Seemingly a show that came out of nowhere, for many years now, The Big Bang Theory has been among the most viewed shows on North American television. In fact, at the height of its popularity, it was extremely common to walk around in public and see someone sporting a Bazinga T-shirt. In the midst of airing its final season, there seems to be no better time than now to look back at the show’s hits and misses.
Able to last an impressive twelve seasons, over that time The Big Bang Theory has introduced a long list of supporting characters. Among that group, there certainly are some that have passed the test of time, like Mary Cooper, Wil Wheaton, Barry Kripke, and Professor Proton. On the other hand, there are those that don't reappear, making it seem like the show’s writers and producers don’t want them brought up again.
In order for a character to appear on this list, they first and foremost need to be from the show The Big Bang Theory. On top of that, it needs to seem like the people behind the show want viewers to forget the character ever existed. That said, it should be noted that the characters that appear could have been popular among fans at one time, as long as The Big Bang Theory has left them behind. Of course, if fans disliked the character, that will help them in the ranking.
Here are 20 Characters The Big Bang Theory Wants Everyone To Forget.
Ramona Nowitzki
Taken in by an unbelievably misguided crush, Ramona Nowitzki, Sheldon’s one-time assistant, has long harbored feelings for him that were never going to be reciprocated. It's a sad situation for her, and if that were her sole character trait it would be really easy to feel a great deal of pity for her. However, she also seemed to be perfectly willing to do whatever she could to come between Sheldon and his friends if it would bring him closer to her.
On top of that, she almost always had a creepy look on her face that was pretty hard to take. Popping up again in the show years later, she was just as awful as ever. Now that Sheldon and Amy are married, it is time for Ramona to disappear.
Colonel Richard Williams
One of the worst aspects of the sitcom format is that the week-to-week antics have little impact on any of the people involved. However, on the rare occasions when there is a multi-episode arc, it generally continues to be brought up for years after that.
For instance, Howard has bragged his space travel ad nauseam. Yet for some reason, the fact that the guys invented a guidance system and developed it under Air Force Colonel Richard Williams has long been forgotten. Considering how big of a deal it would be to create technology like that, it speaks volumes about how writers perceive that storyline and the Colonel, who they’ve completely put it in the past.
Dan
Among the most underrated actors of his generation, Stephen Root has proven throughout his career that he is fully capable of giving stellar dramatic performances and being downright hilarious. For that reason, when he was cast as Dan, the boss of Penny and Bernadette, it was pretty exciting for any Big Bang fans who know how talented he is.
Unfortunately, after hiring Penny and revealing that even though he is Bernadette’s boss he fears her, the character seemed to disappear entirely. A real shame, no matter if it was Stephen or producers who decided he would not stick around, it would only make sense for the show to want viewers to forget this great boss character is gone.
Zack Johnson
Probably the most remarkable of Penny’s ex-boyfriends, Zack Johnson is a kind-hearted character who isn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. When the two of them broke up it took virtually nobody by surprise.
He was an all-around good guy who never was a great match for Penny.
That said, it was somewhat disappointing at the time as his interactions with the guys were quite amusing. Zack was introduced in the third season of the show, which is considered by many fans to be the best. Considering many of those same fans see the current iteration of the show as far inferior, it doesn’t make sense to remind them of a better time.
Dr. Alfred Hofstadter
Seen in thirteen episodes to date, Christine Baranski’s Dr. Beverly Hofstadter and her odd relationship with her son Leonard has been played for jokes on The Big Bang Theory over several seasons. Despite that, it wasn’t until the ninth year that the show introduced Leonard’s dad, Dr. Alfred Hofstadter, who is also played by a TV veteran, Judd Hirsch.
He had a storyline that could have been hilarious.
When it became clear that he and Sheldon’s mom had eyes for one another, viewers began imagining the awkwardness to come. It was stated that Alfred and Mary planned to see each other in the future, but all of that potential has been lost since Alfred has disappeared and fans have been forced to move on.
Leslie Winkle
It may be hard to imagine now, but at one point Leslie Winkle was such an important character to The Big Bang Theory that it was announced that she had been hired to be a series regular. However, only five months later, it came out that she had been downgraded again.
In the end, her character only appeared in nine episodes of the show.
Entertainment Weekly reported that this change in status was due to the fact that the writers could not come up with enough stories to keep her character in an important role. Given how talented Sara Gilbert is as a comedic actor, it is pretty embarrassing that the writers failed to keep her around so it makes sense they want everyone to forget what happened.
Todd Zarnecki
An example of a one-time character who made an impact with audiences in the worst way possible, Todd Zarnecki is seen as a lowlight by many fans of The Big Bang Theory. Introduced in the episode "The Zarnecki Incursion", he is involved in a storyline in which Sheldon has all of his virtual stuff in World of Warcraft stolen. Todd is revealed to be responsible for the thievery.
Not content with simply building his inventory back up, Sheldon and the gang track down Todd. When reasoning with him doesn’t work, Penny forces him to return the goods by kicking him. He's a character who managed to miss the mark entirely. We're sure many fans are right there with producers when it comes to wanting to forget about Todd.
Sebastian
Solely seen in a flashback episode in which viewers learned how Leonard and Sheldon ended up being roommates, Sebastian only appeared on screen for a matter of seconds. Revealed to have been Sheldon’s last roommate before Leonard moved in, Sebastian couldn’t stand living there so much that he wrote his hatred on the wall in red paint. He was never seen again.
This is a real shame since Steven Yeun is a lovable actor and seeing him react to Sheldon would have been a delight.
He was someone who showed Sheldon’s peculiar behavior is not as charming as the show makes it seem. Sebastian likely will never be brought up again since he paints a main character in a very negative light.
Claire
The first of Raj exes to appear on this list, Claire wasn’t even given a last name during her several episodes run on the show. In some way emblematic of one of the worst aspects of The Big Bang Theory’s recent years, Raj being unlucky in love was funny at first, but it eventually became too much.
As a result, it was downright infuriating when Raj messed things up with Claire, since she seemed to be perfectly set up to make him an all-around better man. After all, she was clearly interested in the guy, but was also perfectly willing to challenge him. With that in mind, the show would want everyone to solely focus on Raj’s current fiancée instead of focusing on the sad days of his failures.
Emily Sweeney
Speaking of Raj’s ex-girlfriends, it is time to look at the woman he was involved with when he first became interested in the aforementioned Claire. One of the most befuddling characters in the show’s history, it seemed like Emily Sweeney was supposed to be likable based on how her character was written during much of her run.
There was something about the way she came off that made her seem like she was hiding something sinister.
Either a failure in terms of how the character was written or the person chosen to play her, Emily leaving the show was a relief to many viewers, so bringing her up again would be a mistake.
Kenneth Fitzgerald
The type of character that hasn’t been seen very much on The Big Bang Theory, Kenneth Fitzgerald had a multifaceted personality. Perfectly willing to flout the law by selling Sheldon and Leonard liquid helium from the black market, he also was intelligent enough to discuss the superfluid theory. On top of that, he was revealed to have a love of pop culture that allowed him to debate the merits of Ernest Goes to Jail with Leonard and Sheldon.
All of that said, just because he was an interesting character doesn’t mean his gruff exterior was a good fit for The Big Bang Theory, which probably is why the show wants him forgotten.
Mrs. Koothrappali
At one time just as important as characters like Mary Cooper and Beverly Hofstadter, for some reason Mrs. Koothrappali's relevance on The Big Bang Theory is long gone. Throughout the early seasons, raj's mother could be seen in several episodes talking to her son from his laptop screen. Then, seemingly out of nowhere it was revealed that Raj’s parents had chosen to divorce and now Mrs. Koothrappali hasn’t appeared on the show for several seasons.
It's a puzzling decision since her character was just as good as Raj’s dad.
The show would probably like viewers to forget that it is all but ignoring Mrs. Koothrappali’s existence.
Alex Jensen
Evidently, the show wants viewers to believe that all research students become smitten with the scientists in their orbit. Unlike Ramona who fell for Sheldon, Alex Jensen became smitten with Leonard, who was oblivious of that fact for a long time. Essentially a short-lived stumbling block in Penny and Leonard’s relationship, once it became clear that Alex was never going to come between them it seemed like the show had no interest in her any longer.
In fact, at the end of her final episode, she was still working for Sheldon and her departure from that post has never been explained. Considering they couldn’t be bothered to give her a proper exit, it says a lot about how those in charge of the show viewed Alex.
Oliver Lorvis
Quite possibly the creepiest The Big Bang Theory character ever, Oliver Lorvis is an older man who becomes infatuated with Penny. A doctor who believes that the flirting Penny did in order to sell him medicine was real, based off Penny winking at him, Oliver tracks her down and shows up at her apartment flowers in hand. Going even further than that, once he learns that Penny and Leonard are engaged, he invites the gang to his house, traps them in his trophy room, and tries to win Penny over.
As he's clearly a stalker, it makes no sense at all that Oliver has never been seen again after his first appearance.
However, since there seems to be no plans for his character to return, the show wants everyone to forget he is out there.
Dr. Stephanie Barnett
This character speaks volumes about just how badly viewers wanted Penny and Leonard to get together at one point. When Leonard began dating Dr. Stephanie Barnett, people couldn’t stand her. The character was a perfectly kind woman who seemed to genuinely care for Leonard. Even the way she played off Sheldon wasn’t enough to make fans like her.
For that reason, many viewers rejoiced when Leonard freaked out that she had sneakily been low-key moving in with him, including keeping her clothes in his closet. Considering how disliked she was during her three-episode stint on the show, there is no reason to bring Stephanie up ever again.
Professor Crawley
One of the angriest personalities in the pop culture world, Lewis Black is known for his ability to unleash passionate rants at a moment’s notice. He played Professor Crawley, a bitter entomologist whose funding has been cut off by Caltech. When the gang went to see him he had a lot of things to say. Proceeding to go off about how betrayed he feels by his current situation, his rants run so deep that he even brings up being nicknamed creepy Crawley as a kid. This character was perfectly written to fit the skills of Lewis Black.
The problem is that his trademark anger in no way fits the tone of The Big Bang Theory.
With that in mind, it is a good thing Crawley is forgotten by the show and most fans alike.
Lucy
Of all of Raj’s ex-girlfriends, for a very short period of time, it seemed like Lucy could be the one who was best suited to become a major part of his life. After all, beneath the obvious layers of nervousness, she is a sweet person with a gentle soul, which is a description that also fits Raj.
Unfortunately, her social anxiety is so severe that even when it is just the two of them talking, her impulse is to run away to the safety of being alone. This leads to her breaking up with Raj after a short relationship that goes nowhere. While her issues are all too real for many people, the problem is that the show’s portrayal of her anxiety was highly inconsistent, which led to many fans finding her incredibly frustrating.
Josh Wolowitz
Of all of the characters from this hit show, it is Howard Wolowitz who is most influenced by his relationships with his family members. In the early seasons, he is dominated by his mother and it becomes clear that Bernadette shares a lot of traits with the woman who brought him up. On top of that, the feelings of rejection his father’s departure inspired in Howard have vexed him for years.
When his younger half-brother Josh Wolowitz wound up at his door, it was an emotionally fraught moment for Howard.
They were developing a relationship by the end of the only episode Josh has ever appeared in. It is egregious that the show has yet to show Howard following up with his sibling.
Priya Koothrappali
This time around we are going to look at Raj’s sister, Priya Koothrappali. Funnily enough, however, while she is a family member of Raj’s, it is her short-term romance with Leonard that Priya is mostly remembered for.
A fairly big part of the show during a period in which Leonard and Penny were a will they or won't they couple, Priya was obviously designed to keep them apart. Just like the aforementioned Stephanie, this led to many viewers greatly disliking her and hoping she would disappear. However, considering she is Raj’s sister, the fact that she has never appeared on the show after breaking up with Leonard makes it obvious producers are happy she is gone.
Jimmy Speckerman
He is easily the character that The Big Bang Theory wants viewers to forget the most. There are two reasons why Jimmy Speckerman is a problem for the show. The first is that back when Jimmy first appeared, the character was annoying and downright awful. The second and much more serious reason is that Lance Barber is the actor who was cast to play him.
In Young Sheldon, Barber plays the father of the titular character.
Considering that Sheldon share scenes with Jimmy and has an eidetic memory, the idea that he doesn’t notice that he is talking to someone that looks exactly like his dad is hard to swallow.
---
Who else does The Big Bang Theory want us to forget? Let us know in the comments!