Releasing your inner nerd
There's no denying Kaley Cuoco is a fine-looking young woman. As a 22- year-old blond California girl, she's the type of person for whom Beach Boys songs were written.
But does that mean every guy who ever has approached Cuoco has been as nervous and awkward as the rapt dudes on her sitcom, The Big Bang Theory?
"There has been a few of them," Cuoco said with a laugh. "But we all have our inner nerd that we're allowed to let free when we watch the show. So it's a freeing show. It makes you feel good about yourself."
If the ratings are any indication, more and more people are feeling good about themselves while watching The Big Bang Theory. The CBS sitcom, which airs on Monday nights, is in its second season and slowly but surely the numbers have been on the rise.
Yes, we all know sitcoms for adults supposedly are dead, and for the most part they are. But notably, The Big Bang Theory comes from the fertile mind of creator Chuck Lorre, who also is the man behind the most popular traditional sitcom of this era, Two And A Half Men.
The Big Bang Theory stars Cuoco, who you may recall from her childhood role in 8 Simple Rules. Here Cuoco plays Penny, who just happens to live across the hall from a couple of brilliant but uber-nerdy young physicists.
One of the nerdy neighbours is Leonard, played by Johnny Galecki, who previously was best known for his role as Darlene's boyfriend David on Roseanne. Leonard has a thing for Penny.
The other nerdy neighbour is Sheldon, played by the hilarious Jim Parsons. Compared to Sheldon, Leonard is George Clooney.
"You want the guys to win, you want the guys to do well," Cuoco said. "And my character is so sweet to them, you just love them altogether."
Leonard and Sheldon usually are hanging out with their two buddies: The creepily smooth-talking Howard (played by Simon Helberg) and the literally speechless-around-women Rajesh (played by Kunal Nayyar). They all are bright enough to be pondering the biggest issues in the universe, but they still set aside one night a week to play video-games, and they get into juvenile arguments, such as when every single one of them shows up for a Halloween party dressed as The Flash.
Penny and Leonard have had some romantic moments, but Cuoco knows the sexual tension between those two characters is at the heart of the show.
"That's why I don't really think our characters ever are going to be together for a long time," Cuoco said. "We have to keep having that awkward, 'I like you, you like me, now I have a boyfriend, now you have a girlfriend,' that whole thing.
"I'm sure they're going to drag it out to the point that you want to kill yourself."
Not literally, we hope. But it certainly would bring a new meaning to The Big Bang Theory.
