10 Insane Rules The Big Bang Theory Cast Had To Follow

Being full-time nerds, its no surprise Howard, Raj, Sheldon, and Leonard are obsessed with spandex-wearing crimefighter. When they're not lounging in their apartment, the kooky quartet can usually be found at their local comic store. Not only do the four endlessly debate about who is the best superhero, they dress up as iconic characters like Batman, Superman, and the Flash any time there is a costume party.

Although Sheldon is a huge fan of Spider-Man and Hulk, and Marvel co-creator Stan Lee cameoed on the series, the gang only dress up as superheroes from DC Comics. Not only that, Marvel comics are never out in the open at the store, while comics revolving around obscure vigilantes like Hellboy are clearly visible.

So what gives? Where's Iron Man? Why doesn't anyone dress up as Wolverine? Well, the simple answer is politics. The Big Bang Theory and DC Comics properties are owned by Warner Bros. Because Marvel is DC's competitor, the studio would be promoting their rival's property if they incorporated Marvel characters into The Big Bang Theory. Even if Warner Bros. wanted to, they would have to pay a hefty sum to implement costumes from the House of Ideas into the series.

For sitcoms like Friends, How I Met Your Mother, and Seinfeld, the way the characters are placed for promotional material is pretty balanced. But for The Big Bang Theory, the placement of the ensemble on posters is much more specific.

Because Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, and Katey Cuoco far more than the rest of the main cast until Season 10, they are top-billed. As a result, the characters they portray, Sheldon, Leonard, and Penny respectively,, are at the front of promotions. Simon Helberg (Howard) and Kunal Nayyar (Raj) are second-billed so they are strategically placed beside The Big Three.

Even though Amy and Bernadette are a part of the main cast, Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch didn't join the show until Season 4, and weren't regulars until Season 5. (They were also originally paid dramatically less than the rest of the ensemble.) Because of this, the pair weren't added to the posters until Season 6, and even then, were placed at the back.

However the placement of the gang for promotions became more varied after the main cast received a more balanced wage in the final two seasons.

In most TV shows, real food isn’t used since it’s a nightmare to maintain continuity for. After all, scenes can become pretty distracting for viewers when they notice food portions keep changing in-between shots. But the showrunners behind The Big Bang Theory liked to keep things authentic so they use real food when there is a scene of the gang chowing down (which is a lot).

However, the actors don’t enjoy eating as much as you'd think since it’s tricky to speak while one's mouth is full. (The bloopers show many scenes where the cast fail to say their lines correctly because they have a half-eaten sandwich in their gob.) As a result, the actors rarely, if ever, actually take a bite out of their meals.

So, if they can't eat, what do they do instead? Well, if you carefully analyse these "eating" scenes, you'll notice the cast are merely pushing their food around with a knife and fork. Many times, the cast will spend a whole scene at a restaraunt or cafe, never taking a bite. It's one of those observations that, once pointed out, you will never be able to unsee.

Many sitcoms like Two and a Half Men, Coupling, and That 70s Show continued on, even after main characters were written out or killed off. However, each of these shows had a dramatic decline in quality and ratings immediately after losing one of the ensemble, which resulted in them all being cancelled the following season.

Although there are some series like The Office and Shameless that thrive after losing a lead character, the showrunners behind The Big Bang Theory, Chuck Lorre and Bill Brady, didn't want to risk it. Even though the series could function without Penny, Leonard, or Sheldon, the creators decided to call it quits if one of The Big Three walked away.

Sadly, that is exactly what happened. After spending a quarter of his life playing Sheldon Cooper, Jim Parsons felt like it was time to move on after Season 12, to dedicate more time to his personal life. Even though the series was intended to run for at least another season or two, Lorre and Prady knew it couldn't work without its biggest star and so, pulled the plug.

Being close friends, the four guys in The Big Bang Theory have a lot of similarities. They love science, obsess over Star Trek, play video games, and don't have much luck with the opposite sex.

However, there is one trait they share that most viewers don't give a second thought to - they are all clean-shaven. At first, nothing seems particularly odd about this observation. But apart from Jim Parsons, the other three actors normally have facial hair in their everyday lives. Despite this, the four characters never have beards, unless it fits with the narrative.

The reason why Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, and Raj don't have beards is very simple - they're not allowed to. Since the guys are meant to be nerds, the actors must remain clean-shaven to look... well... nerdy. Johnny Galecki, Kunal Rayyar, and Simon Helberg look so rugged and manly while sporting a bit of fuzz, it's hard to take them seriously as dorks who struggle with their love lives. To maintain their personas as geeky scientists, they all must have zero facial hair during filming.

Even though many of The Big Bang Theory's conditions sound ludicrous at first, they do make sense when you understand the logic behind them. But there's one rule that everyone on the show must abide by, even though there's no real rhyme or reason to it - when called upon, the cast and crew must take part in a flash dance.

Unbeknownst to the writers, Kaley Cuocco choreographed a dance routine with the cast and crew for two weeks. Before taping one episode, almost everyone in the production took part in a flash mob, with Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe playing in the background. The audience loved it so much, it became a time-honoured tradition. Over the years, the gang have performed flash dances to Uptown Funk, Gold Digger, Run the World (Girls), and Larger Than Life.

These dance sequences may not be necessary but it's a great way for the cast and crew to blow off steam after a long day of filming. Also, it's such a great treat for the audience, you can understand why the flash mobs became a staple during filming.

Because the cast's palpable banter, spot-on delivery, and memorable zingers, you'd assume a lot of show's best one-liners were ad-libbed. But while Melissa Rauch (Bernadette) was interviewed by Huffington Post, she explained how her fellow cast members have little incentive to deviate from their lines because of the tight script. In her own words, "I love it so much, but you don't want to mess with what they write because it's almost like this beautiful concerto that you don't want to mess up one note of."

Although the actors are expected to follow the script, some improvised moments proved too funny to cut. Amy's outrageous reaction to her tiara, Bernadette's squeaky voice, and Amy's spanking scene were made up on the fly by the actors. Even though Stuart was meant to be an ordinary bit part, Kevin Sussman changed everything when he improvised the line, "I love you" to Penny. The audience loved his delivery so much, Stuart persona was tweaked to be more troubled and pathetic, and the character was made a regular.

Because of how well moments like this turned out, it's a relief the actors didn't stick to their lines verbatim.

Sheldon may not see Howard as a real scientist but that doesn't change the fact that he, as well as the rest of the gang, are certified geniuses. Of course, we know the actors aren't as smart as the characters they portray, meaning they have no idea what they're talking about when they discuss Fermi's paradox, the Feynman diagram, or quantum chromodynamics.

But they're not the only ones. Even though the show draws a large science-based audience, most viewers can't make heads or tails of the show's plethora of scientific jargon. Because of this, you'd assume most of the equations and algorithms that appear throughout the show (especially on Sheldon's whiteboards) are pure gobbledegook.

However, all the mathematical theorems are legit. Because Mayim Bialik has a PhD in neuroscience, she worked on TBBT as a scientific consultant before being cast as Amy Fowler. During her tenure, she and other consultants had to verify every scientific reference to make sure they were accurate. About 0.0001% of viewers will understand all the scientific terminology but the few who do will highly appreciate it.

Although it’s nice to see the cast of The Big Bang Theory speaking at press tours and chat shows, they’re not just there to have fun. They are strategically put together by the studio to promote the show. Even if they're talking about about a new movie they're starring in, they're guaranteed to bring up TBBT, especially when a new season is on the horizon. Even though the cast get along and have a blast talking on Conan or The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, they are there to promote a product at the end of the day.

Even though this might sound a little disingenuous or calculating, it's understandable. Considering each cast member was getting paid about a million dollars per episode in the later seasons, the studio could only get there money's worth by having the actors talking about the show non-stop.

Although the gang don't have to promote the show on social media, some of them use Twitter and Instagram to share anecdotes, pictures, and clips revolving around The Big Bang Theory, to ensure interest in the show is constant.

Because The Big Bang Theory was such a powerhouse sitcom, it's easy to forget it was nearly cancelled from the get-go. As hard as that is to believe, the unaired pilot had very little in common with the finished product.

Although Lenny and Sheldon were still the main characters, their personalities were quite different, and there was no Howard or Raj. Instead of Penny, a streetwise girl called Katie served as the main female character. Sadly, the test audience didn't gravitate to Katie, deeming her as mean and unlikable. As a result, the creator, Chuck Lorre, had the character revised into the more loveable neighbour, Penny.

Even though it all worked out in the end, Lorre was ashamed of the pilot, since it nearly caused the whole show to be canned. Although snippets of the pilot can be found online, Lorre asked the cast never to discuss it since he didn't want the episode associated with the show. The actors stayed so tight-lipped about it for so long, many die-hard fans of The Big Bang Theory had no idea there was an unaired pilot for years.