‘Big Bang Theory’: Sheldon’s Spot On The Sofa Is More Precious Than You Think
What was almost assuredly originally a throwaway gag has become a huge thing in The Big Bang Theory universe. Considered by the fictional Sheldon Cooper to be the optimal place to sit while at home, Sheldon’s “spot” on the sofa has become a thing of legend, and only the ignorant characters within the show dare to sit in it. Sheldon describes, in great detail, within the show, why his seat is important.
“In the winter that seat is close enough to the radiator to remain warm and yet not so close as to cause perspiration. In the summer it’s directly in the path of a cross breeze created by opening windows there and there. It faces the television at an angle that is neither direct, thus discouraging conversation, nor so far wide as to create a parallax distortion.”
Well, as precious as the spot is to Sheldon, it seems to be equally as important to the filmmakers of the series, the Huffington Post reports. Actor Simon Helberg, who plays the perverted engineer Howard Wolowitz in the show, talked about what happens to Sheldon’s cushion when The Big Bang Theory isn’t shooting.
“The cushion that [Parsons] sits on, which probably will be in the Smithsonian someday, Sheldon’s spot, they actually swap out that cushion during our rehearsal. So the whole week, until the few hours that we tape, there is an alternate cushion. God forbid something gets spilled on that cushion–that show, the ratings would plummet. So they hide this cushion somewhere. And there’s probably like a Brinks truck [with] just a bunch of armed guards there waiting until Tuesday night … just so that we can rub our butts on it.”
About half of that quote is obviously in jest, but it is interesting how protective the studio is about the cushion. While it’s understandable that they’re worried about random Big Bang Theory fans coming in and stealing the cushion, how crucial is it that the specific cushion actually be in place? Like with Sheldon himself, has the spot has become a sort of center of the Big Bang Theory universe?
“That is my spot,” Sheldon says in an episode of Big Bang Theory.
“In an ever changing world that is a point of consistency. If my life were expressed as a function on a 4 dimensional Cartesian coordinate system, that spot would be 0.0.0.0.”
What would you do to get your hands on that illustrious cushion? Let us know in the comments below!
