Ever wonder how the stairwell scenes in The Big Bang Theory were actually filmed? Kunal Nayyar (Raj) revealed the trick behind them, and honestly, it sounds kind of annoying.
In a 2022 interview, he explained that the cast didn’t walk up and down different floors — it was just one single staircase. After each shot, the crew would pause filming, change the door numbers and background props, and then shoot the next “floor” scene in the same spot. So basically, the actors kept walking up and down the same stairs, pretending they were on different floors.
Also, a gross behind-the-scenes detail: at the bottom of the stairs, there’s just a wall — and for 12 years, Johnny Galecki (Leonard) stuck his chewing gum on it. Yes, really.
Big Bang Theory’s Stairwell Scenes Were Way More Complicated Than You Think
Ever wonder why the elevator in The Big Bang Theory is always broken? That was actually a creative decision by the show’s creator, Chuck Lorre. He wanted to keep the characters moving between floors, instead of keeping all the action inside just one apartment set. It added variety to the scenes — but also made filming a lot trickier.
Since the show was filmed in front of a live audience, timing was everything. Director Mark Cendrowski explained that stairwell scenes were especially tough because of how the comedy had to line up with the actors’ movement. If a line got a big laugh, it sometimes delayed the next one — so they’d have to move that line to the next “floor” in the script or adjust where the scene started. But the actors couldn’t walk too slowly either, or it would feel off. So it became a constant balancing act between pacing and punchlines.
And just like Kunal Nayyar said in another interview — there weren’t multiple staircases. It was the same set reused over and over. Between takes, the crew would quickly swap out small details like door numbers, add props like a bike or a pipe, and voilà — it became a new floor. Cendrowski even mentioned they often kept the cameras rolling while the set was being changed, to avoid breaking the audience’s energy or having to restart everything.
Jim Parsons Loved the Broken Elevator Gag in Big Bang Theory
So, how did the other cast members feel about the stairwell scenes? Kunal Nayyar wasn’t exactly enthusiastic, but Jim Parsons saw them differently. In Jessica Radloff’s book, Parsons said he actually enjoyed the challenge because the scenes required really precise timing—and, of course, the live audience added to the fun.
“I did enjoy the stairway scenes. They’re very physical and technical, but that’s part of comedy, and when it all comes together, it’s one of the highlights of the night,” Parsons recalled. The stairwell gave actors chances for creative entrances and exits, and even delivering lines just as they walk out of view—something that can be really funny. But the tricky part was always timing everything perfectly: how fast you walked, where you stood, the pacing—it was all very technical. And no matter how well they planned, the audience’s reaction could totally throw things off.
Parsons added that he loved fully committing to this theatrical device for over a decade. He understood why the elevator was always broken in the show, but he was glad they finally “fixed” it near the end. “It’s brilliant to me because there’s this annoying quality to it, like, no, we can’t deliver good lines in an elevator — so let’s just keep it broken,” he said. “There was really no logical reason the elevator shouldn’t have been fixed earlier! But that’s good comedy. And it was nice to have that little closure when the elevator finally worked in the second-to-last episode.”
The Elevator Finally Got Fixed on The Big Bang Theory
In the end, the creative team behind The Big Bang Theory made the funny decision to finally “fix” the broken elevator in season 12’s episode “The Change Constant,” which was the second-to-last episode of the entire series. In that episode, Sheldon is completely overwhelmed by all the changes happening in his life — he just won a Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife Amy (Mayim Bialik) for their work on super-asymmetry, and Amy got a makeover to celebrate, which sends Sheldon into a bit of a panic. To make things “worse” (at least for Sheldon), he rushes out of what is now Leonard and Penny’s apartment, only to find Penny happily using the working elevator.
Kaley Cuoco shared with Jessica Radloff in her book that she was really excited to be the first to ride the elevator. “When I found out I got to be in the elevator, that was it for me,” Cuoco said, recalling when she first read the script. “I was so excited. I couldn’t wait to do it in front of the audience. During our producer run-through, it killed! People were screaming for all the right reasons.”
The Big Bang Theory, including all those famous stairwell scenes, is now streaming on Max.
