Big Bang Theory's Sheldon and Raj Were Inspired by a Very Real Person
It turns out Raj and Sheldon's antics weren't made up!
CBS' The Big Bang Theory is recognized as one of the most groundbreaking sitcoms of the current century. And for good reason — four of the show's main characters are not your run-of-the-mill adults, but socially insecure science geniuses, capable of solving insane mathematical equations but unable to talk to a woman without shuddering.
Such characters could have been a chore to follow, but Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady's ingenious writing turned them into hugely endearing personalities. Curiously, some of the characters' antics were not invented from scratch, as the writers were actually drawing on their own experiences from the past when creating them.
Sheldon and Raj are famously the most socially inept characters on TBBT. Sheldon's total lack of understanding of what is appropriate and what's not and Raj's inability to talk to women who are not related to him have been the butt of dozens of jokes on the show.
Imagine if one person had both Sheldon's and Raj's problems! Can't do that? That's too bad, because Lorre and Prady actually based both characters on a real person Prady once knew in the 1980s.
'It was a really interesting thing to watch because if we were talking and a woman came into the room, he would just stop talking. And then she would leave, and he would start talking again. Obviously, we started noticing it. It's a real thing, selective mutism. It's an anxiety condition. He was just so anxious around women that his solution was to not talk,' Prady said.
As it turns out, a socially insecure computer programmer that Bill Prady knew in the past became the inspiration for two of the most popular characters in recent TV history. This man's selective mutism and Sheldon-like wisecracks impressed the writer so much, he decided to separate those traits for two different characters.
Prady definitely cared about his acquaintance, as he made both Sheldon and Raj overcome their problems in later seasons of the show. The characters have blossomed into caring and loving people, who are able to contribute to society without fear of rejection.
Who knows, maybe this mystery person also managed to overcome his fear of women, perhaps even using The Big Bang Theory as a source of inspiration.
Source: EW.