In 2018, the final episode of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ flashed across the screens. But even five years after the end, the sitcom enjoys great popularity, which the spin-off prequel ‘Young Sheldon’ started in 2017 cannot quite keep up with. This is of course mainly due to the interaction of the core ensemble around Dr. Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), Dr. Leonard Leakey Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg), Dr. Rajesh “Raj” Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar) and of course neighbor Penny (Kaley Cuoco), who shake up the daily life of the nerdy scientist’s shared apartment. They all appeared in every episode for a whopping twelve seasons. But wait a minute: really everyone?!
Not quite: Actually, there is talk of the fourth season two episodes in which Kaley Cuoco is notable by her absence. In concrete terms, this applies to the episodes “The Stink of Despair” and “Hands Away from My Sister”. Many fans were quite confused in front of the television, because neither before nor since has it ever happened that one of the five main characters did not appear for an entire episode – let alone two! But as Cuoco revealed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, there was a good reason for her absence…
The reason for Kaley Cuoco’s absence even caused a change in the series
Cuoco is not only an actress, but also a passionate rider. But even years of driving experience don’t protect you against things going wrong. After all, horses are animals and sometimes behave unpredictably. The 37-year-old, who since 2019 has lent her voice to ‘Harley Quinn’ in the DC series of the same name, had to discover this the hard way: while she was riding, the horse threw her away and stepped on one of her legs. The result was a broken bone and Cuoco faced a lengthy recovery process. Of course, during this time she had to give up acting.
By the way, Cuoco’s accident even led to a change in the series: After Penny returned, she suddenly stopped working as a waitress and started working as a bartender. The reason for this was that the fracture was still not completely healed and she wanted to keep her injury hidden from the public. While as a waitress she had to constantly run from A to B, she could now simply stand behind the counter. This meant her leg was spared – and her injuries remained invisible to the public.