5 The Big Bang Theory Characters Who Deserve Spin-Off TV Shows

Static Media Add Looper on Google: Preferred Source Google Discover At this point, there are a handful of spin-offs of the beloved CBS sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” which was created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady and ran for twelve years and as many seasons. Whatever you’re looking for in your spin-off, your bases are covered. Want the full origin story of Jim Parsons’s eccentric, brilliant, and difficult theoretical physicist Sheldon Cooper? Try “Young Sheldon,” where Iain Armitage (who rose to prominence on the first season of “Big Little Lies”) plays, well, a younger Sheldon. Enjoy that blast from the fictional past? That show has its own spin-off, “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” which centers around Sheldon’s other brother George “Georgie” Cooper Jr. (Montana Jordan) and his first marriage to the mother of his child, Mandy McAllister (Emily Osment). Miss some of the original supporting players on “The Big Bang Theory?” Look no further than “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe,” which brings Kevin Sussman back as downtrodden comic book store owner Stuart Bloom and forces him to be responsible for saving the universe … and features plenty of cameos from other “Big Bang Theory” stars as Stuart and his buddies hop from universe to universe.

It sure seems like more “Big Bang Theory” spin-offs will arrive eventually, but in the meantime, we do have some suggestions. Throughout the storied run of “The Big Bang Theory,” the series welcomed a ton of supporting and guest characters, all of whom are played by extremely funny, talented performers. So which “Big Bang Theory” characters deserve their own spin-offs á la young Sheldon and Stuart Bloom? Here are five solid options.

CBS Who wouldn’t want to see more of Christine Baranski on a potential spin-off of “The Big Bang Theory?” Throughout the series, Baranski, a multi-talented star of the stage and screen, plays Dr. Beverly Hofstadter, a neuroscientist and psychiatrist and the mother of main character Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki). To call Beverly cold and clinical is an understatement — perhaps that’s why she and the super-literal and often overly intense Sheldon get along so well — and when we see her on “The Big Bang Theory,” it’s usually to illustrate that she didn’t do a particularly great job as Leonard’s mom. Not only did Beverly use Leonard’s childhood and general upbringing as fodder for her books, but his desperation to impress her has turned him into a pathological people pleaser, creating frustration between the two.

So what do you say, Chuck Lorre? See if Baranski, with whom you worked on “Cybil” all those years ago, might be down for a show all about Beverly — especially if Galecki could occasionally reprise his role, giving him the guest arc and turning the tables. Plus, there’s precedence for this. After appearing in a supporting role as attorney Diane Lockhart on “The Good Wife,” the CBS drama headlined by Julianna Marguiles, Baranski got her own spin-off, “The Good Fight,” which sees Diane lose her money in a Ponzi scheme and join a major Chicago law firm alongside her goddaughter Maia (“Game of Thrones” veteran Rose Leslie).

CBS Few characters on “The Big Bang Theory” suffer as much as Janine Davis, the human resources representative at the California Institute of Technology played by then-future Oscar winner Regina King (who also has a whopping four Emmy Awards as of this writing). Debuting in Season 6 of “The Big Bang Theory,” Janine’s entire role is dealing with Sheldon, whose lack of tact and blunt nature lead to some uncomfortable situations on a regular basis (in that season, he makes such a crude comment to his assistant Alex Jensen, played by Margo Harshman, that she reports him directly to Janine). Janine, understandably, never has any time or patience for Sheldon’s outright nonsense, and as always, King does an impeccable job whenever she’s on-screen.

Whether or not a potential Janine Davis spin-off gets Jim Parsons to ever reprise his role as Sheldon, it could be extremely fun to just watch Janine deal with the socially inept employees at CalTech (it’s not like Simon Helberg’s Howard Wolowitz, Kunal Nayyar’s Raj Koothrappali, and Leonard Hofstadter are that much better behaved than their buddy Sheldon). We know King is booked and busy — she is, after all, one of the finest performers of her generation — but if the powers that be ever decided to focus another “Big Bang Theory” spin-off on a supporting character, King’s Janine would be a perfect pick.

CBS Though “The Big Bang Theory” introduces its other two female leads — Mayim Bialik’s neuroscientist Amy Farrah Fowler and Melissa Rauch’s diminutive microbiologist Bernadette Rostenkowski, ultimately Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz — by the show’s fourth season, Kaley Cuoco’s Penny is initially the show’s only girl. More importantly, though, Penny is a sort of audience surrogate as the only “normie” in the main crew; as the only non-scientist and the only one with discernable social skills, Penny helps translate the outside world to the boys and also gives the viewer a birds-eye look at these bookish boys. All of this is to say that, even though Penny’s main relationship on “The Big Bang Theory” is her on-again, off-again endgame one with Leonard Hofstadter, she dates other people … including Brian Thomas Smith’s friendly but buffoonish Zack Johnson.

Penny dates a handful of guys other than Leonard throughout “The Big Bang Theory,” but the most important one is Zack, and the important thing about Zack is that, despite being a big beefcake who makes the guys feel physically inadequate, he’s incredibly nice — he even joins them for their Justice League costume at Halloween! Full disclosure: Smith does reprise his role as Zack in “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe,” but we still wouldn’t say no to a spin-off led by Zack, a character who defies the apparent binary of “The Big Bang Theory.” Yes, this is a show about a group of big dorks, but Zack’s presence makes it clear that a guy who happens to be hot doesn’t have to be their enemy.

CBS Poor Raj Koothrappali. The resident hopeless romantic of “The Big Bang Theory” never gets to find true love over the course of the series — though he almost makes an arranged marriage with Anu (Rati Gupta) work before ending the show alone — and one of his more significant relationships is with the equally awkward Lucy, played by Kate Micucci. As played by Micucci (who almost played the role of Amy Farrah Fowler before Mayim Bialik came along), Lucy is, again, extremely reserved, introverted, and shy, but she’s also far more avoidant than Raj; after the two meet at a Valentine’s Day singles event, Lucy and Raj attempt to date, but sometimes she literally flees rather than continue the evening.

Ultimately, Lucy breaks up with Raj because he’s too enthusiastic and overwhelming, but it’s a shame that we don’t then see any more of Lucy in the main narrative. That’s why, if Micucci is available, we think she should take on a spin-off about Lucy’s dating misadventures and her quest to overcome her intense social anxiety. Maybe Kunal Nayyar (who also appeared briefly on “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” across a few episodes) could join in the fun and finally make this awkward relationship work.

CBS As it happens, Kate Micucci and Riki Lindhome, the latter of whom plays Ramona Nowitzki on “The Big Bang Theory” and reprises the role in “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe,” are a comedy duo — back in the day, they used to perform as a double act named Garfunkel & Oates — but during their time as supporting players on “The Big Bang Theory,” they never shared a scene. So who exactly is Lindhome’s Ramona?

Ramona Nowitzki first shows up in Season 2 of “The Big Bang Theory” as a graduate student at CalTech who has a fascination with (and pretty obvious crush on) a fully oblivious and imperious Sheldon, who ends up severing their professional arrangement when she asks that both of their names be put on a theorem that they jointly discovered. Later, Ramona surprising Sheldon with a kiss is what drives him to finally propose marriage to Amy Farrah Fowler (for which Amy eventually thanks a confused Ramona), but it’s a shame we don’t see more of her, especially because Lindhome is so great. Again, we do get to see Lindhome again in “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe,” but a spin-off centering around Ramona’s work and relationships at Caltech could be pretty great, and it would also give the larger “Big Bang Theory” television universe a much-needed boost of purely feminine energy.

“The Big Bang Theory” and “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” are streaming on HBO Max now; you can watch “Young Sheldon” there or on Netflix, and “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” on both HBO Max and Paramount+.