Having only just finished this year, The Big Bang Theory was an extremely popular and long-running sitcom that followed 4 geeky scientists and their neighbor, Penny, as they navigated through society’s expectations. Each core character had their own special quirks but the one thing they all had in common was that they were clearly the best of friends.
Despite their remarkable friendship, their personalities also put them at odds with each other fairly frequently, none more so than Sheldon and Leonard. These two loved each other, but Sheldon’s obnoxious obliviousness and Leonard’s selfishness meant that they did do some pretty horrible things to the other.
Sheldon: Stole The Credit For His And Leonard’s Researc
Unsurprisingly, the first entry on this list is about Sheldon screwing over Leonard. Part of Sheldon’s hilarity stemmed from the fact that he honestly doesn’t register when he’s being rude or selfish. Unfortunately, this also means that he treated his friends like dirt on multiple occasions.
In the show’s eighth season, he and Leonard co-wrote a scientific paper which proved to be quite popular with the scientific community. However, Leonard felt betrayed when a magazine covering the paper neglected to give him credit. This was all down to Sheldon who deliberately failed to correct the mistake.
Leonard: Doctored Sheldon’s Experiment Results
Way back in Season 3, Leonard, Howard and Raj had agreed to accompany Sheldon to the North Pole for 3 months to assist him with an experiment. Apart from Sheldon, none of the gang were particularly looking forward to spending time with Sheldon for that long in an enclosed space.
Indeed, Sheldon apparently got very annoying very quickly, which was only exacerbated by the fact that his experiment was failing to produce any desirable data. To prevent themselves from killing their friend, Leonard persuaded Howard and Raj to help him forge new results in order to pacify Sheldon.
Sheldon: Constantly Belittled Leonard
If you haven’t realised by now, Sheldon was a particularly difficult person to like and get along with. This makes the fact that Leonard remained his roommate for 8 plus seasons quite an impressive feat of endurance. During that time though, Sheldon definitely tested the boundaries of Leonard’s patience tenfold.
In his own way, Sheldon always looked out for his roommate and best friend, but he also couldn’t help but criticize everything that Leonard did. His favorite topics to mock were Leonard’s work, his education, his relationships… Basically anything that Leonard did, Sheldon disparaged.
Leonard: Called Sheldon’s Mom When He And Penny Were Fighting
After 12 seasons of The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon and Penny’s beautiful friendship is probably the purest thing to come out of the show. These two were always there for each other and Sheldon confided in Penny things he wouldn’t tell anyone else, not even Amy. However, they didn’t start out that way.
In Season 2, Penny was still getting used to Sheldon’s mannerisms, and Sheldon still didn’t view Penny as part of the gang. This led to one of their biggest, and most hilarious, fights of the series. It only ended when a fed up Leonard gave Penny Sheldon’s mom’s number. No matter how annoying they’re being, you don’t drop your best friend in it with their mother.
Sheldon: Acted As A Surrogate Son To Leonard’s Mom
Moms were clearly a big issue when it came to Leonard and Sheldon. Leonard in particular had it bad, as his mother constantly maintained a cold and unfeeling detachment from her children. As a result, Leonard never felt that close to his mom and frequently tried to earn her approval whenever she visited.
Leonard: Presented Shared Research Without Sheldon
Back in Season 1, the audience was only just getting used to Sheldon’s eccentric behavior. What they weren’t prepared for however, was just how quite unreasonable he could be. One of Sheldon and Leonard’s research papers was selected to be presented at an academic conference. The only problem was, Sheldon refused to go.
He considered it beneath him which severely disappointed Leonard, who simply resolved to present their research by himself. In fairness, Sheldon was being a complete and utter jerk, but by presenting their research on his own, Leonard was basically taking most of the credit, which wasn’t fair to Sheldon.
