Share and Follow
After 12 acclaimed seasons, The Big Bang Theory wrapped its decade-long run at CBS on May 16, 2019. The series finale comprised two episodes, which both aired on the same evening.
The Big Bang Theory came to an end after main star Jim Parsons felt that his race as Sheldon Cooper on the show was run. With that decision, he effectively walked away from the major defining role of his career, and a very lucrative payday of $1 million per episode.
The main cast members had all become so in tune with one another, that they could not fathom carrying on without Parsons. And with that, the curtains closed on a show that had become one of the most beloved in modern times.
In the build up to the finale, the cast sat down for the final table read, one that evoked extreme emotions from the actors – and the fans who would later watch footage from the table read.
Part one of the Big Bang finale was titled The Change Constant. Among other plot lines in the episode, was the story of the famous elevator being fixed.
What Happened To The Elevator In The Big Bang Theory?
When the fans were first introduced to The Big Bang Theory in 2007, the main characters were living in a building with a broken elevator.
Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon Cooper were roommates, and they had just gotten a new, opposite-door neighbor in aspiring actress Penny (Kaley Cuoco). In the penultimate episode of Season 3, the audience was finally furnished with the backstory regarding how exactly the elevator came to be broken.
In the episode, – titled The Staircase Implementation – Leonard makes a mistake while mixing some rocket fuel in their apartment. When the fuel starts smoking, he carries it out of the house and into the elevator. Sheldon follows him, aware that the clock is ticking down to the fuel finally exploding.
Read Related Also: North West details Kardashian Thanksgiving with royal portraits
He pulls Leonard out of the lift and shuts the door, just in time before the expected bang goes off, destroying the elevator. This explains why the cast normally use the staircase down three flights, although floors two, three and four of the apartment are actually just one floor in real life.
The Elevator Was Finally Fixed In The Big Bang Theory Finale
The Change Constant begins with Sheldon Cooper and his wife and professional partner Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) in extreme anxiety. They are awaiting news on whether they have been successful in winning a Nobel Prize.
When Amy finally receives a phone call informing them that they have actually won, the pair of them – alongside their friends Leonard and Penny – break into an ecstatic dance. The joy is rather short-lived for Sheldon, however, as it begins to dawn on him that life as he has known it is about to change drastically.
As he grapples with this new reality, Amy walks in, having undergone a complete makeover. All the change is driving Sheldon crazy, and he storms out of the apartment… only to bump into Penny – coming out of a now fully-functional elevator.
Sheldon runs down the stairs, seeking an escape from it all, but he finds Penny waiting for him on the ground floor – having taken the elevator again. She helps him come to terms with change as a universal constant, and they even ride back up together.
The Audience Could Not Stop Cheering After The Elevator Was Fixed
The producers wanted the news of the elevator being fixed to be a surprise to the audience, and they followed through with that plan. Executive producer Steve Holland spoke to Entertainment Weekly in May 2019 about the ideas they had for the execution of that particular scene.
“It was also going to be more of a surprise. We didn’t expect it to happen that early in the first part of the two-parter,” Holland explained. “It played in so well to Sheldon’s breakdown, that everything was changing for him. The elevator could be one final straw.”
The moment the audience witnessed the working elevator for themselves, it took them nearly an entire minute to stop cheering and allow the actors to continue with their lines.
“It was really exciting to watch that scene live in front of the whole audience for the first time,” Holland added. “The first time those doors opened, I think it took about 42 seconds for the audience to calm down so Kaley Cuoco could get her line out. On TV it will be shorter than that.”
