Since The Big Bang Theory had its own issues when it came to stereotypical characters, I was surprised to find out the show called out The Simpsons for the same issue way back in 2007. The Big Bang Theory’s cast of characters were reliably hilarious, but they weren’t without their issues. For most of the show’s 12-season run, Kaley Cuoco’s Penny was notable for being a rare sitcom heroine who had no interest in having children. This was a welcome change of pace for the genre.
However, as Vulture’s Kathryn VonArendonk noted, The Big Bang Theory’s finale suddenly revealed her pregnancy without ever explaining how or why Penny changed her mind about this major life choice. The twist felt like an afterthought as the episode’s main storyline focused on Sheldon’s Nobel Prize acceptance ceremony, so viewers could understandably have felt let down by this last-minute switch. Similarly, the handling of Raj’s character has received significant criticism over the years, which makes one season 1 gag particularly interesting.
Raj Complained About The Simpsons’ Apu in The Big Bang Theory Season 1
Raj Said Howard’s Impression Of Him Sounded “Like A Simpsons Character”
In season 1, episode 8, “The Grasshopper Experiment,” Howard pretends to be Raj on the telephone to help him secure a date. When Howard said Raj should thank him for the favor, Raj demanded to know why he would thank him for “Making me sound like a Simpsons character.” The line is clearly a jab at Hank Azaria’s character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. An Indian-American immigrant shopkeeper, Apu was a regular fixture throughout the first twenty seasons of The Simpsons, but he consistently proved a divisive figure among both viewers and reviewers of the show.
Apu’s critics questioned why the character was played by a white actor and called the character an insulting stereotype and a simplistic caricature. Meanwhile, his defenders held Azaria’s character up as an example of positive Indian-American representation. Clearly, The Big Bang Theory’s main character fell into the former camp, considering how offended Raj was by Howard’s impression of him. Interestingly, “The Grasshopper Experiment” originally aired in 2007, around the time of The Simpsons Movie’s release and at a point when the supporting character’s place in the series was rarely questioned.
This would change over the following decade as Apu’s presence on the show became seen as increasingly questionable. After multiple articles on the topic, comedian Hari Kondabolu’s 2017 documentary The Problem with Apu was a major force in bringing the issues with the character to a broader audience. In this documentary, Kondabolu spoke to stars like Maulik Pancholy, Aziz Ansari, Hasan Minhaj, Kal Penn, and Utkarsh Ambudkar about the character’s impact on their childhood. The Simpsons quietly retired Apu in 2017, although not before addressing the issues with the character.
The Simpsons Retired Apu A Decade After Raj’s The Big Bang Theory Line
2017’s Documentary The Problem with Apu Led To His Disappearance
In Season 27, episode 12, “Much Apu About Something,” Apu’s nephew Sanjay took over his store, the Kwik-E-Mart, and turned the convenience store into a hip, progressive shopping destination complete with free-range and organic produce. Played by Ambudkar, Sunil angrily criticized Apu’s stereotypical character traits, but the actor later admitted that he felt the episode was a letdown. Speaking to The New York Times after Azaria decided to stop voicing the character, Ambudkar was unimpressed with the finished episode and said that it did little more than silence valid criticisms of the show.
After “Much Apu About Something” and the release of The Problem with Apu, the character was retired from The Simpsons. Apu has not appeared in the series, outside of unvoiced background roles, since season 29, episode 1, “The Serfsons.” Although The Big Bang Theory beat most shows to call out the issues with The Simpsons’ Apu, the show’s most prominent South Asian character wasn’t without valid critiques of his own. Unfortunately, Raj played into a whole host of other problematic stereotypes.
The Big Bang Theory’s Raj Wasn’t Without Criticisms of His Own
The Gang’s Reaction To Raj’s Stereotypically Effeminate Behavior Earned Criticism
As noted by Entertainment Weekly’s Adam B Vary in 2012, The Big Bang Theory mocked Raj’s effeminate characteristics in a way that was often uncomfortably close to veiled homophobia. Ostensibly, the gag was that Raj was a heterosexual man, but his interests led other characters to erroneously presume he was gay. However, when characters who had known him for decades, including Howard, Bernadette, and his own family insulted him for his love of pop music, fine linens, and other stereotypically feminine interests, this gag strayed a lot closer to simply branding Raj’s preferences and personality as a problem.
Raj proved the only member of the Pasadena gang to end up unlucky in love.
Jokes about Raj’s “Metrosexual” status were already fairly dated by the time The Big Bang Theory aired, but gags where characters accused him of being gay despite his history of dating women were uniquely uncomfortable. In a show with no major LGBTQ+ main characters, this comfort with policing the gender expression of any character was a weird, uncomfortable gag, and its prevalence throughout the show’s 12 seasons wasn’t helped when Raj proved the only member of the Pasadena gang to end up unlucky in love.
The Big Bang Theory’s Divisive Raj Ending Didn’t Help This Issue
Kunal Nayyar’s Character Was The Only One Who Ended Up Single
While The Big Bang Theory’s upcoming spinoff series Stuart Fails to Save The Universe might change this, Raj was the only member of the main gang who ended up single in the show’s ending. Since he did date various characters over the years, it would be unfair to assert that Raj was the only character whose love life was treated as an afterthought. However, the difference between his romantic character arc and that of his co-stars is notable.
Raj alone ended up single and remained incapable of managing a serious relationship as the series reached its conclusion.
Howard went from being one of the sleaziest wannabe womanizers on television to a sweet, authentically present husband and father, while Sheldon went from being a comically insufferable presence to a loving husband throughout the series. In contrast, Raj alone ended up single and remained incapable of managing a serious relationship as the series reached its conclusion.
Although The Big Bang Theory’s focus shifted to Sheldon early on, the series still had plenty of time to completely redeem the once-odious Howard as well as devoting endless episodes to Penny and Leonard’s “Will they won’t they” romance. As such, the reality that Raj’s story ended with him single and seemingly unhappy about it proved that, for all the show’s issues with The Simpsons, The Big Bang Theory had problems of its own when it came to diverse representation.
