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It’s hard to make a successful network television show. It is even more difficult to make a successful spin-off of a successful series. The audience has a certain expectation, and when it comes time to follow one or two other characters elsewhere, it can get tricky. But CBS hit it out of the park with “Young Sheldon,” which focused on a young Sheldon Cooper as he grew up in Texas long before the events of “The Big Bang Theory,” itself one of the most successful sitcoms from the 2000s. .
Because “Young Sheldon” is set decades before the events of the series that inspired it, it was difficult to bring in characters from “The Big Bang Theory.” However, the show’s producers managed to bring in Kaley Cuoco during the show’s third season for a stealth appearance. Cuoco, of course, played Penny on “The Big Bang Theory” for all of its 12 seasons, serving as the anchor of the ensemble.
When it came time to bring her into “Young Sheldon,” however, it was all about Cuoco’s voice rather than having her appear on screen. The moment came in the episode “Teenager Soup and a Little Ball of Fib”, which sees Sheldon (Iain Armitage) pretending to be sick to avoid taking a swimming test at school. Cuoco ended up providing the pool water voice. In a 2020 interview with TV lineseries co-creator Steve Molaro explained how it all came together:
“It was absolutely Kaley’s voice as pool water. I needed someone to do the voice. I knew I wanted her to be feminine and kind of sexy, and I said, ‘Well, duh! Kaley is perfect for this.'”
So how did Molaro sell this bizarre role to Cuoco? After all, Cuoco has remained very busy since “Big Bang Theory” went off the air, playing the title character in “Harley Quinn” and “The Flight Attendant,” among other projects. Despite everything, it was an easy yes from the actor:
“I said, ‘Hey, I have a weird pitch for you: Sheldon is having a nightmare, and he has to go into this pool, and he’s talking to the water in the pool. Do you want to be the voice of the ‘pool water?’ She just laughed and said, ‘Absolutely, I do.'”
Kaley Cuoco’s Young Sheldon cameo was kept under wraps
Although the role was small and relatively strange, it was also important. Cuoco became the first former “Big Bang Theory” star to lend his talents to the spinoff after Jim Parsons, who worked as an executive producer on the series in addition to serving as narrator. To help bring closure to “Young Sheldon,” Parsons ended up reprising his role as the flesh-and-blood Sheldon alongside Mayim Bialik’s Amy in the final season. That aside, though, Cuoco’s voice role was a nice touch for fans.
What’s interesting is that CBS didn’t promote Cuoco’s cameo until after the episode premiered. Wouldn’t the channel have wanted to highlight the return of a “Big Bang Theory” star to the universe? Maybe, but as Molaro explained in the same interview, everyone involved in the making of the series agreed that the moment was all the more impactful because it was kept under wraps:
“Sometimes I feel a little weird about things being over-promoted, and as great as that is, I don’t know if that should be the kind of thing that shows up in promos. [Kaley] I wanted to keep it secret [as well]so if you figured it out, it was a little Easter egg for you, so we were all on the same page about it.”
The series ended up lasting for seven seasons in total, with “Young Sheldon” season 7 ending in 2024. Yet the larger “Big Bang Theory” universe lives on with another spin-off in the form of “Georgie & Mandy’s First.” Marriage.” It remains to be seen whether Cuoco or any of the other “Big Bang Theory” stars will make appearances on this show.
“Young Sheldon” is now streaming on Netflix and Max, or you can grab the full series on DVD from Amazon.
