Welcome to a new Wildcard Wednesday! To complement my study of The Big Bang Theory (2007-2019, CBS), I’m discussing, and sharing — with subscribers who comment below to alert me of their private, non-commercial interest — the series’ original unaired pilot. This version, shot in April 2006, is very different from what finally made it to CBS in September 2007.

As in the eventual series, the original Big Bang pilot has Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons playing two socially awkward scientists named Leonard and Sheldon, both of whom have their lives changed when they meet an attractive but less intelligent blonde woman. And the opening scene also takes place in a sperm bank where the two nerds, strapped for cash, intend to make a donation. But that’s where the similarities between the pilots end. There is no Howard or Raj in the 2006 version. Instead there’s a Gilda (Iris Bahr), the guys’ lone female pal, a fellow scientist who’s equally weird. And while there may be a Gilda in 2006, there’s also no Penny. Rather, the hot blonde girl whose sudden presence is guaranteed to bring the geeks out of their shell — their Big Bang — is Katie, a role played by Amanda Walsh (replacing fired Jodi Lyn O’Keefe during production week). Unlike Penny, an affable aspiring actress who lives across the hall and finds the guys cute and endearing, Katie is an abrasive shopgirl who repeatedly makes bad decisions and seems to tolerate the two dweebs mainly because she needs a free place to stay.

The relative harshness of the Katie role always made it difficult to cast, and she was the big change that CBS insisted upon when encouraging creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady to return to their proverbial drawing board. The resulting replacement, Penny, was a softer, friendlier alternative — more inherently likable and more capable of immediately bonding with the guys to form a viable friend group. Now, I certainly understand why Penny’s congeniality made the show more cohesive and sustainable. But I must admit — Katie is funny, and her more obvious contrasts to Leonard and Sheldon poise her to be more fruitful for conflict, and thus story, which was a problem for Penny (and especially Leonard/Penny) as the run progressed. And there’s one great scene in the original pilot — see the clip below — that emphasizes the stronger, more palpable tension between Leonard and a character like Katie.

Gilda, on the other hand, is a different story. Although future regular Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) would prove just how fun it could be to explore Penny’s socializing presence on a female nerd, the existence of a Gilda complicates this series’ simple premise of a “hot girl” enhancing these weirdos’ lives, for if they’re already able to regularly fraternize with Gilda, a woman whom they both already recognize sexually, then there’s less for Katie/Penny to do. That is, we learn here that Gilda likes Leonard but has slept with Sheldon — yes, Sheldon, who’s far from the extreme case he’ll be in the actual series, for in the original conception of this show, he was just as capable of male/female interchange as Leonard. Obviously, it proved much more rewarding for the series to heighten Sheldon’s difficulty in forming relationships, so Gilda’s mere presence undermines that notion, while Howard and Raj — who share Sheldon’s same problem, albeit in different ways — help reinforce it via their sheer existence. Accordingly, the 2007 pilot is a lot better designed to accentuate The Big Bang Theory‘s intended premise.

And as for Katie vs. Penny, well, Kaley Cuoco’s Penny has more of the empathy needed to teach Sheldon how to form relationships and be a friend. So, it all worked out as it should. But since it’s always fun to consider what might have been, here’s a clip of the original pilot.

Come back next week for another Wildcard! And stay tuned Tuesday for more Big Bang!