An episode with a big speech really left an impression on Johnny Galecki
Johnny Galecki also likes episodes that feature big moments in Leonard’s personal growth, like the season 8 episode “The Graduation Transmission.” In this episode, Leonard has been invited to give a commencement speech at his old high school in New Jersey, but he finds himself faced with an insurmountable obstacle: a flight canceled due to bad weather. Penny, realizing how upset Leonard is about not being able to be there in person, tries to cheer him up by suggesting he give her the speech, but that doesn’t help – and when she arranges for Leonard to give the speech virtually, it turns out that the graduation cap and gown that Penny secretly buys for Leonard is actually a revealing graduation-themed Halloween costume (for women). At the end he gives a nice speech and Galecki said that Chuck Lorre was indispensable for this episode. “I remember talking a lot with [Chuck] while we were filming this,” Galecki said. “He had the great note of playing the speech in the tone of a future self giving advice to himself.”
Finally, there’s “The 43 Peculiarity,” which isn’t surprising, given that this is the episode in which Penny Finally tells Leonard that she loves him. The fact that Penny says she likes Leonard so casually – while telling him he doesn’t have to worry about other men staring at her in the street – shows that she really means it, and the filming process was so emotional that it actually made Kaley Cuoco cry in real life. You can now watch all of Galecki’s favorite episodes of “The Big Bang Theory” streaming on Max.
