Stuart Fails to Save the Universe premiered on HBO Max on July 23, 2026 — full breakdown here. A day later at Comic-Con, Chuck Lorre confirmed Kaley Cuoco and Melissa Rauch are returning as alternate-universe versions of Penny and Bernadette, their first appearances since 2019. It’s a good excuse to revisit the storyline Cuoco has never made peace with: The Serial Apeist, the in-universe movie and ape costume she couldn’t wait to shed.
The Big Bang Theory is a classic sitcom that occupied many of our formative years. Whether it was during your awkward teen phase or college blunder years, this show was a nice change of pace for those times. The decade-long run is enough testament to its beauty, and we will always hold it dear in our hearts. Now that the rose tint has faded a fair bit, it’s time to look back at some of The Big Bang Theory moments and scenes that raise a few floating question marks over our heads.
The Big Bang Theory Storylines That Haven’t Aged Well
The Big Bang Theory showrunners are also quite aware of some things that don’t really click with the pacing of the show when looking back at it. In some cases, it’s stretching things too far, and in others, it’s really not that funny.
One storyline that has been vocally criticized by the showrunners is Penny’s role in The Serial Apeist. In case you’ve forgotten, The Serial Apeist was a movie in-universe that Penny did during her startup in acting. However, she expressed her regret in doing the movie. Similarly, Kaley Cuoco was never a fan of the whole Serial Apeist thing, especially when she had to do scenes wearing the Ape DNA costume. The makeup was uncomfortable, and she was vocal about wanting to remove them completely. However, they were kept in the show.
At the time, showrunner Chuck Lorre found it funny. Nowadays, though, he’s described it as “not our finest work.” He did clarify that the intention behind that whole part of Penny’s character was to give her a bad movie and struggle to make it work. After that whole plotline, Penny felt ready to move on from her acting career, so in the end, it did progress the story.
Another The Big Bang Theory storyline that was concerning involves Penny and Raj hooking up. Thankfully, that never made it to our screens. The original intention was for season four to end with a cliffhanger that involved the pair. However, showrunner Steve Molaro didn’t feel like it was right for the characters. In a stint of regret overnight, he reportedly walked into Chuck Lorre’s office the next day and expressed his concern with that finale. Lorre understood how important this was for Molaro, so he accepted the revisions and changed the season finale. All Big Bang Theory fans will be thankful to Molaro for expressing his opinion!
What The Big Bang Theory Cast Wanted To Change About Their Characters
For a character like Raj, lots of fans grew tired of his inability to talk to women pretty quickly. Actor Kunal Nayyar also voiced his frustration with that aspect of Raj’s personality. Particularly because he couldn’t contribute to some scenes as a result.
Meanwhile, Simon Helberg grew tired of Howard’s role as the sleazeball in the group. His character was starting to be too overbearing with his odd comments and antics, so introducing Bernadette to the cast served as an awesome change of pace. With Bernadette, we finally saw some dimension to Howard.
While we can’t go back and change anything now, it’s nice to know that we, as an audience, aren’t alone with some eyebrow-raising moments from the show we adore.
With Cuoco and Rauch back, here’s a look at that storyline and a few other moments that haven’t aged as well.
What are your thoughts on The Big Bang Theory‘s The Serial Apeist episode?
