The Best Director

Chapter 260: Chronicle of the Big Bang’s Birth at 260

Wang Yang invited two key players for “The Big Bang Theory,” one of whom was Graham Linehan, born on May 22, 1968, in Dublin, Ireland. He is a well-known television writer and director in the United Kingdom. His situation comedy “Father Ted,” which he created and wrote, won the Best Comedy (Programme or Series) at the BAFTAs (British Academy Television Awards), the highest honor in British television, in 1996 and 1999, and was nominated in 1997.

“Father Ted” also received the 1996 Writers’ Guild of Great Britain award for “Television – Situation Comedy”; and the first season of another show he created, “Black Books,” won the BAFTAs Sitcom Award in 2001.

For North American television viewers, most people know that the producer of “Band of Brothers” is Steven Spielberg, that “Prison Break” features Wang Yang, which naturally comes from the effect of publicity; and there are also drama fans, those who pay attention to the subtitles, and those who follow entertainment news and TV magazines, who are aware that the creators of “Friends” are David Crane and Marta Kauffman, and that “CSI” and “CSI: Miami” have the gold-standard producer Jerry Bruckheimer…

But when it comes to Graham Linehan, this important figure in the British drama circle, people are almost clueless. WHO?

Previously, upon receiving Wang Yang’s invitation, Graham was also perplexed. British and American dramas are like two different worlds. American series emphasize “what you learned from this…” and enjoy teasing and ribbing each other, with an audience on the set recording their laughter, achieving over 20 episodes per season; British series have six episodes a season, focusing on creating laughter through scene and character conflict, and the drama’s exaggeration level can be completely detached from reality, often satirizing some aspect of reality.

Going to America, he definitely had to create according to the American series approach. Graham wasn’t particularly drawn to Hollywood, an industrial assembly line; nor did he have any aversion, as there was higher pay, more job opportunities, and better future prospects there, especially now that the person inviting him was Wang Yang, the magical Yang.

If it were someone else, he might have already refused, but on the phone, he questioned, “I’m not sure I can adapt to American sitcoms. What are your thoughts?”

“You are a person with a keen sense of detail and imagination; your use of scenes and props is wonderfully humorous. I need them,” Wang Yang replied to him, which exactly reflected his thoughts. The cultural difference between British and American series isn’t that great. According to the information in his mind, “The Office,” which debuted in 2001, would also be adapted into an American version by NBC in 2005, and NBC was also interested in adapting “The IT Crowd” into an American series.

Not to mention “The Big Bang Theory,” which would be made from scratch. Wang Yang told Graham, “Compared to other series, the character setting will be more exaggerated, but they could exist.” Graham understood this point, which is also characteristic of American series. No matter how ludicrous, they never abandon reality; at most, they are a bunch of eccentrics.

Wang Yang continued, “The focus of the story is not to satirize or educate but to sculpt the characters. We arrange some events for them, and their personalities will naturally react to these situations, naturally resulting in humor.” Of course, this is why American sitcoms are close to real life yet also tend to become formulaic, as there are too few surprises.

“Your main role in the team isn’t character or main story arc development, but responsible for crafting the story details, concerning the silent scenes without dialogue, props, adding some surprises to them. But you know all roads lead to one endpoint.”

Wang Yang valued these aspects highly; compared to the usual tit-for-tat dialogue, “movement” was more likely to provoke laughter and make a lasting impression. Scientific details like Leonard rotating an olive in a glass to explain centripetal force to Penny, Sheldon and Leonard pushing a large box up the stairs, debating the angle of incline needed to push it up; prop use reached its peak in the third season, with kites, Green Lantern’s lantern, The Lord of the Rings…

Whether it was props from science or geek culture like comics and movies, there would be many, and he hoped that the person responsible for this area on the team would be Graham Linehan because these details were precisely the strengths of British series. “Black Books” and “The IT Crowd” both had many unforgettable arrangements.

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“I value your ability to handle details, and I know you’re an active blogger. You understand IT and computers quite well, which is one of the focal points of our series, and of course, there’s science too.” Wang Yang said that, but everyone knew that each person joining the team had to be ready to do extensive research and preparation, especially the people from Ireland who really needed to work hard to understand these American “specialties.”

Graham suggested he needed to think it over carefully and then respond. Moving to Los Angeles and integrating into the team would be stepping into a whole new world. He could end up working on ‘The Big Bang Theory’ for five or even ten years. It was an opportunity that could lead anywhere.

After more than a week, with his family’s support and no job tying him down, Graham agreed to come to Los Angeles to try something new in a different environment.

Inviting another one of the creators was much simpler. He was Bill Prady, one of the two original creators of ‘The Big Bang Theory.’ The other creator, Chuck Lorre, was now the showrunner for ‘Two and a Half Men’ and naturally wasn’t on the invitation list.

Like Graham, Bill Prady was currently out of a job and had plenty of free time. Born on June 7, 1960, he became a well-known sitcom writer and television producer in Hollywood. He had written ten episodes for ‘The Eight Simple Rules,’ which wrapped up its fifth season on ABC last year, winning the “Favorite New TV Comedy Series” at the People’s Choice Awards in 1998.

Prady wasn’t surprised by Wang Yang’s invitation, feeling more excitement than anything and almost immediately accepted the offer.

Prady’s main responsibility was to design the plot sequences and dialogue; Wang Yang oversaw everything—characters, storyline, dialogue… the entire scope of the series. Along with Graham Linehan and script consultant David Saltzberg, the ‘The Big Bang Theory’ creative team they put together looked impressively strong.

“Fellows, remember everything needs to get moving! Characters should be lovable, you know, not a beauty, but a BABY, a Puppy-Dog! That urge to pinch them a little, not their butt, give them something more adorable, especially this ‘Sheldon Cooper.'”

In a bright office, 35-year-old Graham, 36-year-old David Saltzberg, 43-year-old Bill Prady were sitting around a metal and wood round table. They had all signed confidentiality and preliminary contracts and, although smiling occasionally at Wang Yang’s remarks, were listening very seriously.

The table was covered with papers, filled with English writing and drawings—prepped scene settings and selected story segments. These character and style settings were the polished results of exploration by the original team of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and ‘The IT Crowd.’ There was no need to stray off course now. But there was something called “texture” and “dimension” that, even with illustrative stories and dialogues pinpointing character traits, Wang Yang still felt the need to explain thoroughly what made “adorable” adorable and “detestable” detestable.

The “tap tap tap” sound started, and letters began to appear on the whiteboard set up in front of the round table. Wang Yang, holding a whiteboard marker, wrote next to “Sheldon Cooper”: “Adorable.”

Then, turning back to the three middle-aged men—easygoing people. David Saltzberg was a conflict-free scholar, who wouldn’t have any objections, merely providing the team with knowledge on science and physics as a professor; Graham Linehan was still adjusting and his main job was to contribute smaller ideas; the main discussion, therefore, was between Bill Prady and Wang Yang.

It’s worth mentioning that Prady really liked Chinese food and held an interest in Chinese culture, probably the reason for the plethora of Chinese elements in the original ‘The Big Bang Theory.’ However, it was clear neither CBS nor he had plans to include a Chinese-American character, only featuring two “Sichuan boys” for a brief appearance. So Prady had his own opinions on Chinese elements and Chinese-American characters set by Wang Yang.

“This Sheldon isn’t insane or autistic. He’s one hundred percent healthy, normal—for him, that is normal!”

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Listening to Wang Yang’s words, Graham Linehan nodded in easy understanding. The character setup was quirky, but so what? Sheldon was just such a person. But Bill Prady seemed a bit puzzled, not quite grasping this “self-explored future self” character. He stared at his pencil and looked towards David Saltzberg, curiously asking, “Excuse me, David, are there really such nerds in the scientific community?”

“Yes, I think there are.” Saltzberg pondered and nodded. On the other side, Wang Yang smiled and said, “Our professors aren’t.” Gazing at the familiar whiteboard, filled with script analyses instead of formulas, Saltzberg felt a fresh wave of novelty and chuckled, “The word NERD carries a pejorative sense, but I believe it’s perhaps the most appropriate word to describe those who are passionate about science and comics.”

He looked at Prady and continued, “These personalities are a bit exaggerated. However, the likes, habits, and behaviors of Sheldon, Leonard, and the others are very much like many real people. I encountered such guys when I was a graduate student.” Prady nodded in sudden realization.

“Anyway! When Sheldon is facing women, he doesn’t see any temptation; when he’s dealing with Penny, his attitude is to regard her as…” Wang Yang paused, then turned to the whiteboard and drew a line between Sheldon and Penny, writing, “An unevolved ape. Would you be attracted to an ape? He isn’t interested in appearances; in his eyes, whether a woman is beautiful or not is dependent on her IQ! IQ value is his breast, and academic trophies are his butt.”

Everyone chuckled lightly, and Wang Yang also shrugged and smiled. He didn’t know how many pilot episodes of the original “The Big Bang Theory” were scrapped — he had two in his mind: the first depicted Sheldon Cooper as lecherous and sleazy, having had a sexual relationship with Leonard’s girlfriend, and Penny was a dark and scheming character with no Howard or Raj; in the opening sperm donation scene, the two ultimately took the money and left.

The second was closer to the official pilot episode, with the sperm donation completed but then retrieved, this version of scientists was still not so dull, still consuming plenty of “earthly fireworks”; then came the first episode of the first season aired (pilot episode), where the characters and storylines were still unclear. Sheldon still showed many normal male behaviors, something that the Sheldon from the third season would definitely not partake in — sperm donation was out of the question, let alone him initiating conversation with Penny with a shy and imply expression.

Theoretically, the intrusion of a sunny girl into the world of a nerd should make it become more humane, more “manly”; yet, Sheldon ended up becoming increasingly dull — and increasingly adorable, of course.

Now the characters all start as the ultimate versions, and naturally, the opening won’t be the sperm donation scene. The two physics doctors need to make their entrance in other ways, everything is mature and changing.

The original Sheldon Cooper was portrayed by Jim Parsons, who was born in Houston in March 1973 and had a Bachelor’s degree in drama and dance from the University of Houston and a Master’s in drama from the University of San Diego, as well as a wealth of theatre experience — a typical academic actor. At 30, Parsons had no film experience and only a minor TV role on “ED,” essentially a blank slate.

Wang Yang planned to continue casting him as Sheldon. Parsons was undoubtedly the most suitable choice, and he thought there definitely wouldn’t be any issues with the contract. The actors for Howard, Raj, and Leonard were also currently available; only Penny was a bit of a trouble.

Unlike the academically inclined Parsons, Leonard’s actor Johnny Galecki was a former child star with fame. Born in 1975, he debuted on screen with the TV movie “Murder Ordained” at age 12 and joined the sitcom “Roseanne” at 17, appearing in 92 episodes over five seasons. He had performances in “Bean,” “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” “Vanilla Sky,” and had received four nominations and won one Young Artist Award.

He was on track to become one of Hollywood’s leading young male stars if he were 10-20cm taller; however, the dazzling child star faded due to his height of only 165cm.

“OK, let’s talk about Penny! She’s the typical busty and brainless girl, with a messy love life!” Wang Yang circled a big chaotic circle on the whiteboard, under the watchful eyes of the others, while writing and saying, “But she’s sunny, approachable, and sometimes takes a little advantage. However, she is principled. I need her to quickly enter the lives and circle of the geniuses, to become good friends with each other. She has no sense of self-protection, partly because of her personality, partly because she’s not afraid of these nerds. If it came to a fight, she thinks she could kick them to death with just a few kicks, right?”

“Don’t worry about not having stories to tell, our goal is the first half of the season, 12 episodes, and by then this group will already be sloppy, very close-knit buddies,”

A red 12 was added to the whiteboard, and Wang Yang, seeing everyone nodding in agreement, went on to analyze and explain. He wanted to get Bill Prady up to speed with the mature pace, rather than let him linger in the stage of “Are scientists really that nerdy?” and “Could Sheldon be lecherous too?” Only when Bill Prady understood these mature, stable thoughts could he be freed, and the production of The Big Bang Theory could commence.

“Next, let’s talk about the supporting characters.” Only when the whiteboard was filled with notes did Wang Yang switch to a new one beside it. He took a sip of water at the round table and continued, “Let’s start with this CIT Chinese-American math professor…”

He had already decided that the Chinese character would be a supporting role, a colleague of Sheldon and the others. It was an essential character, not only because he needed popular Chinese characters on the screen but also to make fun of and satire himself. Otherwise, occasionally making light jokes about white people, Jewish people, or Indians, even though everyone knows it’s sitcom humor, would seem malicious without self-deprecating humor.

It was all about reputation; now, everyone associated The Big Bang Theory with Wang Yang, who was not some unknown producer. Of course, people weren’t so sensitive and politically correct yet, or else the South Park team would have been torn to shreds long ago. A bit of teasing each other was all in good fun.

What was Penny’s trouble? After a busy day of script meeting in the morning and editing in the afternoon, the Los Angeles sky had already turned pitch black. In the bright study, Wang Yang stared at the photo of Kaley Cuoco, the actress playing Penny, on the computer screen and frowned. It wasn’t because 18-year-old Kaley Cuoco didn’t fit the role in appearance or was lacking in acting skills, but because she was currently starring in ABC’s sitcom The Eight Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter in its second season.

According to the information in his mind, the show would last until the third season of 2004-2005 before ending due to poor performance. If it wasn’t canceled by ABC during this year’s mid-season break, there was no way to invite Kaley Cuoco, who was under contract, to audition for a sitcom.

“Let’s wait until the mid-season break,” Wang Yang murmured to himself and closed the webpage. If Kaley Cuoco wasn’t available by then, they would have to invite someone else to audition for Penny. Aside from the continued script meetings and phone calls, these were the preliminary preparations for The Big Bang Theory. The formal assembling of the crew and casting would only take place during the mid-season break. An executive producer would handle these tasks, but of course, he needed to keep an eye on them as well.

“Phew,” Wang Yang stroked his forehead, feeling as if his shoulders had lightened a bit. He hit a few keys to open his schedule and suddenly exclaimed, “Oh my god!” It was still so heavy.

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