'The Big Bang Theory' Showrunner Steve Molaro on the Season Finale Cliffhanger and Season 9
After a season full of big changes — Sheldon and Amy declaring their love for each other, Mrs. Wolowitz’s death, Raj’s girlfriend, Penny’s very successful new career, Howard Wolowitz: homeowner — The Big Bang Theory wraps Season 8 on May 7 with an episode full of even more (and even bigger) changes, and with a handful of cliffhangers to carry the fun over into Season 9.
TBBT showrunner Steve Molaro talks to Yahoo TV about how he thinks fans might react to the season ender, how much this beloved gang of friends has evolved from when we first met them, his refreshing attitude about spoilers, and the storylines and characters we might meet in Seasons 9 and 10.
What can you tease about the Season 8 finale? There has been talk of a pretty big cliffhanger…
There are a few cliffhangers. I think this episode focuses on relationships and commitments, in different ways. Some characters make some very large, life-changing decisions.
How do you feel about spoilers, by the way, particularly the ones that spring from people who’ve attended the show tapings? Have you asked them to stop posting the taping reports?
That’s something that we can’t necessarily control. I guess at the end of the day, if people are excited enough about the show and care that much to do that, and other people in the audience are fans who want to seek that information out… I would prefer if people were able to get some surprises along the way, but I’d rather people just be that excited about the show.
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These characters have changed a lot from Season 1, but they’ve each evolved in some particularly significant ways this season. Sheldon told Amy he loves her!
It’s been a real treat to watch all seven of them grow, and watch their relationships change, but at the same time, it still hopefully feels like The Big Bang Theory. It’s like an evolution that’s so slow you don’t always feel it happening until you look back, and you’re like, “Wait a minute, Howard’s not a sex hound anymore, and he became an astronaut, and it didn’t seem crazy!” That’s at least what we strive to do, keep the show moving forward and keep it fresh and keep it interesting, but still keep it the show.
Is that the biggest challenge, not moving the story forward too quickly, even when people may want certain things to happen more quickly, like Sheldon and Amy’s relationship?
I think so. As much as I am a part of the show, I’m also a fan of it. Things are happening to the characters the way things happen to people in real life. It’s sad, but people pass away. That was a thing that happened in Season 8 when we lost Carol Ann Susi and her character, Mrs. Wolowitz. Hopefully the silver lining in that dark cloud is the characters can learn and grow from it, just like you would hopefully do in real life.
The show is set through at least Season 10. How does that feel right now? Having just finished Season 8, do you feel pressure to do certain things in the next two seasons? Does it feel like you have more than enough things that you want to do with these characters to go beyond that?
There’s always pressure to do our best to keep the show good and funny and fresh. We’re all very thankful that we have these two years to move forward and to explore these characters more. Part of the fun of this show is, we don’t always know exactly where it’s going. These characters have become so realized. They are like people to us. The characters can surprise us themselves as we’re writing it. I think as long as we’re passionate and excited about it, we’re just going to keep going along the way we’ve been doing it.
Did that happen in Season 8, where a character’s story took a turn that you hadn’t anticipated?
I think in the season finale, yes. More than once in the finale, actually. And I think it’s good. Sometimes we talk about it in the writers’ room: Things will happen in the show, or a choice will happen along the way, that is exciting, and in that excitement, it can be a little scary for us. I think overall, within reason, scary is often good, because that means we’re doing something that matters.
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Given that we have some cliffhangers in the finale, have you already written the Season 9 premiere?
There have been discussions, and we certainly have been talking about it, but nothing’s set in stone yet.
Which character has surprised you the most as you’ve written him or her along the way?
It’s really all of them. I guess it’s easy to say Sheldon when you look at the trajectory from where the show began to where he and Amy are, but if you look at all of them, Penny and Leonard have affected each other so much, and they’ve really come into their own. Penny has a successful career now, and Leonard is so much more out of his shell. Koothrappali can talk to women, and is not only talking to women, but maybe even questioning if he’s in the right relationship with a woman for the first time, instead of just liking somebody because they like him. That’s a step that I think is unheard of for a character like that. We talked about Wolowitz, who has gone from this guy on the prowl to getting married and joining the space program. They’ve just all evolved. It’s been a lovely thing to be a part of.
Because we all love these characters so much, there are certain things we want to see happen for them. I think we’re all curious about kids, and the possibilities of how that would change the individuals and the group dynamic. Is that something that, as the showrunner and a fan of the show and these characters, you are excited to see eventually?
There are no plans at the moment. Obviously as these characters get older, we will rule nothing out. Babies are a big change, and that’s something that we would need to talk about and think about, but… I’d be crazy to say that anything is ruled out.
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There are still a lot of family members we haven’t met yet, too. Penny’s mom, Leonard’s dad… Howard’s dad certainly is on everyone’s mind after his mom died and we briefly met his half-brother. Are we any closer to potentially meeting Mr. Wolowitz?
I would love to meet more of them. There’s nothing set yet for those things to happen, but the door’s wide, wide open to meet these outside characters and to continue to grow our little world.
When I talked to you a couple of years ago, you said you probably would not ever reveal Penny’s last name. Do you still feel that way?
[Laughs.] I think we’re all a little weirded out by it, and we’ve made it this far. I think there’s a bit of a superstition involved, but I don’t know. Kaley [Cuoco-Sweeting], I think, has decided she has an idea of what it is in her own head, and I haven’t even asked her what that is because I don’t think I want to know.
Penny’s storyline — the new job, even the much-discussed new hairdo, which was perfect for her new professional gig — has been a highlight of Season 8.
It really worked well, and that character has evolved, I think, maybe even more than Sheldon in some ways. And so has their friendship. Just go back and watch the pilot. They were strangers who were just meeting, and look at where they are now. She’s a little bit like his sister and a little bit like his mom, and she’s very protective of Sheldon. As much as they fight and get on each other’s nerves, if either one was in trouble, they’d be there for each other. That’s Sheldon and Penny. I love that.
And Stuart has continued to integrate himself into the gang. Is he a character that has maybe surprised you, just how well he fits in with the dynamic of the group, and how likable and reliably hilarious, yet sad he can be?
You’re right. He is truly hilarious, and he is a sad and wonderful character. We love Kevin Sussman. He has really become a part of the family, so he will be most certainly a part of the finale. It’s funny, you’re asking if there’s any talk of babies on the way, and I would say I don’t think Wolowitz and Bernadette need to worry about that right now, because they do have a baby. His name is Stuart. He continues to live with them.
How do you think fans will react to these big season finale cliffhangers? Will they be throwing things at the TV? Will they be cheering?
All I can speak to is my own range of emotions and the emotions that I’ve seen the people here have as we were shooting it all week and on tape night. It is a large range of emotions. Pick an emotion, and I think it will fit in there. I happened to have the fun opportunity to see my assistant when she was reading the finale script for the first time, and she didn’t know anything that was going to happen. I watched her read the end of it, and there were gasps. At one point, I think she was yelling, “Shut up!” at her computer, in a good way, in a way of shock and disbelief.
The Big Bang Theory airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on CBS.
