Without question, The Big Bang Theory turned its core cast members into household names. That being said, some of those actors, like Mayim Bialik and Johnny Galecki, were already well known for their work on other sitcoms. The same was true for Kaley Cuoco, who had achieved success on a previous series, then reunited with her sitcom mother on The Big Bang Theory in one heartwarming episode.
Kaley Cuoco has been in show business since the early 1990s. While she got started with a lot of small roles in a variety of TV shows and movies, she certainly rose to prominence thanks to her role as Penny Hofstadter on 12 seasons of The Big Bang Theory. More recently, Cuoco has received nearly universal acclaim for her work as Cassie Bowden on The Flight Attendant as well as voicing Harley Quinn on the character’s eponymous animated series.
But her first big break was as Bridget Hennessey on 8 Simple Rules…For Dating My Teenage Daughter. Cuoco played one of three children to parents portrayed by two legendary TV actors, John Ritter and Katey Sagal. While shooting Season 2, Ritter began having a health issue that was eventually diagnosed as an aortic dissection. He would tragically die at the age of 54.
8 Simple Rules took a hiatus, then returned to finish Season 2 and produce Season 3. Ritter’s character also died on the show, changing the tone of the series dramatically. Rather than being about parents navigating the pitfalls of raising teenagers, it became a show about a family coping with the sudden and tragic loss of one of the parents. It was heavy material for a sitcom considering life was imitating art all too closely in this case.
The Big Bang Theory arranged something of an 8 Simple Rules reunion in Season 10, Episode 1. While Leonard and Penny had already eloped at this point, they decided to have a proper ceremony for friends and family to attend. Fans had already met Penny’s father but they had yet to actually meet her often mentioned mother and brother. They were respectively played by Katey Sagal and Jack McBrayer, who was best known as Kenneth Parcell on 30 Rock.
It was definitively a heartwarming moment for fans. Naturally, the reunion of the two 8 Simple Rules actors was a big deal for fans of that series. But seeing Penny’s family fully fleshed out was also important for The Big Bang Theory. It was a huge step for her character as she didn’t always get the backstory she deserved. That included a last name of her own that never seemed to make an appearance on the series.
Seeing Sagal and Cuoco together on-screen for the first time in years as mother and daughter was unexpected, but appreciated. For some fans, it felt like the memory of the late John Ritter was being kept alive when his TV wife and TV daughter crossed paths once again. The only problem was this appearance was a one-time deal for Sagal. She never showed up again on The Big Bang Theory, which was certainly a missed opportunity.
