Last month, "The Big Bang Theory" executive producer Steve Molaro revealed last month that virgin characters Amy (Mayim Bialik) and Sheldon (Jim Parsons) would finally be doing the unthinkable and having sex for the first time during the Dec. 17 episode of CBS' hit sitcom. Since the two have been broken up so far this entire season, it'll be interesting to see how they work things out.
"After over five years of dating, we felt the time was right for Sheldon and Amy to finally consummate their relationship," Molaro told Entertainment Weekly. "And we're so excited for the audience to see the journey over the next several episodes."
In this very special episode, Bob Newhart will be making a special appearance as a ghostly Jedi in Sheldon's dream to help him decide whether or not it's the right time to get intimate with Amy. With "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" opening in theaters just hours after this episode airs, the entire plot will be "Star Wars" themed as Sheldon, Leonard (Johnny Galecki), Howard (Simon Helberg), and Raj (Kunal Nayyar) have tickets to see the film. Sheldon, who is quite possible "Star Wars'" biggest fan, is forced to make the decision to go see the movie on opening night or spend the night with Amy.
"Their relationship floundered this season," co-creator Chuck Lorre told The Hollywood Reporter. "It helped spur them to move forward and pursue their relationship more aggressively, having realized that you don't know what you've got until it's gone, as the song goes. That happened for Sheldon-missing Amy was wearing on him in a way he hadn't anticipated."
With the film's opening night also being Amy's birthday, it'll be interesting to see as Sheldon struggles with the decision. In the end, he ends up spending the night with her, which is a crazy move for Sheldon, who typically doesn't really care about Amy's-or anyone's-emotions.
"They've been together on and off for over five years, and it just seemed to be a good way to ultimately resolve this journey they've been on, including this breakup as well," Molaro also told The Hollywood Reporter. "How long could we make this poor girl wait?! I liked that there was something unexpected about it. You could have easily made an episode like this be a season finale or something like that, so why not pull the trigger when people think we may not? The stories lined up with 'Star Wars' coming out. We were excited about it, and we felt it was time. With the idea of Newhart and the 'Star Wars' release coming up, it started to gel. The fact that we were able to find a way to blend 'Star Wars' with something for us on 'Big Bang'-it's such an event for Sheldon and Amy, I couldn't be happier with it."
Bialik and Parsons then opened up about the scene itself. "It's one of my favorite scenes that Jim and I have done together," she said. "It's very tender and special. As much as Amy really wanted this, it's terrifying for her to have this in front of you, even with the right person and someone you're in love with."
"He ends up feeling a little less anxious about it than she does because it hasn't been built up that way for him," Parsons added. "This is not something he's been waiting and waiting for."
"Putting the 'bang' into theory, I guess," Parsons also told Entertainment Tonight, adding that he was a little stunned when he found out it'd be happening. "I was very surprised. But then I read it, and it seemed absolutely the right time."
Bialik then added in her thoughts on finding out. "I was kind of nervous when I first saw where it was going-that it was going to feel voyeuristic or kind of icky, but it's very tender," she said. "It's very sweet."
While speaking to Glamour, Bialik described the hilarious moment when the two first read the script. "We found out the night before we did the table reading, just like always. We get the script during the taping of the previous episode, and I never read the scripts [that night]. I always wait until the next morning right before we sit down at the table and I go over them," she explained. "This one time, I started reading, and I passed Jim in the hallway and I said, 'Did you read the script yet?!' He said, 'No. Do we do it?' and I said, 'YES!' He was like, 'What?!' He just threw it out there as a joke. We couldn't believe it."
"As for exactly what we will see on TV, the sitcom will still stay network television friendly. "So we see before and we see after," Bialik continued to explain to Glamour. "It's intense! You'll see us in bed together. We spend pretty much half that episode in bed together."
