The Big Bang Theory premiered in 2007, and not all jokes have stood the test of time. One scene, in particular, hasn’t aged well at all — so much so that it’s been cut from syndication. According to Jessica Radloff’s 2022 oral history, the scene shows Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki) making a “deposit” at a high-IQ sperm bank.
You can still watch it in the pilot’s original cut on Max, but creator Chuck Lorre admits he now dislikes it. “The scene was so wrong,” he said, adding that the show really began with the awkward first hellos between Penny (Kaley Cuoco), Sheldon, and Leonard.
Parsons didn’t mind it at the time but understands why it was removed. “Looking back, it was out of place,” he said. “The episode is much stronger and more special without it.”
“The Big Bang Theory” Pilot’s Cut Sperm Bank Scene: How Creators Adapted for In-Flight Viewing
When the pilot’s sperm bank scene was cut from syndication, co-creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady faced a new challenge: how to show the episode on flights. Their solution? Clever wraparounds with Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons.
Before the pilot aired on American Airlines, the actors explained that the first scene wouldn’t be shown because it was “a little grown-up,” then jumped straight to the second scene. Parsons joked about explaining how airplanes fly, and Galecki quipped, “No one on an airplane wants to hear how airplanes fly!”
Later, when the episode referenced the cut scene, the actors broke character to say, “There’s a joke here you won’t get… moving on,” keeping the humor intact without confusing viewers.
“The Pilot Worked Because of This First Meeting Between the Main Characters”
The first pilot of The Big Bang Theory didn’t go well — it was scrapped, and the original female lead, Amanda Walsh as Katie, was completely recast. But one moment in the actual pilot immediately clicked: when Penny moves in across the hall, she awkwardly greets Sheldon and Leonard with simple “hi,” “great,” and “bye.”
Bill Prady said the actors — Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, and Jim Parsons — made the scene shine. “We just knew, ‘This is clicking,’” he recalled. Cuoco added, “It took a while to find, but once we did, it became one of the most adorable, remembered scenes on TV.” That small, awkward meeting set the tone for the entire series — and the rest is history.
