Penny and Sheldon

'Big Bang Theory': Jim Parsons talks William Shatner, Twitter and Mayim Bialik as Sheldon's love interest by Korbi Ghosh

Sheldon Cooper is getting a love interest.

Sort of.

This Monday (May 24), during the third season finale of "The Big Bang Theory," Raj and Wolowitz will apparently set Sheldon up with an online dating profile.

His match? The female version of himself, played by former "Blossom" star Mayim Bialik.

Jim Parsons was cool enough to talk to Korbi TV about what we can expect from that.

Other topics covered?

His short-lived Twitter experience, "BBT"'s timeslot move from Mondays to Thursdays as well as CBS's newest star, William Shatner...

You did a bit with Shatner in New York last week?

Jim Parsons: (Laughs) Yes. Upfronts are a special time that make for strange bedfellows, aren't they? That being said, it really wasn't that strange at all, both topic-wise — 'cause I'm on a show that's obsessed with "Star Trek" and I'm playing a character who is especially [enthralled] — and person-to-person-wise, he's so delightful. It sounds stupid — everyone knows this — but there's something so charming about him. You know, I had to do this thing where I ran up and hugged him. As Sheldon. And I met him and he goes, "You're Jim." And I was like, uh, yes, hello, I'm about to have to hug you. And he said, "Um, okay, just not too hard." And I went, okay!

Yeah, he's funny on Twitter.

He really does Twitter?

Oh, yes... unless it's someone doing it for him.

No, no. I have no doubt that it's him. I just — I'm so bad at it. See, this is why I enjoyed working with him ever so briefly. We're a yin and a yang, you know what I mean?

You don't want to start tweeting?

No! No, no, no. I tried. I tried for two days and it did not work out.

[Your "BBT" costar] Kunal [Nayyar] can help you, he's all about it.

If I did tweet, it would not be in the vein of a Kunal tweet, let me get that straight right now... Do you Tweet?

I do, but it's a work thing. I doubt I'd be on Twitter were it not a part of my job.

Well, that's what I mean, we tried to make mine about work. It wasn't like I was trying to connect with old high school friends. It was my publicist's [idea]. She was like, you might want to think about opening a Twitter account and so I did and then I closed it within 48 hours.

But I'm sure you got thousands of followers in that 48 hours.

I didn't, which is only [proof] of how bad I was at it. I didn't even know how to access people to say, I'm here!

I wonder if Twitter is something Sheldon would do.

I don't know, it's very social, you know?

Yeah. But somewhat removed at the same time.

That's true. And you can do Sheldon-speak, if you will, in any form. Sheldon's Tweets would just be more obscure and out of the norm. So, yes, he could Tweet. And he would think he was an excellent Tweeter probably. Most people wouldn't understand them and those that did would be like, why are you utilizing this thing for that?

I can see him coming up with a lot of material that makes himself laugh.

A big Bazinga ring, yes.

And if you were on Twitter, you could tweet the news. Like the fact that 'Big Bang' is moving to Thursdays, which is kind of crazy.

It's very crazy. I feel very optimistic about it. Especially now. When I first heard, [I wasn't so sure]. I'm just like anybody else, change of any sort is simply uncomfortable when it first occurs. I saw our new schedule on Nikki Finke's website — I'm not too proud to admit it — and I tell you, I really kept staring at it going, What?! I guess it had just never crossed my mind [as a possibility]. But the more I've thought about it and talked with everyone else about it, the more [I've gotten used to it]. I feel partially excited. I hope that it's a great thing, because if it is a great thing, we'd be opening up that hour of comedy for [the network] and it would be so exciting to be a part of that new night. We've always been treated very well by CBS and this [move] shows a lot of confidence in us, so it'll be good, whatever happens. And I also think that there couldn't be a better pairing [for "Big Bang Theory"] than the new William Shatner show. Not only because it's Shatner, but because it's an idea that came from the world of Twitter, there's something to it.

We have to talk about the season finale. So many of your fans have been obsessed with the idea of Sheldon getting a love interest for some time. I don't know if you would describe Mayim's character as a love interest exactly, but she's certainly the closest thing to it so far, no?

Oh, without a doubt. But emotionally — if you will — where it will lead in future episodes, I have no clue. Two reasons: Number one, the meeting is so brief. It's like, that's really what happens, they just meet. And I don't even want to say that there's a spark, but there is something that [takes Sheldon from thinking], "This is not worth my time" to "Maybe this conversation could continue." But what that [something] is, I don't know. And I don't know if [the writers] know! I don't know if Episode One of next year is already building in their minds and they know where this is headed or what, you know. But the beauty of working like this is I do feel like so much is organically happening. They propose ideas and they execute them and then they are performed and the audience watches them and they go from there. They can say, I like how this is going. This is not what I thought was happening, but we're going to go this track with it. I think that's really how the birth of one of my favorite things about the show happened, which is the one-on-one scenes between Sheldon and Penny. In one way, that was just going to happen, because there's five people on the show. But I really feel like the relationship that's developed between [our characters] was not something that anyone could've guessed would have the depth that I think it does. You know, it was only after throwing out a scene or two here and there that [we discovered] that there was something about [the dynamic] that was really fun to investigate. And the only reason I bring that up is because it's like, will this thing with me and Mayim [go somewhere great as well]? Who knows!

What was the chemistry like during the one scene that you did do?

Well, on a person-to-person basis, I had a great time being with her. You know, I let it sit for the first couple days of rehearsal and then right before taping, I probably still shouldn't have, but I did look at her and say, "Now, do you know exactly what's going on?" And she said no and I said, "Good, I just wanted to make sure, because I don't either." So we were both extremely honest with each other, which is always pretty delightful. As a character thing, so far, what's been briefly shown, she seems to be as obtuse in nailing down what's going through that heart as Sheldon is. So that's part of what led to the confusion of "what is this scene?" because it was basically two characters going, "Wha- Huh?" You know, what are the feelings behind these words that you're saying? So, from what little I know of her character at this point, it's that she certainly seems to have that in common with Sheldon.

Would you like to see Mayim back in the fall and see it go somewhere?

Oh, judging from that one episode with her, I would love to. As a person, I loved having her around on the set and I always feel game for exploring these things that the writers throw out there.

More bang for your buck by Angel Cohn

We like to think that we love all of the delightfully geeky brainiacs on The Big Bang Theory equally, but when the chance to talk to Jim Parsons came about, we got a bit giddy. Parsons is the Emmy-nominated actor who charmingly brings the neurotically nerdy Sheldon to life every week. We thought we'd get to chat about his chances of getting nominated again this year, find out what he thinks of the Sheldon/Penny shippers and maybe even get some dish on the last few episodes of the season — all of which we eventually did. But first the conversation took a bizarre turn after some bicoastal confusion and a shared suffering of motion sickness. Note: You probably will want to change your seat if you are flying with either of us.

Thanks for chatting with me today. I really am quite a fan of your show.

I've met you in person before. Right? Or is that not true?

No. I don't get out to California frequently and I don't really like to fly much.

Well, that's okay. I don't think the jet-setting life is really for most people.

Yes, I get motion sickness, and I read that you do as well.

Oh, awful. It's horrible! I'm normally pretty good on a plane. What's tricky about the plane, for me, is really the runway part, because it's impossible — actually, I'm getting a little sick thinking about it right now — but you know what I mean? Even if you're looking out the window, it's really confusing. And then turbulence makes me ill. The good thing is — I should knock on wood — I don't get scared during turbulence, like, I don't have those weird thoughts. I've never puked during turbulence, though.

Consider yourself very lucky.

Isn't that the worst feeling, though? There's nothing like it. And I feel like I'm on the verge of being able to control it, but then I can't. I'm like, "I feel like I can almost stop this from happening within me!" because it's such a weird sensation, like nothing else. But then I can't! It's out of control. Then you can take Dramamine, but then you don't wake up. You just sleep through whatever it is. I want to enjoy the part that I'm not sick through, not just be dead through it.

I usually sleep... Anyway, on a more pleasant note, congratulations on how the show's doing. And Emmy time is getting near — are you getting nervous/excited about whether you're going to get nominated again?

Oh God, no! I'm not nervous or excited. I think I purposely try to keep any feeling out of it. It always comes up, though. You can't avoid thinking about it. Now, I became a member of the Academy [of Television Arts and Sciences], so today I received my first "For Your Consideration" screener, and so that will be a constant reminder that the time is coming up, and never mind the fact that between the studio and your own publicist, you do sort of make you own little push, if you're gonna do it at all. So things will be timed to Emmy consideration, so it's there, but I don't know. I was really surprised last year [to get nominated]. And I've always said, when I watched award shows growing up, the unpredictable nature about it, how could you ever expect to get nominated? And I get certain people who have been nominated so many times, maybe, for a specific role or a category, I could see you'd be like "Eee! Hit in the gut!" if you weren't nominated, and I get that, that sounds bad — but besides that, I don't know.

So eight seasons from now, when you're nominated again...

[Laughs] There we go; your lips to God's ear! Exactly!

What did you submit as your Emmy piece?

I haven't had to yet. So I don't know.

That would be hard to pick. How do you decide?

Well, it's weird, because even thinking about last year, or the year before that, once you're not picking once it's over, like a few months away from it, you're like, "Big deal! Just pick one!" But I'm telling you, every time now — this'll be the third time I've had to do it — it does feel a bit harrowing. You're like, "I could do this, but was my part big enough?" And I don't even know all the considerations that go into it. The biggest thing I'm waiting on now is we've got four new episodes left to air, and I want to watch them as much as [from a] viewer [perspective] as I can, to give them a fair shake. And other than that, I don't even have one that I'm completely learning toward at this moment.

Have you finished filming for this season?

Yes, we finished about a week and a half ago.

Can you give us any hints about what to expect?

Oh, heavens yes! They're probably all boring details that have been released somewhere else. But I know that one of the ones coming up, we're going to go back in time a bit — not in a time-machine type of way — but show some history as to how some of the friendships came to be. How we all met. It was so fun! And I thought the writers, as usual, handled it so well and kept it both realistic, but interesting. I really enjoyed doing it. It was very difficult to play, I'll be honest with you, because Sheldon, as it turns out, has made some — and this is surprising to say — social strides since he met Leonard, which meant there was some backpedaling to do on my part in some of the execution of Sheldon's history. It was more challenging than I thought it would be. We would rehearse it. And basically I'd finish a run-through, all week long and they'd be like, "Go a little bit further, go a little bit further." But by the time we did to for the taping night, it was really fun to do and really fun to share that with the audience that was there. So that's coming up. And the other thing, which I know has been talked about some — but I feel it's interesting, because I found it still confusing even being finished with it — is how they go online and fill out a profile page for Sheldon for dating. And the dating site actually finds a match.

What does that match look like?

Well, it looks like Mayim Bialik! TV's Blossom! But we only meet up — I don't think I'm giving away secrets, here — but if anyone is looking to find out answers from me over what this means, I really couldn't tell you, which was perfect that it ended that way. But I said this to a friend of mine who asked me how it went: "I can't imagine anybody will be able to tell you what's about to happen, because I just played the scene and have no idea what's about to happen." I cannot imagine!

So it's a cliffhanger?

Well, our version of such. [Laughs] There's no life at stake.

It's not like an episode of Lost.

Exactly! But that being said, I'm kind of left in some cliffhanger every week, because I never know what is coming up, which is kind of one of the joys — for me at least — of doing this show. Sometimes you have more of a look into the future, like you'll know this is coming up, but they don't tell us anything. The only time I ever get close to getting inside information as far as what the next episode will be, is it'll be like, "Do you already know how to play a recorder?" and you'll be like, "What the hell are we doing with that?"

Right, like, "Do you have any aversions to ball pits?"

Exactly! And higher than they were before I did it, I'll put that out there right now. Those balls cannot be cleaned, as horrible as that statement sounds. There's no amount of cleaning to get those ball-pit balls to a satisfactory, lack-of-dirt-in-your-hair state. There's no such thing.

A lot of Purell?

Yes, but I cannot tell you; We would rehearse the ball pit scene, and I would go to the bathroom to wash my hands afterward. The sink water looked like — and I'm not kidding — it looked like you'd been working on your car, or something. Just the dark brownish-black that would be going down. And I'd be like, "That's disgusting." And then I'd wipe my clean hands, I'd dry them on paper towels, and I'd go ahead and just kind of wipe those across my face, and then I would look and go, "Ah! I'm pink where I just wiped, and now I'm gray everywhere else!" I just wouldn't be able to tell before I'd wiped my face, it was just like, "I'm covered in filth." And I'm not complaining, I'm just saying that if ball pits are beds of disease, I'm not surprised.

Keep your children out of them!

I would! Or, just bathe them afterwards and they're probably fine. But you know, that was the other thing: There wasn't any time to take a complete shower, which is really what you needed after rehearsing the scene. I'll tell you this, too: They're much harder to push through them underneath than it is in a swimming pool. There was the sensation I had when I would tunnel through them, but it was much harder and there was much more resistance than I thought. And I didn't think it'd be true, they're just hollow balls and I'd think water pressure would be more. And maybe it is.

Well, you practically had to swim in them for episode.

Yea, that's exactly what it was. It really is. Which I'm telling you, even though it was dirty: It was so fun!

I watched that scene like 10 times!

Did you really?

It was worth it. "Bazinga!" never fails to make me laugh.

I loved that whole idea. When we shot it, I talked to Chuck [Lorre] and Bill [Prady] right afterwards, because we had pre-shot it, since it'd be hard to capture that in front of the audience. And I was like, "That was such a good idea on Bill's part," and I really felt it was a big highlight of the advantage of kind of the base topic of this show being science. It's one more example of how if you can think of it, we can find a way to fit it in, in the way that science encompasses everything. We have almost this built-in excuse for wherever you want to go, as far as plot line and bringing a ball pit in. I think that's one of the fun things about playing these characters, too, they're unlike anybody that I've ever met or dealt with. It's hard to put any sort of, "That wouldn't happen," sort of "realistic limitations" on them — other than maybe super powers. Other than that, I don't really know what they're capable of. They're going to think of things and do things that I would never dream of. That makes it really fun.

Speaking of the crazy science; How hard is it to learn all that science jargon every week?

It's hard! I would be absolutely lying through my teeth if I said that was the easiest part of the job. It's absolutely the hardest part of the job. I like doing it. I guess it's a good thing, since I decided to be an actor, I do enjoy memorizing. I do enjoy spending the time alone, breaking down sentences and just rambling them over and over again until it is second nature. But it's every week, the same thing with it. And while I keep enjoying it, by the end of the season, you do start feeling a little brain dead about it. It's like, "Are you kidding?!" That's just the thing with all these characters, perhaps Sheldon to a greater degree; it's not natural speak. Beyond just the actual words being used — Just the formation of the words in a sentence! And the topics of conversation! People ask if there is a lot of improv on the set... Where would we start?! You know? If I lose my place, we're just screwed. We have to start over, I can't get us back on track. But, once again, in a sort of sick way, I really kind of enjoy that. It requires a certain specificity — and not to sound hopelessly deep about this — in the effort to execute this, in the need to be so specific about things, it once again opens up a lot of freedom. You have this very defined train track, if you will, and through these words and structured sentences, once you're riding on that track and secure on it, you're kind of free to add other colors and do other things. I'm telling you, I may just be a sadist, but I really think there's some enjoyment there.

There's this fan base out there that really wants to see Sheldon and Penny together. Do you have any thoughts about that? Do you think it would happen?

Well, I'm a big believer in never say never. And as I've already admitted, I don't speak with these writers, [so] I never know what they are going to do, but that being said, I would be jaw-dropped if that ever happened. You know, I go on both sides of going "that's insane" and "I totally get it." What I get about it is that is the very essence of what I think makes — and it's in many different shows, where you have a couple characters, where you put them together — what makes it enjoyable is that, in this case, they're so different. I've said from the beginning; the five characters in this piece these two are polar opposites of each other, her being most Earth-bound and tactile, and him being the most, literally, in his head. And that's fun! And just sticking them on stage at the same time, sparks begin to fly immediately because they're so different. So that, in that way of opposites attract, I completely get why it would be fun to go yin and yang where they could bring out the best in each other, whatever. Where I think it's insane — I shouldn't say insane — where I think the hope for it is off-base, I feel they've really developed — and again, it's hard for me to say, because I'm playing it — but I feel they've really developed a brother-and-sister-type-thing between the two of them.

I can totally see that.

Yea, it's not... I can't imagine — I think you do have to look really hard to find anything sort of any sexual anything that's happened with Sheldon since the show began. But especially in a one-on-one scene with Penny. An actual sort of physical thing happening?! I don't think so at all! He's seen more of her body when she got injured than Leonard has, and things didn't go anywhere. And the other thing is, if my wishes were listened to, I wouldn't want them to, because I personally enjoy playing that more sibling dynamic with her in the scenes than I would necessarily a romantic thing. I think in that siblings thing, there's a purity there. There's an innocence to them.

I know you said there's not a lot of time for improv, but is it fun on set? Is there a lot of cracking up?

It's very fun on set. And it's an extremely enjoyable place to work. I will say though — and there's a good deal of laughter and stuff — there's not a good deal of pranks. I was discussing this with somebody recently how the question of, "Are there a lot of jokes on set?" frequently comes up, and the answer is no! Surprisingly not! And I don't know what that's bred of. I think number one, everybody's trying to get the job done, is the big thing. And it's easy to say, "Well, we're just being very serious about our comedy," and I guess that's true to a degree. I don't know, I don't know what that's from. But we really get in and do our work. But we have fun! Being on-set is fun.

I don't think I would have been able to see everybody in all of the guys in their female superhero character costumes without bursting out laughing.

[Sighs] I don't know what to say to that, either. I'm trying to think, what was our reaction?

Well, you're all professional actors.

Well, that has nothing to do with it; we're all still hopelessly immature in our own ways. I think: We were all four crammed into the costume shop getting changed because we had to do it quickly. And you are sort of giggling and shocked seeing other people in their costumes. But for me, I was so concerned with, "Oh my God! How does this look?!" I'm not used to having anything near this on, and we're about to shoot this for TV. It's going to air, and there's a star right on my crotch! There's a certain — not horror — but you're very concerned. And even the hair issue! Like, I don't know what to do with this hair once we get out there! Do I need to be shoving it out of my face? Do I need to touch it at all? I don't know. And I'll be honest, one of the things is, something like that in the script is so.. it is what it is. There's not really any nuance to that. There's no finding the humor in this subtle moment. So I think part of that pressure lays on, where you're like, "I hope people don't hate this when we come out," because it's not like I can shake it up. It is what it is.

Are you working on anything else during your break, or are you just resting?

I'm hopefully going to rest a little bit. Between doing the press and stuff, it's amazing how far this season goes beyond stage time. And a couple of things I'm hoping will pan out. If they don't, a break isn't the worst thing in the world. But fingers crossed I'll get to work on something.

Are there any other comedies that you watch that you can tell us you're a fan of, even if they're your competitors?

Oh, I don't mind. I've really enjoyed — and I'm a broken record when I say this, because everyone else says it, too — but I've really enjoyed Modern Family. I just think it's fun. I don't feel like I get a lot of time for tons of TV... but I've tried to make time for that. And I know one of the guys on it, and I really enjoy it. I think it's really well done. And like I said, I feel like a broken record. But truth is truth.

Beauty and the geeks by Paige Albiniak

As initially conceived, there was no Penny, the lovable girl-next-door on CBS' top-rated comedy, 'The Big Bang Theory.' There was just a super-sarcastic neighbor named Katie who was mercilessly mean to her super-geek neighbors, Leonard and Sheldon.

But test audiences despised that character, and the show's producers went back to the drawing board.

After the rewrite, producers brought back in Kaley Cuoco to read for the role of Penny. Cuoco, who, at the time, was best-known for her role as the eldest daughter on ABC's '8 Simple Rules,' had auditioned to play Katie, but that part wasn't right for her, she says.

"The second-time around, the producers and the network were so on it with me. They told me that Penny had to be wonderful, loving and sweet and the audience had to adore her," says Cuoco, 24.

Cuoco nailed it, getting through the audition process in two days, and today Penny is the glue that holds "The Big Bang Theory" together.

"Penny has always been the audience's point of view and the ambassador into the world of our guys," says Bill Prady, one the series' executive producers.

Penny, an aspiring actress who's waitressing at The Cheesecake Factory, lives next door to two brilliant but socially inept physicists, Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon (Jim Parsons). While most women would ignore guys like this, Penny is "completely wonderful to them from day one," says Cuoco.

In fact, one episode finds Penny applying menthol rub to a sick Sheldon's chest while he begs her to sing "Soft Kitty" to him as his mother once did. She rolls her eyes several times, but she does it.

"Penny handles Sheldon like no one else," says Cuoco. "She's wonderful and sweet, but she also has a backbone. She says what's on her mind."

This season, Penny and Leonard — the less geeky of the two roommates — became a couple. While the pairing seems unlikely, Cuoco says the fans seem to like it.

"I love the Penny-Leonard hook-up. And I love that they didn't wait eight seasons to get them together," she says. "But I have a feeling it won't last. If I were writing the show, I would say that it wouldn't last long."

Conversely, 'Bang' fans want Penny and the socially-oblivious, germ-phobic Sheldon to get together. "It's a very strange idea," says Cuoco.

Asked if a woman exists out there for Sheldon, Cuoco says, "No. Unless it's like a robot that Sheldon builds and can control."

Over the course of her three-season run on 'Big Bang,' Cuoco has become a favorite of geeks who wish someone just like her would move in next door.

"They are a little obsessed with Penny, really," she says. "I have definitely not known any men like this in my own life — these guys are on another dimension. They are full-on brilliant, genius boys."

The California native has been acting and modeling since she was six years old. Her big break came with '8 Simple Rules,' when she had just turned 16. A modest hit on ABC in 2002, the show struggled after star John Ritter died of an aortic dissection just two episodes into its second season.

The show went on for two more seasons without him. "Doing that show for one season with John Ritter is an experience I'll never forget," Cuoco says.

After '8 Simple Rules,' Cuoco played Billie in the eighth season of 'Charmed,' a role she enjoyed, but working on a one-hour drama reminded her why she prefers sitcoms.

"Dramas require 18-hour days where you want to kill yourself," says Cuoco, who is single. "You can have a life while you work on a sitcom, and I'm selfish. I love my life, and I like to do other things besides work."

With "Big Bang Theory" attracting nearly 16 million viewers each week, Cuoco can expect a long-run playing the girl next door. Asked why she thinks the show is a hit, she says, "The characters are really lovable, and the writing is brilliant. The guys couldn't be more innocent, but there's also a little bit of sass to it."

A chat with Jim Parsons by Will Harris

We're going to go on record right now and say that Jim Parsons got the shaft at this year's Emmy Awards. Not that Alec Baldwin isn't great as Jack Donaghy on '30 Rock,' but in the end, he's just another guy in a suit. As Dr. Sheldon Cooper, however, Parsons has taken a character that could've been just another comic book nerd and transformed him into a comedic force to be reckoned with, and he and his co-stars – Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar – have made 'The Big Bang Theory' one of the funniest shows on television. Bullz-Eye's Will Harris chatted with Parsons back in 2008, then crossed paths with him again this summer during the Television Critics Association Awards and floated the idea of doing a phoner once Season Three of 'The Big Bang Theory' had kicked off in earnest, which Parsons assured him would be no problem whatsoever. Still, when the time came to set up the interview, Will decided to refresh Parsons' memory of the evening by sending him a picture from that night. Fortunately, it worked like a charm.

Hi, Will!

Hey, Jim, how's it going?

Very well. How are you doing? Good to talk to you again — and that was a nice picture you sent over! It would've been better without me in it [laughs] but it was still nice.

[Laughs] Well, it pleases my wife to no end that she's got a photo of you and her.

Awwwwwww. Say hello to her.

I certainly will. So it sounds like you've been working hard on the set.

Yes, it's a good time, but it does produce sweat, I'll say that.

So what episode are you guys working on now?

We are — number-wise, we're on number 12, and if I understand correctly, we're going to do 24, so I guess that means we're literally at the halfway point. Christine Baranski will be in this week's episode, which is wonderful. Although she isn't here right now, I think because she's moonlighting with us. She's having to finish out her day job, which I guess is 'The Good Wife' right now, so we'll see her a little bit later. But I think she can handle a slightly abbreviated rehearsal schedule. She knows her way around the block. [Laughs]

Well, I'm actually glad that I'm getting to talk to you this week, as opposed to when we were originally supposed to speak, because now Sheldon has officially gotten to second base with Penny.

Oh, my God! You're absolutely right!

And congratulations on that, by the way.

Oh, thank you, thank you. You know, unwittingly, without actually looking at it, Sheldon grabbed Penny's boob. You're right: second base. Wasn't that a wonderful moment they thought of? I just thought it was absolutely fantastic. I mean, of all the way you can get a man hand's on a woman's flesh — _that_ man's hand on a woman's flesh — they just never cease to amaze me, the writers, with the way they twist and turn him. [Laughs]

And the look on your face was classic.

[Laughs] With the eyes closed and all?

My wife and I also particularly enjoyed the episode because of the joke about the check engine light in Penny's car, because ours has been on for about six months now.

You're kidding me!

I am not.

You know, my car — the power locks have all quit working, so I can manually get in with a key, but only my door. So I can't open any other door, and I've had to take a couple of friends a couple of places, and they've all had to crawl over the console. So I'm no better than Penny when it comes to that, though I guess it's less unsafe, as long as I'm not driving over bridges.

You know, I didn't want to be the one to have to tell to tell you this, but — you're kind of a big time TV star. You can probably afford to hire someone to get that fixed.

I know, I probably could. It really is a time issue. And probably an intelligence issue. I'll bet there's a way I could get it taken care of. Like, I bet someone would pick it up. I'll bet that, in this ideal world, I could probably even get a loaner car for that process. But I simply haven't executed any of that.

Well, I'm sorry that you didn't pick up the Emmy, but I do understand that you're up for a People's Choice Award.

I am! That's very exciting.

Given that everyone I've talked to was excited that I was talking to you, I'm hoping that bodes well for you.

Oh, thank you! Yeah, well, I hope so. I voted myself, and I voted _for_ myself, but I only voted once. I know that you can do it repeated times, but it kind of felt like bad karma to vote for myself more than once. But by the same token, I wasn't going to vote for Alec Baldwin, so, y'know (trails off)

That's admirable restraint on your part.

[Laughs] Thank you.

So I always enjoy the episodes where you team up with Penny, and I understand that, in addition to this week's, there's another one coming up where you teach her physics, or try to, anyway.

[Sighs] Yes. Oh, my God. What a valiant effort. That being said, I completely agree with you, as far as I have as much fun as humanly possible, I think, on this show when they have a heavy Penny and Sheldon episode. And that one — I think I enjoyed the teaching her science more than the hospital one that just aired, actually, although I enjoyed them both. But it was so fun to get to (pauses) Sheldon's not a great teacher, as you can imagine. He doesn't have the patience of Job, and he takes on the airs of being a teacher, but it just doesn't come naturally, I don't think, even though the information does. And to couple with that, as you can imagine, she's just not a good student. She comes unprepared, she can't stay on track, it flies over her head within the first two sentences. But it was so fun, in an "Educating Rita" kind of way.

I understand Kaley Cuoco refers to those episodes as being full of "Shenny moments."

Yes, she does. She's a quack. [Laughs]

I think my favorite episode this season was the one with Wil Wheaton.

Oh! How great was it to have him? That was so fun.

Many of my friends have taken to screaming "Wheaton!" at the top of their lungs, in an attempt to emulate you.

No! [Laughs] He seemed to be completely okay with the fact that his entire name became a mantra of vengeful hate. That didn't seem to bother him. He was so fun to have on the set, and he was such a good guy, just in general, but what a wonderful foil for Sheldon. And it makes such sense, because as a person and as an actor — he was playing himself, though slightly different, obviously — of course Sheldon's the angriest at this human who is so unurtful. There's nothing wrong with Wil Wheaton!

I can only hope that they signed him up for a sequel episode the second the reactions started coming in for that one.

I hope so, too, although they wouldn't tell me if they did.

Yes, I've read that you always feel that you're the last to know anything on the set.

We are the last to know! The entire cast! I mean, honest to God, if you didn't have other actor friends telling you, "I went in to audition for somebody on your show," it'd be a matter of waiting for a script and saying, "Oh, look who's in this episode!"

So who's been your favorite guest star to work with? Not to belittle any of them, of course.

Oh, no, I know, I know. I'm not afraid to answer the question as much as it really is hard. I mean, we have so many talented people, and it's just (hesitates) Immediately, for me, I do — oh, God, they're all so good, but this is a somewhat easier call: the grouping of three previous sitcom women who knew just the ropes so well, Sara Rue, Christine Baranski and Laurie Metcalf. They just took to it, and obviously they would. But they're just so funny, too, and they're just such good actors. They're just so real, and they listen and they respond. But I guess I'll have to be biased, and I'm going to go ahead and have to say Laurie, because she played my mother. I would never want — hopefully, Christine and Sara will never read your article.

I will do my best to keep it under wraps.

Yes, please do. Maybe you could set it up so that you have to enter a secret code to hear my answer. [Laughs] But, no, it really is hard, and I only give her that favoritism because she literally is playing my mother, so I guess that wins. I've said it before, though: the class of guest star we get on this show at times is so — it's such a rewarding thing, you know? It just makes life so fun. It's fun to inject new life into this show, anyway, but when you're able to get someone who is so talented as an actor in general, it's not only a coup for the show and the audience members, but for you as an actor, to get to work with them. It's always a different dance when strong actors come in like that, because they bring their own thing, and you're, like, "Wooooooo!" There's nothing more fun than getting to respond to that, especially with a character that you've gotten to know more and more and more that you're playing. You go, "Oh, this changes things." Sheldon's feelings for Christine Baranski's character, I just love! He loves her! He thinks that is the best mother in the world, you know, that untouching, unfeeling, clinical — oh, my God, he is just tickled by her. And that's so fun, because so few people do I get to respond that way to through him. He's normally — maybe he's been in amazement, like with George Smoot and people like that were on, but for the most part, he considers himself pretty much — I don't want to say above other people, because I don't think he's a snooty man in that way, but he doesn't have time for most people. So to have somebody like that character come on that he feels compels to engage with, that he can't resist but to engage with, is very fun.

I'm still rooting for Leonard Nimoy to turn up on the show someday.

You and me both! I couldn't agree more.

Your reaction when Penny gave Sheldon that Nimoy-autographed napkin…

What a wonderful thing they wrote. It was just unbelievable.

I think it's still one of my favorite moments of all time. In fact, on a Spock-related note, I couldn't help but notice that the goatee that you were sporting during the season premiere…

(cheerily) There you go.

…looked suspiciously like the one worn by Spock's counterpart in "Mirror, Mirror."

Yes, suspicious, indeed! [Laughs] No, you nailed it on the head: that's exactly what it was.

I know that the other guys had some of their own facial hair working when they came back from the between-season hiatus, but you did not. Are you not a fan of the facial hair?

I'll be honest: no, I'm not. Not for myself, I should say. It doesn't bother me at all on other people. But I will say this: if I had a very dark, heavier beard that came in and could get some sort of five-o'clock shadow type thing, I'd actually be pro-facial hair for me, just because it'd be something new and different. But I don't really get that. I just kind of look dirty. There's no definitive "oh, look at that nice five-o'clock shadow." It's more "oh, he forgot to shave." It just makes me look lazy. There's nothing debonair about it. Did you watch the baseball playoffs at all?

Here and there.

Speaking of five-o'clock shadows, Andy Pettitte has the most sculpted five-o'clock shadow. I didn't even think about it until I was talking to Simon (Helberg) when one of the games was on, but I said, "Andy Pettitte has the most definitive line on his five-o'clock shadow." He said, "Yeah, I think that's sculpted."

Yeah, even baseball players need stylists.

I mean, of course they do, but it's just so stupid. It's amazing the level of things that come across my TV that don't occur to me. Like, I still buy into commercials. I know realistically that they're actors, but for some reason, as opposed to a movie or a TV show, where I go, "Whatever," and I can kind of separate myself from them, commercials just suck me in so hard. I'll be, like, "I'll bet you're right: I'll bet that cereal is wonderful!"

Yeah, but they're just not as sentimental as they used to be. In the '70s, you'd be watching a commercial, and you'd be, like, "Aw, look at that: his grandma is so happy that he called her!"

You're right. I remember they used to have — well, Kodak had some very tear-jerking commercials.

I think I asked you this question before, but it's been a season since then: what's your favorite of Sheldon's quirks?

Hmmm. I don't remember what I said before — which is good. (long pause) Oh, God, I guess — I like his cleanliness. It just came up again in a recent episode — well, it hasn't aired yet, but I mention disinfecting the kitchen and bathroom in a very casual way, like, "That's what I did then," and just whatever. And it reminded me of that. I really like that, because… — I understand whereof that comes, you know, but I can't do it. I'm a little too lazy myself. [Laughs] So I really admire his ability to go through on that quirk and actually disinfect the kitchen and disinfect the bathroom. How wonderful. I would love to have a Sheldon around the house to do that!

So when you heard that they were actually going to get Leonard and Penny together, were you skeptical, or did you just leave it the writers' hands, since they've done such good work thus far?

I wasn't skeptical, and there was a level of — well, of course, I did honestly feel that I could leave it in their hands, because I always like what they do, or I'm always entertained by it and I enjoy getting to play it and be a part of it. But I also actually kind of liked it, because — I guess the easy one to look at is that it's like a Ross and Rachel. Or, for me, when I was younger, even like a 'Moonlighting.' And that's fantastic to have that kind of riding along with that tension, but — I don't think that was well suited for us, or even necessarily. And I was kind of _excited_ that they were going to go ahead and say, "Let's explore this." And not in a date, and not in two dates, but — I was just discussing this with a friend of mine, because I really don't know, and I was, like, "I wonder if they're going to be together for all of Season Three." I mean, like, will Season Three be kind of, like, "the season where Penny and Leonard were together the whole time"? Or will it go on longer? I don't know. Or will they be breaking up soon? I think for the first few episodes of the season, every episode that came down, I looked at and wondered, "Is this when they're going to break up?" And I'm only realizing as I say this to you that I don't wonder that at all anymore. I've become so adjusted to the idea of them together, which brings me back to my point about what made me happy: I really like that they decided to play this kind of true to life. Two friends get together, and you're, like, "Oh, that's not going to work," but then six months into it, one Friday night, you suddenly go, "Oh, my God, I'm completely used to them being together! I'm still not sure that it's going to last, but I'm not thinking about it anymore." And never mind the fact that, completely selfishly, it was one more intimate way to get Penny into Sheldon's life, to irritate him just by her mere existence. "Irritate" may not be the right word, but just to, y'know, push a button and force him to deal with her. That's one of her things, I think. She's a force that must be dealt with.

You know, something in this past week's episode that my wife noted: Sheldon peeked at Penny.

Yeah.

Should we take that as a hint that, possibly somewhere in the far future, Sheldon could have a girlfriend?

I think you can take that as a hint, but I'm afraid that it's frustratingly open to interpretation. [Laughs] Looking at Sheldon's sexuality is like trying to read into a Rothko painting. It's just, like, "Do I see a line?" "No." "No? Well, I see something." You know? And I don't know. Chuck (Lorre) always says — well, not always, but I've heard him say more than once, and I didn't think of it this way, but he says, "What is this desire to force Sheldon into something to normalize him?" And I don't think everybody's thinking that way, let me say that first off, but I just thought it was an interesting take on it. As opposed to, "Why don't we see what happens to this guy who has opted out?" And what I think is interesting about that is that, number one, I don't think that people are necessarily ravenous to see Sheldon normalized or brought down to a level or something. I think that it's very sweet, and I agree with people who think it would be. I want Sheldon to feel love, you know? [Laughs] I enjoy it in my life when I feel love, and I'd like him to. And I also think it will one day, fingers crossed, be a wonderful story arc. I would hope that, if that time ever comes, we'll deal with it in the same way they've dealt with the Penny/Leonard thing. I mean, not the same exact relationship, obviously, but in that way of going where it's not a big special episode or something. Or maybe there are a couple, but it's more of finding a way getting through this, him finding his way into this. But as far as the thinking, I had the exact same thought you did, and that's why I say it's impossible to interpret, because I thought, "How interesting that he bothered to look!" But then I thought, "As a scientist, of course he's going to look. It's just one more body to see."

It seems like a relationship would cause him to be torn between wondering the curiosity of "What would this be like for me?" and treating it like a scientific experiment.

I agree with you. I do. And I don't — I don't know if there's any way around that. If we look at Sheldon as a real person for a second and pretend, I just think that — you know, I've always said he would have to be completely frying-pan-over-the-head-walloped to fall in love, and I stick by that, not so much in a comic value way, but — he does seem to have that nature, but, like Chuck says, that's not what he's choosing to do right now. He's choosing to devote himself and his life in other ways, and he finds that he doesn't have the time for that. So I do think he'd have to be hit by a wave of emotion, if you will, or desire in order to be forced into making that choice. But then you have who he is and his nature to look at things through that scientific lens. So — I don't know. That's the other exciting thing about it, because — what a special person it would take to devote themselves to Sheldon, and to accept him for what he was. Not that he's a leper or something [laughs] but he can be so tiring to deal with, and if you were his intimate other, oh, my God, would you have to listen to more workings of his even deeper inner mind? Good criminey!

I know that you guys and your characters don't necessarily cross paths that often when it comes to your tastes, but is there anything that you've discovered as a result of Sheldon being a fan?

Well, the problem is — okay, well, no, I'm not more into science or anything, and I haven't really gotten more into comic books or games or anything. But if I have to be sincere about it, though, I think I've grown a greater appreciation for letting myself enjoy time alone. Because he enjoys it so much, you know? He not only enjoys it, but I think he prefers it. It's easier for him to get things done when he's alone. Other people get in the way. And it's one of the things that I do kind of admire about him. Some people think he's somewhat cut off from society, and I guess that's not always great, but that ability to be content alone like that — I think that's really nice. He's really comfortable with himself in many ways, which is admirable.

There's something I've never asked you about, even though it's a stock question, but, what's your favorite project that you've worked on that didn't get the love you thought it deserved? Because I've never really asked you about anything that you did prior to "Big Bang," even though I know you obviously did do other things.

That didn't get the love it deserved? I've certainly been in things that I wish had never been seen. I feel like this going to be (hesitates) Hmmm. It's a funny question, and I'll say this. Because the first thing I think of — I really thought it would be a play, first and foremost, but I had such a good time with almost every piece of theater that I've done that I have no regrets that things didn't travel farther. They were what they were. So the first thing that I think of is a pilot that I did about a year or two — maybe two years — before I did "Big Bang." It was for CBS, and it was with Jane Krakowski. It was kind of her vehicle, actually, and I enjoyed doing it so much. I played a supporting character – I was a bartender – and I just thought it went so well. Still, if I went back and looked at that pilot, I would think it was a successful pilot. And I think it actually came very close to getting picked up, from what I understand. We were, like, on the bubble 'til up to the 12th hour. That, I thought, would've been a great series. It was about life in a restaurant, and — I don't know. But with that being said, the caveat is that, while I think my feelings are honest about it not getting the love it deserved, it's the living definition of everything happening for a reason. [Laughs] There it is, right there. So that's why I don't shed any tears for it: because I wouldn't be here right now, with any likelihood, had it gotten picked up. And in many ways, this is the most exciting thing that I've ever gotten to be a part of. So anything that would've gotten in the way of this, I have to look back and say, "Well, I'm glad it didn't!"

(Writer's note: If you're wondering, the pilot was called 'Taste,' and it also co-starred Rufus Sewell, late of CBS's 'Eleventh Hour,' Richard Ruccalo of 'Two Guys, A Girl, and a Pizza Place' and 'Rita Rocks,' and Lola Glaudini of 'Criminal Minds.')

How have you been enjoying the talk show circuit? Because I've seen you on Craig Ferguson's show, but I know you did 'The Tonight Show' recently.

I just got to do 'Conan, and it was wonderful. I was scared to death of Conan, more than any of them, and I'm not kidding you. I'm always nervous going on any of them, because you never know what's going to happen exactly — although they've all been nice. It's not a matter of that. I don't feel like anybody's out to get me when I go out there. But you just don't know what's going to happen! Like, Letterman's really intimidating, because — well, he's Letterman! There's this stoic, staid thing. But by the same token, you kind of know what to expect from him. And I don't think this is as true for Conan as it was, because I think the format changed a little, and he's on the new show now. It's not the same show, it's a different one, and I knew him mostly from when he was on later, and I just thought, "I don't have a clue what to expect from him…and I mean physically! He may get up!" And Ferguson's wont do that, too, but it's different. It's different! And, oh, my God, I was just, like, "What if I get something on me? I might leave there slimed or something!" But he was so nice. They are all, they really are, but I just found it funny about midway through the interview, thinking, "I can't believe I was worried about this." He just couldn't have been better.

And last one: as you said, you guys are always the last to know, but is there anything about the upcoming episodes that you can speak to that we should be looking forward to?

Are you kidding? [Laughs] As far as I know, we're going to make them. That's about it. No, really, I don't know anything. But we're making a Christmas episode right now. And I thought we were too late. I thought that — well, I don't know what I thought. I just thought we would've done a Christmas one by now. I guess I just wasn't adding up the time in my head well enough.

All right, Jim, I think I've bent your ear long enough…

Oh, I'm so glad we got to talk!

As am I, absolutely. Good talking to you again, and if I don't see you in January, then I'm sure I'll see you in July.

Gorgeous. Thanks again. Bye!

Jim Parsons heads up the 'Big Bang Theory' geek squad by Brian Truitt

The CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory has been having its best ratings ever the past few weeks, and Jim Parsons has to be behind some of that success. A recent Emmy nominee, Parsons is spot-on as uber-genius scientist Sheldon, with his trademark game Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock and penchant for lovably alienating everyone around him. This past Monday, Sheldon spent much of the episode trying to train next-door neighbor Penny (Kaley Cuoco), girlfriend of Sheldon's pal and roommate Leonard (Johnny Galecki), using Pavlovian methods and a box of chocolates.
I talked with Parsons, who's as witty as his superhero-loving character, for an upcoming piece in the magazine, but read below for his thoughts on his home state and how he'd feel if Sheldon ever got a girlfriend.

You grew up in Texas. Is there anything you miss from living there?

No. 1, people in Texas in general are extremely nice. There is just a Southern hospitality where even on the worst days, you generally run into nice people in stores you go to and you don't feel like you're ever encroaching on their time. Sometimes I miss that, although I have to say, I've been really fortunate in both New York and L.A., people are really nice there, too. I spent all my time in Houston, so while there are many touches of — I don't know, what does one expect from Texas? Horses and a bunch of 10-gallon hats? Well, there are some horses and there are some 10-gallon hats, but it's also a major metropolitan city. More than missing anything, I just really treasure the time I got to spend. I got to do so much theater in Houston and so much work, both at the University of Houston and a theater group I worked with for years down there.

Sheldon's a theatrical sort in his own way, but do you miss the stage?

For us, it's live and on stage and in front of an audience every week, so that aspect of it I'm getting fulfilled. That being said, it is a different beast, and you do have however many takes it takes to get the scene done, and, I'm sorry, there's a row of cameras and crewpeople and a director between you and this audience, which there isn't in theater. I don't like to do a lot of talking as an actor, but sometimes I do miss a little more intensive introspection.

Would you like to see Sheldon explore a romantic relationship — maybe even with Penny if things didn't work out for her and Leonard?

I would be so flabbergasted if it was Penny, and that's not to say they wouldn't do it.

It seems like the characters are on a path where that could possibly happen, and not just in an alternate universe.

It's a brother-sister banter between them right now. Now, that is not to say that that's not a step on the way to the top of those stairs, which may be something else. Will it happen this year? God no. [Series creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady] have both said these characters will change as slowly as watching paint dry. What I like about that, though, is that I think it's very true to life. One of the reasons people tune in is you count on these characters to do certain things and react certain ways. You don't want to see major changes sometimes. They're all such a wealth of awkward material at times, why go messing with them yet? There's still plenty of ground to mine.

But wouldn't you just lick your lips at the thought of playing Sheldon on a date?

Believe me, I pine for the day that this happens. I really do. The reason I think it's not quickly coming is because, at this stage, how do you sell that other than "a very special Big Bang Theory"? It would be monumental! I don't know how it would happen. All I see is a frying pan to the head. I don't think he's going to be willing to accept what it is he's feeling, and it's going to have to be exactly that, I think. It's going to have to overtake him because there's that out-of-controlness about falling in love and sexual desire that he does not traverse in, really, as a scientist or even as a human being. One of the things that makes him a fun character is this need for a certain level of control over everything: "That's my spot. I eat this on Mondays. I go to the bathroom at this time. I won't use this toilet." Those romantic feelings, any emotions that are overtaking, they take the rug out from under you and they leave you at a lack of control.

I know you're a big American Idol fan. Would you ever consider being a guest judge?

Really? Now that's interesting. I saw Ellen DeGeneres guest-judge on So You Think You Can Dance, and it did cross my mind. Not Idol, though. I would do So You Think You Can Dance. My problem is, I have to give so many caveats before I advised the contestants: "Now, I don't know anything about this, I will be giving you only the viewpoint of the lay audience member at home, I won't know if it's good or bad, I'll just be able to tell you if I liked it or not, and maybe what I did or didn't like. And a lot of it may have to do with your personality, I'm not sure." Idol, I'm afraid that's probably true, too. I'd try never to say that something was pitchy. I hear that a lot. I'll try not to overuse that phrase.

Kaley Cuoco on The Big Bang Theory by Fred Topel

For fans of 8 Simple Rules, the upcoming season is vindication. The show got off to a humble start but has become a staple of Monday night sitcoms on CBS. This season threatens to link Penny and Leonard in a relationship. Kaley Cuoco filled us in the third season scoop over the summer at CBS's fall TV preview party.

How much fun are you having on Big Bang Theory?

I'm having so much fun. It's a great show, it's doing well. How can you not have fun on a hit show? I'm very, very lucky.

With the big group scenes and the dialogue you have, is there any special fun on the set?

I actually prefer [it]. I love when all of us are in the same scenes together. It happens a good amount but not all the time and it makes me really happy, because the five of us just have so much fun working off each other.

How gratifying is it that it became a hit after a slow build?

It was a slow build, yeah. No one liked us at the beginning. They didn't and it's okay. We reeled them in. We brought them to the geek side and now they've accepted us with open arms.

What do you think it was that hooked people?

I don't know. I think they realized it wasn't "cute girl next door to two geeks." It was so much more than that. It was real people dealing with real emotions. I think it's actually really touched peoples' hearts, especially actors like Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki. I mean, those characters have touched people so deeply and they're really sweet.

Any show takes time to build so how do you think it's grown since the first season?

You know, I firmly believe, only because I've been doing this for so long, every show takes three years. 90% of them don't get three years. It just does. It takes a long time to build a community, build a friendship with your characters. It's hard for people to grasp on and make them care about you. We've been lucky enough to get the opportunity but a lot of shows don't get it. I think a lot of good shows don't make it on the air so it's just a process. You have to grow. You have to learn who you are as a character. You're all of a sudden playing a new person with a whole other life.

How has Penny grown since the beginning?

You know, I think they gave her a lot to do second season. She just loves these guys and loves hanging out with them. I think she's kind of becoming one of them which is really sweet and they finally fully accepted her, thank goodness.

And it's not just a cult hit anymore, it's a broad audience.

I still think it is kind of a cult show but it's weird because I have, like, 10-year-olds come up to me and say they love it and then, like, 80-year-olds. I mean, people love the show and every time I think about it, it gives me a chill. It's just really sweet.

What do you think the show did to win everyone over?

It has a lot of heart. People like Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki and the writing that was in season two I think was the best season. It was so good, it was heartfelt. The love between Penny and the guys I think was really heartfelt. I think at first season, no one believed the cute girl was going to like them and all this silly stuff. I think the characters have really grown and they just love each other. It's really nice to see.

You're going to mess with the setup this season, right?

I hear that, yeah. I guess Leonard and Penny are going to date for a little while and I think that's going to put a little jab between the guys and Leonard. I hope our relationship doesn't last long. I want it to kind of go off and come back, how life really is and I think Chuck wants that to happen too.

Have you picked up any geek interests through the show?

No, just a lot of Guitar Hero and Rock Band and I'm getting really damn good on it to be honest.

Are you Expert?

Uh, yeah. Can I play Expert? Can you play Expert?

I'm up to Hard.

I'm pretty damn good. I like to play the drums. I actually like to sing on Rock Band. I prefer to take the mic.

What songs are you jamming on?

You know what? I don't even know half of them. I just read it off the TV and I am awesome. I'm a good reader.

8 Simple Rules was unfortunately cut short. Do you have a sense that this will go for a while?

I'll never have comfort that it's going to go for a while. I think if I did, I think that's the curse right there. I don't trust anything anymore. I just am riding every day like it is because with what happened with 8 Simple Rules it was so insane, you just never know. So I'm just enjoying this as it goes and I hope that we continue as long as we can.

Are you into gadgets?

My new iPhone, I'm obsessed. My iPod. I love all the Mac crap.

When you're traveling, what's the one thing you have to have with you?

Oh, my iPod and my Bose headset because they sound so frigging good. And it's a sign to people to leave me alone. They are so big, they're bigger than my face and it's basically saying, "Get the hell away from me." I love it.

Do people come up to you anyway?

No, they're very nice. They know and I close my eyes like I can't hear anything. You know what I love? I don't even play music. I just keep them on and I'm kind of going like this and nodding my head like I'm listening. Nothing's going on in my ears.

You must have rhythm if you can sell that.

I've got good rhythm.

What do people want to know about the show when they recognize you?

They keep wanting to know, "What's going to happen with Leonard and Penny? Why can't Sheldon and Penny date?" Which cracks me up. That would have to be a nightmare sequence in season nine because they would kill each other. Penny would kill Sheldon.

There's a lot of anticipation for the relationship, yet we all know how it can ruin shows. How do you feel about how it's going to be done?

I don't know. I have such trust in Chuck. It does make me nervous hearing that we're going to date a little bit, but the way I've seen the show go, I don't think it's going to go well so I'm not worried. I don't think the relationship's going to go well. They've got a lot to learn and we've got a long ways to go.

How did you spend your summer?

I traveled a lot and I have horses on a ranch and that's all I did. I rode and it's kind of a curse knowing you have a show to go back to. You just get a little lazy. I'm like, "Oh, I'm going back to work. I don't have to do anything." And I go back on Wednesday [Aug 5] so I'm really excited.

Do you not look for movies to do during the break?

Not this year I didn't, no. I actually said I didn't want to do anything, didn't want to work.

How long have you been riding?

Long time, since I was like 14.

Why is that a passion?

That's the real love of my life. I think in an other life I was a professional. I love it. I love animals and I feel more of a connection to animals than people. It keeps my mind away from all this and everything that's going on here. If you're not connected to your horse, you're screwed so it takes a lot of focus.

Did you have horses from your family before?

My mom grew up with horses and when I turned 14, 15, she's like, "Do you want to take a riding lesson?" I thought, "Oh, gross, dirty." She was like, "Okay." And then I did and now I'm the one cleaning those damn stalls out. You can't get me away from the barn now. It shocks even me. Trust me. I don't know what happened to me. No heels at that place.

Is there romance in Sheldon's future? by

The second season of "The Big Bang Theory" has received a lot of positive buzz, especially for Jim Parsons, who plays the quirky Sheldon Cooper, Ph.D. Parsons is considered to be a break-out possibility for an Emmy nomination this year, and has been invited by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to announce the nominations, along with "Grey's Anatomy"'s Chandra Wilson, for the "61st Primetime Emmy Awards" on July 16. ET checks in with the funny man, who dishes on the possibility of Sheldon falling in love, the casts' favorite pastime and his favorite funny scene.

Are you superstitious? Last year both Neil Patrick Harris and Kristin Chenoweth, who announced the nominees, received nominations. Lightning could strike twice.

That would be the most delightful bolt of lightning to be hit with that I could imagine, but I have no idea. I was and still am so excited that they called me. It is not even something I would have ever dreamed of doing. It is not one of those goals where you say, "I think I want to announce the nominations for the Emmys one day." There could be that moment when you are not nominated and you feel awkward, and you could be nominated and you feel awkward. I don't care. I love TV. I have always loved TV and this is just such an honor, to use a cliché, to get to do this. The only downside to this is being picked up at 4:30 a.m. in the morning.

There isn't just Emmy buzz this year, but Matt Roush at TV Guide called you a "comic genius" and "the funniest misfit since Felix Unger," and USA Today hailed you as the "season's breakout comedy character." How nice is that to hear, and who keeps your ego in check?

I guess the ego is kept in check by having to do the job again and again every week. It is very real having to get it done every week, and it is very fun. It is very flattering to read that kind of thing. I try to not go trolling around for it. I wait until someone hands it to me to read, because it is crass trying to go looking for those kinds of comments about yourself. It makes you feel how you feel when you blush without actually blushing.

It has to be rewarding because everybody thinks that you were discovered on this show, but you actually have been working a lot prior to this.

I have. Even to this day, the strong majority of what I have done is in theater growing up, and there is no way that anybody could have seen it, except for 80 to 100 people at once. It has only been in the last few years that anybody outside of a one-room theater could have seen me. So in that way, it is very new. I understand where this thought process comes from. But you are right. I have been doing this for a long time, and I, obviously, enjoy doing it.

The burning question on everyone's mind is: Is there romance in Sheldon's future? How about a Penny (Kaley Cuoco) hook-up?

I am going to say yes to the first part. There has to be romance in Sheldon's future. Two things on that: That is not anything someone has told me, or I have read, so it may never happen, but I think it probably will. Two, I think it is a long way off. I think it seems far-fetched right now for him to be open to a relationship of that sort, or even cognizant of it.

As for the Penny equation, I would be jaw-dropped if that ever happens. That doesn't mean it couldn't. Opposites attract. It is a possibility, but, oh, that would surprise me.

You are good with the zingers with her.

The scenes with Sheldon and Penny are so fun to be a part of, and Kaley as a sparring partner as an actor is such a treat. What a welcome surprise. Not her, but the development of those two characters in the forced relationship that they are in because of the physical proximity and Leonard's (Johnny Galecki) much-more-open interest in her.

Last time I chatted with Kaley, she was saying what good buddies you all are, and that you play pool together.

Ping pong. You got the "p." We have tournaments. I have to hand it to Kaley. She goes far in the tournaments. And Kunal [Nayyar] and Simon [Helberg] go pretty far, too, in the tournaments. I do not, although, I do love it, and I am competitive, but I don't do well at it. And Johnny doesn't play at all.

What's coming up for the new season?

Not a clue. I think we are the most unknowledgeable set in TV. We don't get our scripts until the day before the table read. I am not sure if it is top secret, or because it is not finished.

What do fans ask you the most often?

The two things are the same answer: What is the hardest line you have ever had to do, and can you say, "Rock, paper, scissors?" That is the hardest line I have ever had to do, and the answer is: No, I cannot do it. I could barely do it the night that we taped it. I don't know why. It is not like I can repeat any of the science either. I don't know if it is because the science is so foreign to me and, therefore, I am divorced enough from it that rote memorization comes out of my mouth. Rock, paper, scissors, I knew what it was enough that I got in my own way long enough to describe it — and doing hand signals at the same time.

Are Sheldon's mannerisms and quirks based on anyone you know?

No. I am happy to say that a lot of it just comes out of what is happening in the script. A lot of it comes out of me naturally when I am trying to do it. That is good in some ways and embarrassing in others. If anything, I take my cues more from word choice and the rhythm of the Sheldon speak. There is a real click to it.

How was your visit to Cal Tech? Did you earn your geek creds, or did you feel out of place?

I don't think that earned us anything more than the degree that people could see you are not as smart as these characters. The one thing it did do is we realized that there is no stereotype of the people in science in general. There are certainly things you can pick up on, certain commonalities, certainly the common language, but they were just all different shapes and sizes and different types of people. It was rewarding as an actor to see how grounded in reality you could keep all this to a certain degree, and that the world was your oyster as far as the type of person you "wish to play." Of course, they are just human. But they are geniuses. And we put this nerd/geek thing on top of it.

What is your favorite funny moment from the show?

One of my favorite things we did this year is Sheldon was learning to drive, where they had a simulated car-type video game, where he could learn the rules of the road. It involved everybody in the cast, and it was just absurd. It just bordered on vaudeville. It was so much fun to do. It was one of the only times I had trouble keeping a straight face.

Jim Parsons interview by Noel Murray

The CBS hit The Big Bang Theory had an inauspicious start in the fall of 2007, initially dismissed by many critics as a clunky throwback sitcom, about four broadly cartoonish nerds and their sexy neighbor. But the show quickly improved, and in its second season has become an example of how the old sitcom formula of multiple cameras and a live studio audience can still wring reliable laughs. A major reason for the show's success? Jim Parsons, a Texas-born-and-bred self-described "theater geek" who plays the role of Sheldon Cooper, a fussy theoretical physicist whose superior attitude and neurotic behavior tics have made him The Big Bang Theory's breakout character. Parsons spoke with The A.V. Club about finding the humanity in a stand-offish character, working on a series often derided for being old-fashioned, and how his passion for the stage is affecting his opinion of the current season of American Idol.

Are you done shooting The Big Bang Theory for this season?

Not yet. We'll shoot one more tonight and then we have two more, which we'll do over the next two weeks. This year we went later than usual because a lot of our staff works on Two And A Half Men as well.

Any big cliffhangers? Anybody get married? Anybody die?

There could be. [Laughs] We are the saddest cast at giving out information to reporters, because we don't know anything! I find it incredible, and I mean this literally, that I've found out more information about our show from friends who've read about casting calls than I have from the people working here. On one episode we had a new girl moving upstairs, and I specifically remember that about four weeks before I got the script, a friend said, "Oh they're casting for an upstairs neighbor." You're kidding! We don't hear anything. We'll get the next episode's script hand-delivered to us tonight after we're finished taping. I don't think it's some kind of top-secret governmental lockdown thing, I just think they don't want us to be hashing out next week's episode in our minds while we're still working on this week's. Which for me, frankly, I'm fine with. And two, they're typically writing up until the last minute.

The Big Bang Theory does maintain some continuity between episodes, but it's not like you're Lost.

Absolutely. There's a certain definitive end to every episode and then we start up again. It's more...the relationships have kind of naturally evolved. The easy example is that Sheldon and Penny are somewhat more...I don't want to say comfortable together, but they're used to each other now. It's not quite as jarring when they find themselves alone together anymore. They don't necessarily have to comment on that fact. They now have a little bit of a routine that they fall into. But like you say, you don't need to have seen 10 episodes to catch up with that. It's not that big of a deal.

Does Sheldon and Penny spending so much more time together have anything to do with how well you and Kaley Cuoco play off each other? Are the writers just working to your strengths?

That could be. I mean, they haven't said as much. From the end of last season and into this season even more strongly, I've felt that Sheldon and Penny are kind of the North and South Pole of character types on this show. Sheldon's extremely cerebral and absorbed in that world of science, and Penny's maybe the only one on the show with her feet in the real world. If anybody has street sense on this show, it's definitely Penny. And so I felt last season, and I still feel now, that it's good for the character dynamics to throw these two opposites together. It's very fortunate that Kaley and I do enjoy working together.

It reminds me of when I first read with Johnny, too. There was just no predicting it. I had no reason to think we would or wouldn't do scenes well together. I guess some people would call that chemistry, some people would call it...I don't know, maybe "rhythm." There is something about the way Kaley and I work together and Johnny and I work together that is complementary. And maybe it has to do with our characters. Now that I'm saying it out loud I'm reaching for words, sorry. I think maybe we fill the void left by the other characters in a lot of ways, and that makes for a complete whole.

But that's a conversation for my psychiatrist. [Laughs]

This next question isn't intended to stir up controversy, but given that Big Bang Theory is such an ensemble show, has there been any concern among the cast that the balance this season has shifted more towards your character?

I guess the easiest answer is also the most honest one, which is that there's been no hint of that at all. Maybe this is just an inside feeling, from working on the show, but it feels like there's a natural ebb and flow to the whole process. It doesn't feel like, when you get an episode or even two in a row with a lot of Sheldon and Penny together, that "that's what the show is now." It feels more like there will be more episodes on the horizon about Wolowitz and his mother, or Leonard and Leslie, or Leonard and some other woman. Or maybe even Penny again! It feels more cyclical than permanent.

This has been discussed a great deal, but clearly there are some elements of Sheldon's character that have rung true with people who have firsthand experience with Asperger's or other forms of autism. The writers have purposely tried to avoid tagging the character with a diagnosis, since that gives you all more freedom to take the character wherever you like, but have you personally done any kind of research into Asperger's?

When I was first asked about it, I literally hadn't... Well, I'd heard of the disease. Do they call it a disease? I don't want to be...

A disorder.

Disorder, thank you. How ridiculous now, looking back, that I said that. I'd heard of the disorder but I didn't know what it was at all. And when I asked the writers if Sheldon had Asperger's, they said, "No, he does not. That's not what we're doing." Okay. But it made me curious. And I don't know why, but Johnny read that book Look Me In The Eye by Augusten Burroughs' brother [John Elder Robison], who wrote about his life with Asperger's. I think Johnny purchased it and took it with him on a trip, and when he came back he said, "You've got to read this. You're gonna die. The Sheldon comparisons." And I immediately went and I got it. And that was as much "research" as I've done on it. Which was very fun research, because it was very applicable human stories about living with Asperger's. And the comparisons were undeniable. A majority of what I read in that book touched on aspects of Sheldon. Since then, the more I've heard about it or talked about it with people who know more about it than I do, it seems that Asperger's is not such an uncommon thing for extremely smart people to have. Or, like Sheldon, to have aspects of. There's an awful lot of people who seem to border on that genius level that are also dealing with an Asperger's-like detachment from emotional life as we know it. Even though really it just seems like detachment.

Anyway, I haven't broached the topic again with the writers, but, you know, I do wonder. "Okay, so we're not writing a character with Asperger's, but what Aspergerian stories are you pulling some of this from?" I believe one of our writers has a relative that has Asperger's. And like I say, I think a lot of this really intellectual work that somebody like Sheldon does, the way his brain works, it's so focused on the intellectual topics at hand that thinking he's autistic is an easy leap for people watching the show to make. The way Sheldon goes "Huh?" to a social and emotional situation because he's so focused on what he's doing. His brain is so wrapped up in it.

Have you known anyone in your life that was Sheldon-like?

There was one peer of mine in elementary school. We continued to go to school, I believe, all the way through high school. We weren't in the same friend group or whatever, but he was in a class of mine in second or third grade, I can't remember. He was a genius, there was no denying that. It was different than Sheldon, maybe because he was younger, but he for sure acted out in ways like eating paper or eating bark off of trees or whatever. It was just more of an outlandishness, which if I had to do more of my armchair psychology, was like him acting out because he didn't fit in. He didn't belong, and that obviously wasn't okay with him.

But this is where Sheldon differs. Sheldon, for the most part, as far as we know from what's been written so far, is okay with it. He actually is, in a lot of ways, quite pleased with himself. He enjoys the life he leads, and is very comfortable with himself. I do think, though—and there's been things in the scripts hinting at this—that he had to travel a while to find that place. I like to think that this boy I knew was probably the same and found his own peace eventually. "I'm different, but I'm good different. It's not a bad thing that I'm different. My brain just works differently, and I understand things in a different way than most people do." Like I say, Sheldon has talked of "swirlies" and such thing in his past. There's been mention of the terror of going to children's birthday parties with bouncy castles and clowns, where he was uncomfortable and things made no sense. And maybe he still harbors some of those feelings for a small outburst every now and then, when he's pressed into an uncomfortable situation. But for the most part it doesn't bother Sheldon that he doesn't fit in. It's more of a curiosity now. A mystery to be solved.

Have you reached the point, here in the second year, that you can speak for the character to the writers? Where you could say, "I don't think Sheldon would do this?"

I definitely think I could. Much to their credit, they haven't given me much reason to. We were blocking a scene the other day, and somebody suggested that perhaps Penny should pat Sheldon on the arm or whatever, and I went, "You don't touch Sheldon! Do you want him to explode?" It's much more conversations of that nature. One of the things that I've been so lucky with, working with these writers as an actor, is that they've been so clear on Sheldon from very early on. And while the character has deepened due to all of us working on it together, it's very rarely deviated from some essential things such as that. He's not a touchy-feely person... little things like that. There's just a clarity on the part of the writers.

And I have to say as an actor, I'm pretty willing to try whatever they want. That's another reason why I don't find myself saying, "I don't think Sheldon would do that," or, "I don't think that's the way I would say that." I enjoy when they write something that's out of the norm or what-have-you, because I very much believe that Sheldon is whatever we say he is. It's up to us to play it, and to believe it, and everyone else will accept it. This is our creation here. My role as an actor is to support that. It's their role as writers to go, "No, no, no, we're not going to go there." Except for that rare exception when we do go there and it's all the more fun. [Laughs]

Big Bang Theory has been renewed for two more seasons already, so it obviously gets strong ratings, and it's even drawn more critical approval than it did when it debuted. Still, your show isn't talked about in the same breath as something like The Office or 30 Rock. As an actor, do you pay attention to that sort of thing? Does it bother you at all not to be thought of as "cool?"

No. The first thing that always comes to my head when I think of something like that is that I'm so happy and grateful to be working. And I don't say that in a pat, 'easy answer' way. It's only an easy answer because it's so damn true. To have a job you can count on as an actor is so rare, whether that means belonging to a regional theater company or being on TV. And of course TV pays better than theater. [Laughs] So no, I don't think about it in that way. It's hard to say what defines a hit, because high ratings aren't always what makes a hit show. Nor does critical acclaim necessarily translate to high numbers. It's more a combination of how much revenue you bring in combined with how much the people running the network like your show. So I guess my long-ass answer to the question is, "No." It doesn't bother me. I'm very happy.

Forget about "hit," though. What about the coolness factor?

No, you're right, we're not... We still use the old tried-and-true formula of multi-camera in front of a live audience, and since we're still on the red-hot heels of "single camera's the way to go and that's the way of the future," then yeah, we're not thought of as cool. But I feel like the single-camera wave has settled down to a degree. I'm not saying that making a multi-camera sitcom in front of a live audience is suddenly new again. But at the same time, it's not like that style went away for ten years and now it's back. Also one thing I think that has a lot to do with any perceived lack of coolness is that we do hope to appeal to a broad audience. That's one of our goals. But that doesn't mean we try to dumb anything down either. We have a core .001& who would rip us up on the blogs if we got something wrong either scientifically or comics-wise or what-have-you. And we try to remain very true to that niche audience. Still, we're not necessarily... specialized? Is that what I'm saying?

I've interviewed show-runners for other series, and when I asked them to name their favorite shows, The Big Bang Theory has often been mentioned. But there's apparently still a lot of bias out there against multi-camera sitcoms. It's as though 'multi-camera' equals 'traditional,' which equals 'outdated.'

Right. I agree with that, and that's something I have no control over as an actor. I guess you can like a style or not, and you either watch it or you don't. But I do sometimes question whether that's what's kept some people from actually watching the show. Have they actually seen it? Do they actually know what we're doing? Or do they just presume that it's a multi-camera show about a couple of nerds and the pretty girl next door, and that doesn't necessarily strike them as something they might like. Look, I understand that some of them have watched it and they still don't like it, and that's fine. But I think there's solid work being done here, and I think that people who work in the business have a respect and a love for it. I'm certainly grateful for that.

A lot of your training and background is in theater. Do you find that working on a multi-camera sitcom is more like theater than working on a film is?

Yes. There's not a doubt about it. There's probably many many reasons, but with just the live audience alone, there's a clear comparison. There's no audience to wonderfully get in your way when you're doing a single-camera anything, whether it's a sitcom or drama or film. And I do mean that in the best way. The audience is a force to be dealt with, and while sometimes editing on the laughter in shows can make it sound a little false, or catch your ear wrong, the bottom line is that for our show, that's part of the experience. Some people just aren't into that and don't care, but it's part of the experience of watching it, so the writers and directors and cast have to deal with that live human force that is, for better or for worse, an invisible other character on the show every week. They're not thrown in afterwards...unless it's a heavy technical scene, and then yes, sometimes that has to happen. But 99.9& of the time the laughter you hear comes from a live audience.

Taping day is without a doubt the best day of the week here for me — and I think for all of us. Kaley did a lot of work in front of an audience on 8 Simple Rules, and the rest of us have all done a decent amount of theater. It's amazing to me, because just like in the theater there's always something in every episode that you can't figure out why it isn't working, and then you do it front of the audience, and you're like, "Oh, because they weren't here!" [Laughs] You try not to think about them while you're working, because you don't know what they're going to do. But these scripts are meant to be performed in front of an audience. And I love that part.

Do you watch a lot of TV on your own time?

Um, I'm up and down. I've always loved TV very much, and as a child I was so religious with it, but now it's more when it fits in. I used to love — and I don't get to see it much anymore — Friday Night Lights. I had a lot of time between filming the first pilot and going to series on Big Bang Theory and that was when Friday Night Lights' first season it came out. When I do get to see it now, there's still such a wonderful quality that goes into the work: the actors, the writing, and the whole way it looks. It's just a beautiful show.

And it's set in Texas, where you're from.

I am from Texas. But please tell people, it's not a football show! I think that there's such confusion about that. Football lies there underneath the whole thing but it's just a damn good slice-of-life drama.

I'm also a big American Idol fan. I think it's just great fun.

Who are you pulling for?

Definitely Adam. It was interesting to find out how much theater he'd done. Because the first time I saw him, I thought, "This is gonna make me uncomfortable. Don't push the envelope too far, you're gonna make me, you know..." [Laughs] And then he'd just settle in and give such a solid performance. And so satisfying, because it's surprising. He's pushed to the edge a lot of times. One of the judges asked him a few weeks ago about something he'd done and his answer was "I just rehearsed it rehearsed it rehearsed it." And I thought, "Well, that's it." He doesn't leave a bunch of stuff to chance. He's really talented, and he really works his ass off. That's the draw for me of him. I feel like that's the essence of good acting. He works his butt off, and yet makes it seem like he's doing it fresh for the first time, when you see it out there.

He's got a great voice, but he's maybe a bit too theatrical.

Definitely. That exact thing that may be his undoing in the end is what's drawing me to him.

Anything else you watch religiously?

I'm a big news junkie. And one of my favorite quirky, can't-be-that-big-an-audience-but- it's-been-on-the-air-forever is The McLaughlin Group. Oh my God, change the set! I don't know when the show was first on the air, but nothing's changed, obviously. And I wouldn't want them to change it, actually; I love it. Crotchety fighting, and 30 minutes of just yelling about politics.

Knowing that you're locked in for the next couple of years, have you been able to think much about your career beyond Big Bang Theory — or even what you want to do on the hiatus, that sort of thing?

I've thought about hiatus work. It's been hard to get mentally specific about it, because you get so wrapped up in the show that it's hard to go, "What I really want to do is blah blah blah." I don't find that I have the mental room for that. All I know at this point is that I would love to do something different, just to, you know, exercise a different acting muscle. Or even just for the résumé. My manager and my agent discuss it with me all the time.

As far as the future goes, you know, I don't know. I guess my future hinges much more for me on the job I have right now. The most I can do is just do this job and this character the best and the strongest I know how. It's certainly seen by more people than any theater I've ever done. But it's the same story for me in a lot of ways, what I'm doing right now. You just pour yourself into it, and it'll lead to something else. Whenever this road ends, or even during this trip as we're going down it, I will do other things.

How to make a Big Bang on a busy monday night by Matt Mitovich

A funny thing happened last week. A quiet little comedy that neither stars Charlie Sheen nor teases us with the identity of a proverbial Mother hit a ratings milestone (9.9 million viewers), putting a certain behemoth of a dance competition to shame in the process. Yep, we're talking about CBS' The Big Bang Theory (Mondays at 8 pm/ET), which in its second season is proving to be one of the most reliable laugh generators on all of prime time.

Of course, that's not to say it's immune to the occasional sweeps stunt. Bill Prady (who co-created the comedy with Chuck Lorre) shared with TVGuide.com a look at how some Top Models get wrapped up in our boy geniuses' world, as well as reveals the show's overall formula for success. (Thankfully, it does not involve string theory.)

Congratulations on the series-high ratings. Is the 10 million threshold in your sights?

I've got to tell you, I was waiting for when we beat Dancing with the Stars in the demo, which we did. That was sort of my goal. And it felt really good!

What's great is that as the series surges, you're not doing anything different. You haven't dumbed it down or "made it more accessible." It is what it's always been.

I think we only know how to do this. [Laughs] It's interesting because the thing we're here to talk about, it didn't start out as, "How can we do a stunt with Top Model?" It was just a storyline we pitched that seemed natural to the characters. We work inside-out that way.

What are the Top Model gals doing, and who are they doing it with?

They are the object of a quest. Penny's television is on the fritz, so she comes next door to see who's being kicked off of America's Next Top Model. When Penny lets it slip that all the women live in a house together, Wolozitz is taken aback. He realizes that once a week, a beautiful girl is kicked out of this house, left with no self esteem — aka the Future Mrs. Howard Wolowitz. [Laughs] So he and Koothrappali use science to try to locate the house, charting star positions and physical landmarks, using satellite photography...

I've always thought it'd be fun if Wolowitz got a steady girlfriend for a few episodes.

He will, at some point. Coming up, he is going to meet a girl played by Sara Rue, and Leonard will steal her away — though he won't mean to do it.

Going into the first season finale, did you have any intention of following through on the Penny-Leonard romance? Or was it always just a tease?

[In an early draft] they did not go out at the end of it, and it felt so unsatisfying. People said, "Careful, there are many sharks waiting to be jumped if they [have a date]," but we felt that if we were honest to the characters, the first time simply wouldn't go well. And they won't try it again for a while. My feeling is that the reality of that guy, with that girl, will start and stop over the years. This is of course the nerdiest writers room in television, and we've all brought our experiences of being nerds who loved pretty girls. What happens is you take a shot, you screw it up, you back off, time passes, you take a shot again... Penny's not yet at the place in her life where she has figured out that the Leonards of the world are better for her than the Biffs. But she'll get there, someday. The thing that was very exciting is that it was Penny's problem [she never graduated college] that prevented the relationship. And once we found out it was Penny's problem, Leonard screwed it up massively. [Laughs]

Fans also love the scenes with Sheldon and Penny. Does that present a tricky balancing act?

When we have a story and it's fun, we do it. [This week] things come to a head between them, and the ending is surprising as to who gets the upper hand and why. It's like an earthquake — you have tremors, an earthquake, and then it's gone for a while.

Sara Gilbert is a regular this season, yet we haven't seen much of Leslie Winkle. Will that change soon?

She's in an episode coming up. Being a semi-regular, I think, is her actual arrangement.

Some fans think Sheldon might hook up with Leslie before Leonard does.

In last week's episode Penny asked, "What's Sheldon's' deal? Is it guys, girls, sock puppets...?" The guys say, "We've been operating under the assumption that Sheldon has no deal." Sheldon is so far away from having any kind of human relationship, I don't think he is a big contender.

Settle a small mystery here: Who's the voice of Wolowitz's mom?

Carol Ann Susi. She's a terrific actress, and we think it's delightful that we don't see her. Carol Ann says [adopting her raspy, accented voice], "I don't have to dress up or put on makeup. This is the best job in television!"

Are we going to meet any more characters' family members this season?

Leonard's mom might come to visit. We're still figuring out what kind of woman she would be. We've established that his father is an anthropologist and his mother is a research psychiatrist. We've often said there's the possibility that Leonard is the least successful in his family. His parents always pushed him toward academic success, whereas Sheldon's parents had no idea what had been born among then. [Laughs]

Your episode titles are all written in the form of a "theorem," "hypothesis," "paradigm"... Any fear of running out?

It was a very big issue at the start of the year, whether we could reuse words. The official belief is that we will reuse them each season — because there aren't 250 different ones.

If you ever want a good groan, check out Knight Rider's episode titles. They all use a pun on the word "night."

As long as they do an episode called "Good Knight, Moon," I'm happy!

Jim Parsons: Big Bang now begets bigger laughs by Matt Mitovich

Leonard and Penny embarking on their first date may have been the big "cliffhanger," but make no mistake, Sheldon's not-exactly-peripheral role in the unlikely romance plays a big part in The Big Bang Theory's Season 2 premiere (Monday at 8 pm/ET, on CBS). Jim Parsons shares a non-scientific peek at what's ahead - including, possibly, an incendiary hook-up for Sheldon himself!

Before we get going, I want to say that I'm sorry you didn't get an Emmy nomination. A lot of us here were pulling for you.

Well, that's very sweet. Thank you very much. But frankly I'm just happy we got to come back for Season 2! [Laughs]

What's different about this season?

I'd say that from a working standpoint, it's been easy to get back into it. It was a relief, and felt like coming home again. Another thing that changed - and you see it when you're [on the set] versus watching on TV - is the studio audience that comes in is markedly different. They know the characters. They start laughing sooner in the taping...

Like, if you get a Wolowitz-at-home scene, you know his mother will be screaming for him.

Exactly. There's not that having to catch up and think, "OK, that's how that person speaks" and whatever. The laughs start to come before you've even hit the funny. The studio audience senses where it's going, and that has really upped the fun, I have to say. It's invigorating.

In the season opener, Sheldon gets pulled into the Leonard-Penny romantic situation in short order.

Because if it wasn't going to go badly enough, they had to add him to up the "pain quotient" of that relationship.

After all, Sheldon, perhaps more than anyone else, could not care less about what happens between them.

Exactly. But there's not another single other person she could go to. She could go to Rajesh or Wolowitz, but they're not going to be any help either. [Laughs] I really enjoy any time that they stick Sheldon and Penny in a scene together.

They simply do not speak the same language.

Of the five major cast members, they are the two opposite ends of the pole, the north and the south. They are the least likely to understand what the other is saying.

We also learn that one of Sheldon's "things" is that he can't keep a secret - at least not when he hasn't first signed off on any intent to keep said secret.

[Laughs] It's really nice when you read a script and they throw down a major character gauntlet like that. "Oh, OK Sheldon can't keep a secret."

Though his logic is sound: Give me the opportunity to agree to keep the secret before you tell me what it is.

It is completely logical. You need the right to say, "No, I don't want to hear it. I have to deal with this person too much in my daily life that it would be impossible for me for this never to come up. Leonard could ask me a pointed question at some point dealing with exactly what you're talking about, which will force me to lie... or run away." Before you sign the contract of secret-keeping, you need to know what the terms are.

What other geek-tastic capers are coming up? I understand that Sheldon helps Penny with an addiction...

Yes, she becomes addicted to online gaming, which apparently can be a serious addiction for young people. I personally have no experience in my own life, so I had to learn what buttons to push on the PC. She, for various reasons in her life, needs to latch onto something that gives her a sense of self-worth. I suppose there could be worse addictions out there, but this one does spiral out of control.

What about any romantic interests for Sheldon?

Well, nobody has told me anything specific... It's funny - and I'm grateful! - because very often information about our future I find out from other interviews. For example, [Big Bang cocreator] Chuck [Lorre] told TV Guide that somebody was going to become completely fascinated with Sheldon and think that he "walks on water." Of course, everybody sees it but Sheldon. Even that, though, doesn't necessarily say that she's in love with him. It might just be idolatry.

I've been speculating that the intense hatred and sparks that fly between Sheldon and Leslie Winkle (played by new series regular Sara Gilbert) might be leading toward something...

That was my very next question! "Might their animosity erupt into spontaneous, unbridled and illogical passion?"

My theory is where there's smoke, there's fire. You don't have such passionate, passionate angry feelings for another being unless the actual opposite is also lying there on the inside. Sara has done two out of the first three [episodes], and it's just been nasty. We talked about the fact that by having her around more, she's a wonderful barometer to judge the Penny-Sheldon relationship. When there are scenes with Penny and Sheldon and scenes with Leslie and Sheldon in the same episode, you see, "No, no Leslie hates him. Penny actually is quite fond of him. She just doesn't know how to communicate with him!"

Any last message to fans?

Thank you for watching. It's a pleasure to do this show, and I hope it's enjoyable.