Penny (The Big Bang Theory)
Encyclopedia
Penny is a fictional character
on the CBS
television series The Big Bang Theory
, portrayed by American
actress Kaley Cuoco
.
Penny is the main female character on the show. She is Leonard Hofstadter
(Johnny Galecki
) and Sheldon Cooper
's (Jim Parsons
) neighbor across the hallway, and the main love interest of Leonard. Penny's beauty and outgoing personality contrast with the main male characters, who are all scientist
s and geek
s.
, Penny is a waitress at the local Cheesecake Factory
with aspirations of becoming an actress. She is a Sagittarius
, meaning she was born between November 22 and December 21. She has full confidence in horoscopes and often has arguments with Sheldon and Leonard about their accuracy.
In contrast to the rest of the group, Penny is not particularly intellectually gifted or savvy in a specific technical field, but she has great social skills
and is very knowledgeable about pop culture. She is also messy and disorganized, but appears to like it that way.
While usually very kind, Penny has a bad temper which has erupted on many occasions, such as when Sheldon broke into her apartment to clean, when she confronted Howard
over his "creepy" flirting, or when Sheldon "banished" her from their social group. Leonard has likened her to The Hulk
when she gets angry, while Sheldon once said to his friend Stuart that she would "maul [him] like a rabid Wolverine
" if Stuart woke her up.
Penny is a terrible driver (she ignores stop signs, drives too fast, fails to service her vehicle regularly, and has left her car's passenger side wing mirror
"in a parking lot in Hollywood"). She also has a Chinese character tattooed on her right buttock, which, according to her, means "courage" but is revealed to mean "soup" by Sheldon. She uses vanilla oil as perfume and snores badly (especially when on her back). Early in the series, she claimed to be vegetarian, with the exception of fish and the "occasional steak...I love steak!".
, and the two of them have clashed several times. Actor Jim Parsons
, who portrays Sheldon, described the characters as "polar opposites".
In one episode, Sheldon tries to "improve" Penny using chocolate, rewarding her for what he considers to be "correct behavior", as in operant conditioning
with lab rats.
As Sheldon observed, Penny will often call someone "sweetie" coupled with a thinly-veiled insult.
Despite this, at times Penny and Sheldon have shown to be good friends; Penny took care of Sheldon while he was ill and let him stay at her apartment when he was locked out of his; Sheldon lent money to Penny when she needed it and took care of her when she dislocated
her shoulder. During a Christmas episode, Penny gave Sheldon a signed napkin used by Leonard Nimoy
. In return, Sheldon gave Penny multiple baskets of bath products and then a long hug, to both her and Leonard's surprise. When Sheldon's World of Warcraft account was hacked Penny kicked the hacker in the balls.
y friends, in the later episodes Penny has shown some of her own geekiness too, either intentionally or unintentionally.
Penny was surprisingly good the first time she played Halo 3
, and camping at Sheldon's spawn location and killing him before he could move, which greatly aggravated him.
In one instance, Penny was critical of the guys' interests in toys and collectible
s, but Sheldon retorted by noting her collection of stuffed bears and other such childish things (Hello Kitty
, Beanie Babies, My Little Pony
, etc.).
After Sheldon introduces her to the theory of Schrödinger's cat
during the build up to her and Leonard's date as the climax to series 1, Penny attempts to reuse the metaphor with a new boyfriend in "The Codpiece Topology".
After a brief introduction to the game Age of Conan by Sheldon, Penny creates a character named Queen Penelope. Penny became addicted, to the point of ignoring her friends and calling Sheldon at all hours of the day for advice. She finally overcame her addiction when she realized she had agreed to go on a virtual "date" within the game with Howard.
After Alicia, a new tenant in the building, stole the boys' attention from her, Penny became jealous and tried to win over the boys again by making a physicist joke. To her own surprise, she even makes a casual reference to Star Trek
while engaged in idle conversation.
In "The Electric Can Opener Fluctuation", when attempting to console Sheldon (and failing miserably), she mentions events that occurred in the new Star Trek movie.
In "The Wheaton Recurrence," Penny quoted, "Do, or do not. There is no try" while in bed with Leonard, and even mentioned she knew it was from The Empire Strikes Back
. Leonard was pleasantly shocked that he was "in bed with a beautiful woman who can quote Yoda
," and for the first time told Penny that he loved her.
In "The Apology Insufficiency," Penny had a chat with Sheldon and displayed knowledge of the Kobayashi Maru
test, a plot device in Star Trek, impressing him.
stated that it eventually will be.
) trying to raise her like a boy, but on her accounts they seem to be a dysfunctional family
.
In an early episode, Penny talked to Raj
about her sister having shot her brother-in-law. In another episode, Penny accompanied the guys to the comic book store to shop for a gift for her 13-year-old nephew. In another episode, Penny has an unwanted guest, Christy, staying with her who slept with her brother while engaged to her cousin, "so she's sort of family." Christy knows Penny from back in Omaha, and according to Penny she slept with nearly every man in the city, earning her the nickname "Whore of Omaha". While staying with Penny, Christy sleeps with Howard Wolowitz
.
When Leonard's mother, neuroscientist
and psychiatrist
Dr. Beverly Hofstadter, chatted with Penny, Penny tearfully revealed some of her childhood issues, such as being called "Slugger" by her father, whom she referred to as being named Bob, because he really wanted a son to play baseball
with. This conversation affected Penny in such a way that she got drunk and almost ended up having sex with Leonard.
Penny has mentioned having a brother on parole
, who she says is "kind of a chemist
." In another episode, when in a church with the guys and Sheldon's mother, she asks God to help her brother to stop cooking crystal meth
.
, although in the first season episode "The Grasshopper Experiment" she trained as a bartender. In 2010, when actress Kaley Cuoco broke her leg, Penny was shown working as a bartender in several season 4 episodes to hide the cast on her leg.
Penny considers herself a professional actress and constantly goes to castings, but often she is not successful or the role being auditioned turns out to be quite different from what she expected, as was the case when she thought she was auditioning for a cat food commercial and it instead turned out to be a casting for a pornographic film. In season one, episode "The Loobenfeld Decay," she is cast in a production of Rent
, and in "The Terminator Decoupling" she refers to another of her roles as "Anne Frank
in a theater above a bowling alley." In the Season 5 premiere, frustrated over her lack of success as an actress (as well as damaging what was left of her relationship with Leonard), she briefly considers returning to Nebraska until landing a part in a commercial for hemorrhoid
cream.
When Penny was a child, she rebuilt a tractor engine on the farm and competed in a junior rodeo. She was also a member of the Corn Queen's Court at age 16.
In the first episode of the series, Penny moved in across the hall from Leonard and Sheldon because of her recent split with her boyfriend, Kurt, after four years.
She said she still loved him even though he cheated on her. Kurt makes further appearances in the show trying to get back together with Penny, and is usually confronted by Leonard.
From the beginning, Leonard's infatuation with Penny becomes the major force that drives the series. Howard also shows interest in her (primarily carnal
), but he is always rejected abruptly due to his overtly sexual approaches. Raj is secretly attracted to Penny as well, but does not interact with her a lot due to his inability to talk to women
, like Penny, unless he is drunk. Although Penny rarely tries to talk to Raj, she does feel, and show, sympathy towards him. Sheldon is the only one of the four main male characters that appears romantically uninterested in her.
In an early episode, Penny described her approach after a failed relationship: she picks up an attractive man and then has meaningless sex over the course of 36 hours in a weekend, then she dumps him.
In the finale of the first season, Penny broke up with her boyfriend, after the latter posted intimate details about their sex life on his blog. This event gave Leonard the opportunity to ask her out on a first official date. Although the date was successful, Penny became worried after she lied to Leonard about graduating from community college
(it is mentioned in a later episode, The Cohabitation Formulation, that she was enrolled in one, but dropped out); when Sheldon asked her why she lied, she said she did not want Leonard to see her as a "stupid loser", to which Sheldon replied, "And you thought the opposite of 'stupid loser' was 'community college graduate'?". Leonard eventually learned the truth from a drugged Sheldon, but made matters worse when he tried to encourage Penny to enroll in Pasadena City College
. Penny interpreted his suggestion as an insult to her intelligence, and they broke up.
Some time after, Penny's introduction to Leonard's mother, Dr. Beverly Hofstadter, caused Penny and Leonard to seek comfort in each other; they nearly had sex, but Leonard spoiled the moment with unintentionally inappropriate comments about Penny's sexual motivations (to be closer to her father, supposedly, which creeped Penny out), and Penny kicked him out of her apartment.
Afterwards, Penny dated Stuart, from the comic book store, but the dates did not end well. The first time, Penny and Stuart were interrupted by Sheldon. On another occasion, when Penny and Stuart were kissing, Penny mistakenly called him "Leonard".
It was in the second season finale that Penny finally showed strong romantic feelings for Leonard. When she discovered that Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, and Raj would be spending three months at the North Pole
for a scientific experiment, she became sad and gave him a Snuggie
and an unusually long hug, which Leonard described as lasting for "five Mississippis".
In the third season premiere, after the guys returned from the expedition, Penny kissed Leonard right when he arrived at her door and later the two of them had sex for the first time.
Initially, Leonard and Penny felt uncomfortable with their new relationship, and they agreed to remain only friends. Yet, almost immediately they changed their minds, found renewed sexual urges, and remained a couple. Their relationship soured, however, when Leonard told Penny he loved her for the first time, and an unsure Penny simply replied, "Thank you." This tension, heightened due to (possibly fabricated) comments by Wil Wheaton
to Penny about regretting having been in a similar situation, eventually caused Penny and Leonard to break up for a second time. They did remain friends, however, and slept together once after breaking up (Penny had gotten drunk after a bad date with Zack Johnson, and realized Leonard had ruined her ability to date stupid men). This only caused more confusion about the status of the relationship for Leonard, however.
According to Sheldon's calculation, Penny has had sex with over thirty guys, a conclusion that Penny disagrees with. In Season 4's "The 21-Second Excitation," Penny revealed to her friends Bernadette Rostenkowski and Amy Farrah Fowler during a "Truth or Dare?
" game that she has still not moved on from Leonard. This was further implied in "The Justice League Recombination" when she told Leonard that he was one of the reasons New Year's Eve
became unpleasant, and when the two exchanged awkward looks as Penny kissed her date, Zack (whom she had gotten back together with briefly in order to not be alone on New Year's Eve), at midnight. In "The Love Car Displacement," Penny accompanied the guys, Bernadette, and Amy to an academic conference in Big Sur; she and Leonard shared the same hotel room for a time and they almost had sex until Raj walked in on them. The next day, bored of the conference, Penny accepted a ride back to Los Angeles from Professor Glenn, Bernadette's tall and attractive ex-boyfriend. When Raj's sister, Priya, returned in the episode "The Cohabitation Formulation", she and Leonard continued their relationship. Penny appeared to be okay with this at first, but when Amy arrived at her apartment to see how she was, she broke down in tears. In the following weeks, she began to realize more and more clearly that she still had strong feelings for Leonard.
In the Season 4 finale, Penny revealed to Raj that she regretted breaking up with Leonard. However, even though she and Raj both agree to be friends, they get drunk and end up having sex. The next morning, both agree to pretend it never happened, but are caught by Leonard, Sheldon, and Howard as they try to leave the apartment. In the Season 5 premiere, Raj confessed to her that they in fact did not have sex as everyone thinks, and she gave him the nickname "Quickdraw." She spent the rest of the episode with Amy avoiding the guys in an attempt to apologize for her encounter with Raj.
. However, the test audiences reacted to the character negatively, seeing her as too mean. Because of this, the character was changed, and the role was recast.
Tom Jicha of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says of Cuoco, "Her character had the potential to be a bimbo
but she has developed it into a fully fleshed-out woman, who isn't as book-smart as the other characters but is wiser in so many ways. She's also a great straight person
, who can get off zingers of her own.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
on the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television series The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers...
, portrayed by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress Kaley Cuoco
Kaley Cuoco
Kaley Christine Cuoco is an American film and television actress. She first came to attention for her role as Bridget Hennessy on the Emmy Award-winning sitcom 8 Simple Rules. She later starred as Billie Jenkins on the final season of the supernatural drama series Charmed...
.
Penny is the main female character on the show. She is Leonard Hofstadter
Leonard Hofstadter
Leonard Leakey Hofstadter, Ph.D., is a fictional character on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Johnny Galecki. Leonard is an experimental physicist from New Jersey who shares an apartment with colleague and best friend Sheldon Cooper...
(Johnny Galecki
Johnny Galecki
John Mark "Johnny" Galecki is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as David Healy in the ABC sitcom Roseanne, Rusty Griswold in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and as Leonard Hofstadter in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory.-Early life:Galecki was born in Bree, Belgium, of...
) and Sheldon Cooper
Sheldon Cooper
Sheldon Lee Cooper, B.S., M.S., M.A., Ph.D., Sc.D. is a fictional character from Texas on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Jim Parsons...
's (Jim Parsons
Jim Parsons
James Joseph "Jim" Parsons is an American television and film actor. He is best known for playing Sheldon Cooper on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, with his performance often cited as a significant reason for the program's success...
) neighbor across the hallway, and the main love interest of Leonard. Penny's beauty and outgoing personality contrast with the main male characters, who are all scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
s and geek
Geek
The word geek is a slang term, with different meanings ranging from "a computer expert or enthusiast" to "a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts", with a general pejorative meaning of "a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to...
s.
Personality
Originally from Omaha, NebraskaOmaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
, Penny is a waitress at the local Cheesecake Factory
The Cheesecake Factory
The Cheesecake Factory, Inc. is a restaurant company in the United States. The company operates 165 upscale, casual, full-service dining restaurants: 151 under The Cheesecake Factory mark, 13 under the Grand Lux Cafe mark and one under the RockSugar Pan Asian Kitchen mark...
with aspirations of becoming an actress. She is a Sagittarius
Sagittarius (astrology)
Sagittarius is the ninth astrological sign in the Zodiac, which spans the zodiac between the 240th and 269th degree of celestial longitude...
, meaning she was born between November 22 and December 21. She has full confidence in horoscopes and often has arguments with Sheldon and Leonard about their accuracy.
In contrast to the rest of the group, Penny is not particularly intellectually gifted or savvy in a specific technical field, but she has great social skills
Social skills
A social skill is any skill facilitating interaction and communication with others. Social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning such skills is called socialization...
and is very knowledgeable about pop culture. She is also messy and disorganized, but appears to like it that way.
While usually very kind, Penny has a bad temper which has erupted on many occasions, such as when Sheldon broke into her apartment to clean, when she confronted Howard
Howard Wolowitz
Howard Joel Wolowitz, M.Eng is a fictional character on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Simon Helberg.Among the main male characters in the show, Howard is distinguished for lacking a doctoral degree, for still living with his mother, and for believing himself to...
over his "creepy" flirting, or when Sheldon "banished" her from their social group. Leonard has likened her to The Hulk
Hulk (comics)
The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
when she gets angry, while Sheldon once said to his friend Stuart that she would "maul [him] like a rabid Wolverine
Wolverine
The wolverine, pronounced , Gulo gulo , also referred to as glutton, carcajou, skunk bear, or quickhatch, is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae . It is a stocky and muscular carnivore, more closely resembling a small bear than other mustelids...
" if Stuart woke her up.
Penny is a terrible driver (she ignores stop signs, drives too fast, fails to service her vehicle regularly, and has left her car's passenger side wing mirror
Wing mirror
A wing mirror is a mirror found on the exterior of motor vehicles for the purposes of helping the driver see areas behind and to the sides of the vehicle, outside of the driver's peripheral vision .Although almost all modern cars mount their side mirrors on the doors, normally at the "A" pillar,...
"in a parking lot in Hollywood"). She also has a Chinese character tattooed on her right buttock, which, according to her, means "courage" but is revealed to mean "soup" by Sheldon. She uses vanilla oil as perfume and snores badly (especially when on her back). Early in the series, she claimed to be vegetarian, with the exception of fish and the "occasional steak...I love steak!".
Friendship with Sheldon
For the most part, Penny cannot stand Leonard's roommate Sheldon CooperSheldon Cooper
Sheldon Lee Cooper, B.S., M.S., M.A., Ph.D., Sc.D. is a fictional character from Texas on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Jim Parsons...
, and the two of them have clashed several times. Actor Jim Parsons
Jim Parsons
James Joseph "Jim" Parsons is an American television and film actor. He is best known for playing Sheldon Cooper on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, with his performance often cited as a significant reason for the program's success...
, who portrays Sheldon, described the characters as "polar opposites".
In one episode, Sheldon tries to "improve" Penny using chocolate, rewarding her for what he considers to be "correct behavior", as in operant conditioning
Operant conditioning
Operant conditioning is a form of psychological learning during which an individual modifies the occurrence and form of its own behavior due to the association of the behavior with a stimulus...
with lab rats.
As Sheldon observed, Penny will often call someone "sweetie" coupled with a thinly-veiled insult.
Despite this, at times Penny and Sheldon have shown to be good friends; Penny took care of Sheldon while he was ill and let him stay at her apartment when he was locked out of his; Sheldon lent money to Penny when she needed it and took care of her when she dislocated
Dislocated shoulder
A dislocated shoulder occurs when the humerus separates from the scapula at the glenohumeral joint. The shoulder joint has the greatest range of motion of any joint in the body and as a result is particularly susceptible to dislocation and subluxation. Approximately half of major joint...
her shoulder. During a Christmas episode, Penny gave Sheldon a signed napkin used by Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. Nimoy's most famous role is that of Spock in the original Star Trek series , multiple films, television and video game sequels....
. In return, Sheldon gave Penny multiple baskets of bath products and then a long hug, to both her and Leonard's surprise. When Sheldon's World of Warcraft account was hacked Penny kicked the hacker in the balls.
Geek traits
Although Penny's personality usually contrasts to that of her nerdNerd
Nerd is a derogatory slang term for an intelligent but socially awkward and obsessive person who spends time on unpopular or obscure pursuits, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities. Nerds are considered to be awkward, shy, and unattractive...
y friends, in the later episodes Penny has shown some of her own geekiness too, either intentionally or unintentionally.
Penny was surprisingly good the first time she played Halo 3
Halo 3
Halo 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the Halo franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2...
, and camping at Sheldon's spawn location and killing him before he could move, which greatly aggravated him.
In one instance, Penny was critical of the guys' interests in toys and collectible
Collectible
A collectable or collectible is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector . There are numerous types of collectables and terms to denote those types. An antique is a collectable that is old...
s, but Sheldon retorted by noting her collection of stuffed bears and other such childish things (Hello Kitty
Hello Kitty
is a fictional character produced by the Japanese company Sanrio, first designed by Yuko Shimizu. She is portrayed as a female white Japanese bobtail cat with a red bow. The character's first appearance on an item, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in Japan in 1974 and brought to the United States...
, Beanie Babies, My Little Pony
My Little Pony
My Little Pony is a brand of toy ponies marketed primarily to girls produced by the toy manufacturer Hasbro. These ponies can be identified by their colorful bodies and manes and a unique symbol on one or both sides of their flanks...
, etc.).
After Sheldon introduces her to the theory of Schrödinger's cat
Schrödinger's cat
Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment, usually described as a paradox, devised by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935. It illustrates what he saw as the problem of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics applied to everyday objects. The scenario presents a cat that might be...
during the build up to her and Leonard's date as the climax to series 1, Penny attempts to reuse the metaphor with a new boyfriend in "The Codpiece Topology".
After a brief introduction to the game Age of Conan by Sheldon, Penny creates a character named Queen Penelope. Penny became addicted, to the point of ignoring her friends and calling Sheldon at all hours of the day for advice. She finally overcame her addiction when she realized she had agreed to go on a virtual "date" within the game with Howard.
After Alicia, a new tenant in the building, stole the boys' attention from her, Penny became jealous and tried to win over the boys again by making a physicist joke. To her own surprise, she even makes a casual reference to Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
while engaged in idle conversation.
In "The Electric Can Opener Fluctuation", when attempting to console Sheldon (and failing miserably), she mentions events that occurred in the new Star Trek movie.
In "The Wheaton Recurrence," Penny quoted, "Do, or do not. There is no try" while in bed with Leonard, and even mentioned she knew it was from The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay, based on a story by George Lucas, was written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan...
. Leonard was pleasantly shocked that he was "in bed with a beautiful woman who can quote Yoda
Yoda
Yoda is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, appearing in the second and third original films, as well as all three prequel trilogy films. A renowned Jedi master, Yoda made his first on-screen appearance in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back where he is responsible for...
," and for the first time told Penny that he loved her.
In "The Apology Insufficiency," Penny had a chat with Sheldon and displayed knowledge of the Kobayashi Maru
Kobayashi Maru
The Kobayashi Maru is a test in the fictional universe of Star Trek. It is a Starfleet training exercise designed to test the character of cadets in the command track at Starfleet Academy. The Kobayashi Maru test was first depicted in the opening scene of the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan...
test, a plot device in Star Trek, impressing him.
Full name
Penny's last name has not been revealed, though co-creator Bill PradyBill Prady
Bill Prady is a television writer and producer who has worked on American sitcoms and variety programs, including Married... with Children, Dream On, Star Trek: Voyager, Dharma & Greg, and The Gilmore Girls.-Career:...
stated that it eventually will be.
Legal issues and arrests
Penny has shown that she had several run-ins with the law. It is stated that she has several parking tickets that have yet to be paid. She also mentioned that she was arrested on a warrant for failure to appear in Nebraska.Family
Not a lot is mentioned about Penny's family, other than her father Wyatt (Keith CarradineKeith Carradine
Keith Ian Carradine is an American actor who has had success on stage, film and television. In addition, he is a Golden Globe and Oscar winning songwriter. As a member of the Carradine family, he is part of an acting "dynasty" that began with his father, John Carradine.-Early life:Keith...
) trying to raise her like a boy, but on her accounts they seem to be a dysfunctional family
Dysfunctional family
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is...
.
In an early episode, Penny talked to Raj
Rajesh Koothrappali
Rajesh Ramayan "Raj" Koothrappali, Ph.D. is a fictional character on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Kunal Nayyar....
about her sister having shot her brother-in-law. In another episode, Penny accompanied the guys to the comic book store to shop for a gift for her 13-year-old nephew. In another episode, Penny has an unwanted guest, Christy, staying with her who slept with her brother while engaged to her cousin, "so she's sort of family." Christy knows Penny from back in Omaha, and according to Penny she slept with nearly every man in the city, earning her the nickname "Whore of Omaha". While staying with Penny, Christy sleeps with Howard Wolowitz
Howard Wolowitz
Howard Joel Wolowitz, M.Eng is a fictional character on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Simon Helberg.Among the main male characters in the show, Howard is distinguished for lacking a doctoral degree, for still living with his mother, and for believing himself to...
.
When Leonard's mother, neuroscientist
Neuroscientist
A neuroscientist is an individual who studies the scientific field of neuroscience or any of its related sub-fields...
and psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
Dr. Beverly Hofstadter, chatted with Penny, Penny tearfully revealed some of her childhood issues, such as being called "Slugger" by her father, whom she referred to as being named Bob, because he really wanted a son to play baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
with. This conversation affected Penny in such a way that she got drunk and almost ended up having sex with Leonard.
Penny has mentioned having a brother on parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
, who she says is "kind of a chemist
Clandestine chemistry
Clandestine chemistry is chemistry carried out in secret, and particularly in illegal drug laboratories. Larger labs are usually run by gangs or organized crime intending to produce for distribution on the black market...
." In another episode, when in a church with the guys and Sheldon's mother, she asks God to help her brother to stop cooking crystal meth
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
.
Work
Penny's main job is as a waitress in the local Cheesecake FactoryThe Cheesecake Factory
The Cheesecake Factory, Inc. is a restaurant company in the United States. The company operates 165 upscale, casual, full-service dining restaurants: 151 under The Cheesecake Factory mark, 13 under the Grand Lux Cafe mark and one under the RockSugar Pan Asian Kitchen mark...
, although in the first season episode "The Grasshopper Experiment" she trained as a bartender. In 2010, when actress Kaley Cuoco broke her leg, Penny was shown working as a bartender in several season 4 episodes to hide the cast on her leg.
Penny considers herself a professional actress and constantly goes to castings, but often she is not successful or the role being auditioned turns out to be quite different from what she expected, as was the case when she thought she was auditioning for a cat food commercial and it instead turned out to be a casting for a pornographic film. In season one, episode "The Loobenfeld Decay," she is cast in a production of Rent
Rent (musical)
Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...
, and in "The Terminator Decoupling" she refers to another of her roles as "Anne Frank
Anne Frank
Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank is one of the most renowned and most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Acknowledged for the quality of her writing, her diary has become one of the world's most widely read books, and has been the basis for several plays and films.Born in the city of Frankfurt...
in a theater above a bowling alley." In the Season 5 premiere, frustrated over her lack of success as an actress (as well as damaging what was left of her relationship with Leonard), she briefly considers returning to Nebraska until landing a part in a commercial for hemorrhoid
Hemorrhoid
Hemorrhoids or haemorrhoids , are vascular structures in the anal canal which help with stool control. They become pathological or piles when swollen or inflamed. In their physiological state they act as a cushion composed of arterio-venous channels and connective tissue that aid the passage of...
cream.
When Penny was a child, she rebuilt a tractor engine on the farm and competed in a junior rodeo. She was also a member of the Corn Queen's Court at age 16.
Relationships
Unlike the rest of the main characters, Penny is very outgoing and assertive, and has many romantic relationships over the course of the series. In the fourth season opener, Sheldon uses probability calculations to estimate that Penny has dated almost 180 men since she started dating at age 14, and slept with "30.96" of them (he rounds it up to 31). Penny strongly denies it was ever that many.In the first episode of the series, Penny moved in across the hall from Leonard and Sheldon because of her recent split with her boyfriend, Kurt, after four years.
She said she still loved him even though he cheated on her. Kurt makes further appearances in the show trying to get back together with Penny, and is usually confronted by Leonard.
From the beginning, Leonard's infatuation with Penny becomes the major force that drives the series. Howard also shows interest in her (primarily carnal
Libido
Libido refers to a person's sex drive or desire for sexual activity. The desire for sex is an aspect of a person's sexuality, but varies enormously from one person to another, and it also varies depending on circumstances at a particular time. A person who has extremely frequent or a suddenly...
), but he is always rejected abruptly due to his overtly sexual approaches. Raj is secretly attracted to Penny as well, but does not interact with her a lot due to his inability to talk to women
Selective mutism
Selective mutism is an anxiety disorder in which a person, most often a child, who is normally capable of speech is unable to speak in given situations, or to specific people...
, like Penny, unless he is drunk. Although Penny rarely tries to talk to Raj, she does feel, and show, sympathy towards him. Sheldon is the only one of the four main male characters that appears romantically uninterested in her.
In an early episode, Penny described her approach after a failed relationship: she picks up an attractive man and then has meaningless sex over the course of 36 hours in a weekend, then she dumps him.
In the finale of the first season, Penny broke up with her boyfriend, after the latter posted intimate details about their sex life on his blog. This event gave Leonard the opportunity to ask her out on a first official date. Although the date was successful, Penny became worried after she lied to Leonard about graduating from community college
Community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.-Australia:Community colleges carry on the tradition of adult education, which was established in Australia around mid 19th century when evening classes were held to help adults...
(it is mentioned in a later episode, The Cohabitation Formulation, that she was enrolled in one, but dropped out); when Sheldon asked her why she lied, she said she did not want Leonard to see her as a "stupid loser", to which Sheldon replied, "And you thought the opposite of 'stupid loser' was 'community college graduate'?". Leonard eventually learned the truth from a drugged Sheldon, but made matters worse when he tried to encourage Penny to enroll in Pasadena City College
Pasadena City College
Pasadena City College is a community college in Pasadena, California, USA, located on Colorado Boulevard. PCC is the third largest community college campus in the United States. PCC was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. In 1954, Pasadena Junior College merged with another junior...
. Penny interpreted his suggestion as an insult to her intelligence, and they broke up.
Some time after, Penny's introduction to Leonard's mother, Dr. Beverly Hofstadter, caused Penny and Leonard to seek comfort in each other; they nearly had sex, but Leonard spoiled the moment with unintentionally inappropriate comments about Penny's sexual motivations (to be closer to her father, supposedly, which creeped Penny out), and Penny kicked him out of her apartment.
Afterwards, Penny dated Stuart, from the comic book store, but the dates did not end well. The first time, Penny and Stuart were interrupted by Sheldon. On another occasion, when Penny and Stuart were kissing, Penny mistakenly called him "Leonard".
It was in the second season finale that Penny finally showed strong romantic feelings for Leonard. When she discovered that Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, and Raj would be spending three months at the North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
for a scientific experiment, she became sad and gave him a Snuggie
Sleeved blanket
A sleeved blanket is a unisex body-length blanket with sleeves usually made of fleece or Velux material. It is similar in design to a bathrobe that is meant to be worn backwards...
and an unusually long hug, which Leonard described as lasting for "five Mississippis".
In the third season premiere, after the guys returned from the expedition, Penny kissed Leonard right when he arrived at her door and later the two of them had sex for the first time.
Initially, Leonard and Penny felt uncomfortable with their new relationship, and they agreed to remain only friends. Yet, almost immediately they changed their minds, found renewed sexual urges, and remained a couple. Their relationship soured, however, when Leonard told Penny he loved her for the first time, and an unsure Penny simply replied, "Thank you." This tension, heightened due to (possibly fabricated) comments by Wil Wheaton
Wil Wheaton
Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III is an American actor and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gordie Lachance in the film Stand by Me and Joey Trotta in Toy Soldiers...
to Penny about regretting having been in a similar situation, eventually caused Penny and Leonard to break up for a second time. They did remain friends, however, and slept together once after breaking up (Penny had gotten drunk after a bad date with Zack Johnson, and realized Leonard had ruined her ability to date stupid men). This only caused more confusion about the status of the relationship for Leonard, however.
According to Sheldon's calculation, Penny has had sex with over thirty guys, a conclusion that Penny disagrees with. In Season 4's "The 21-Second Excitation," Penny revealed to her friends Bernadette Rostenkowski and Amy Farrah Fowler during a "Truth or Dare?
Truth or Dare?
Truth or Dare? is a party game requiring a minimum of two players. The game is very popular with adolescents and children, but is also played by some adults and seniors.-Rules:...
" game that she has still not moved on from Leonard. This was further implied in "The Justice League Recombination" when she told Leonard that he was one of the reasons New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
became unpleasant, and when the two exchanged awkward looks as Penny kissed her date, Zack (whom she had gotten back together with briefly in order to not be alone on New Year's Eve), at midnight. In "The Love Car Displacement," Penny accompanied the guys, Bernadette, and Amy to an academic conference in Big Sur; she and Leonard shared the same hotel room for a time and they almost had sex until Raj walked in on them. The next day, bored of the conference, Penny accepted a ride back to Los Angeles from Professor Glenn, Bernadette's tall and attractive ex-boyfriend. When Raj's sister, Priya, returned in the episode "The Cohabitation Formulation", she and Leonard continued their relationship. Penny appeared to be okay with this at first, but when Amy arrived at her apartment to see how she was, she broke down in tears. In the following weeks, she began to realize more and more clearly that she still had strong feelings for Leonard.
In the Season 4 finale, Penny revealed to Raj that she regretted breaking up with Leonard. However, even though she and Raj both agree to be friends, they get drunk and end up having sex. The next morning, both agree to pretend it never happened, but are caught by Leonard, Sheldon, and Howard as they try to leave the apartment. In the Season 5 premiere, Raj confessed to her that they in fact did not have sex as everyone thinks, and she gave him the nickname "Quickdraw." She spent the rest of the episode with Amy avoiding the guys in an attempt to apologize for her encounter with Raj.
Development
In the original, unaired pilot of the series, the conception of the female lead was very different. She was called Katie, and was envisoned as "a street-hardened, tough-as-nails woman with a vulnerable interior". Sheldon and Leonard would "approach her with honesty, to draw the real, sensitive Katie out". The role was played by Amanda WalshAmanda Walsh
Amanda Walsh is a Canadian actress and former VJ for the Canadian television station MuchMusic.-Career beginnings:Walsh was born in Rigaud, Quebec. She went to Hudson High School, in Hudson, Quebec...
. However, the test audiences reacted to the character negatively, seeing her as too mean. Because of this, the character was changed, and the role was recast.
Tom Jicha of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says of Cuoco, "Her character had the potential to be a bimbo
Bimbo
Bimbo, in its popular English language usage, describes a woman who is physically attractive but is perceived to have a low intelligence or poor education. The term can also be used to describe a woman who acts in a sexually promiscuous manner...
but she has developed it into a fully fleshed-out woman, who isn't as book-smart as the other characters but is wiser in so many ways. She's also a great straight person
Straight man
Straight man may refer to:* Straight Man, a novel by Richard Russo* A member of a double act who plays a stooge, feed, or comic foil in theatrical comedy...
, who can get off zingers of her own.
See also
- Leslie Winkle
- List of characters in The Big Bang Theory
- List of The Big Bang Theory episodes