Penny/Kaley Cuoco: What IS Her Last Name?

[CherryAmes]

Penny as a serious career woman just leaves Leonard  in an inferior position.  It's out of balance now.

 

Would you have felt the same way if Penny had finally had some success as an actress.  I know a lot of people posting here (and over at TWOP) were certainly rooting for that but I don't know if they also felt that were that to happen it would mean Leonard would be inferior to her.

[JudyObscure]

Probably wouldn't have felt the relationship was as out of balance if Penny had been more successful as an actress.   I guess I always saw Penny's assets as her beauty and her artistic creativity while Leonard's were his brains and his kind personality.  I'm not sure exactly what skills it takes to make a great pharm-rep but it seems out of character for the Penny I've known and changes what I thought of as their relationship dynamic -- but of course that's all subject to change and I guess it has.

[Jack Kerouac]

Penny is guilty of the worse sin in network comedies - she's just not funny anymore. She's boring.

[Oldernowiser]

Problem is that she wasn't funny as a hard-drinking loser, either...she hasn't been funny really since she and Sheldon used to lock horns so well in the first few seasons.

I do prefer Successful Penny over Boozer Yoga Pants Penny. I guess in my version of the BBT Universe I like the idea that a person with innate intelligence could learn to do that pharmaceutical rep job well, even without much formal education.

Oh, and I also credit hanging around with the smart people all these years with helping bring that out in her.

[Enjay]

Penny wasn't even a convincing hemmorhoid cream spokesperson.  Can anyone here really imagine her speaking convincingly about pharmaceuticals?  Flirting with old, skeezy doctors?  Yes.  Using intelligence to sway a doctor from one medication to another?  No way.

[Italian Ice]

Penny couldn't even spell asthma, but she's supposed to be a highly intelligent pharmaceutical sales rep? Alrighty then

[CherryAmes]

Penny is the character the writers have messed around with most.  I'm  hoping if they've decided to give her a little happiness in her working life that they stick with it.  I don't care how unlikely it is that she be good at this new job.  I'd still rather they do that then give her a little taste of success and then snatch it back.

Edited October 23, 2014 by CherryAmes

[Driad]

 

Penny does at least have the ability to memorize lines (such as Sheldon's description of Leonard's experiment).  She may do OK with doctors who don't ask questions.  We're still hoping to see Dule Hill as her trainer, because he played a pharm rep on Psych.

[ub40fan]

Stupid question maybe...are most pharm reps attractive? I mean, like that's an unspoken qualification?

[JudyObscure]

I once asked one that question and she smiled modestly and said, "it helps."  Every one I've seen has been strikingly good looking. 

[Hecate7]

The big pharmaceutical companies lead the Fortune 500 because they don't mind making huge profits off the backs of sick people, so for me, Penny's new job doesn't represent such a big step forward or a reason to give up alcohol.  But then, I never did see anything shameful in being a waitress/actress.

 

There's nothing emasculating about a woman making more money, but selling his gift and giving him the money was just plain bad manners and if she takes Bernadette's example and starts doling out stars and allowances then I would hate that.  One spouse, controlling and dominating the other one seems wrong to me no matter what gender is doing it.

Leonard and Penny are nothing like Howard and Bernadette. Howard is a man-child who WANTS his wife to take a slightly parental role. Leonard is a mature adult who is looking for an equal, but was willing to accept Penny when she was not his equal in terms of money or career, because of her looks.

[Hecate7]

When was Leonard successful (other than with Penny)?

 

 

Dr. Leonard Hofstedter, PhD, is an experimental physicist who teaches at CalTech. May we all be half as successful as that. He doesn't consider himself to be anything special because his mother is more financially successful and his roommate has more academic recognition.

 

 

How many people can afford to buy their girlfriends cars?

Edited October 27, 2014 by Hecate7

[pennben]

 

How many people can afford to buy their girlfriends cars?

 

 Lots of them. Especially in the used car market. I think Leonard is financially very stable, but that is not what makes him successful.

 

 

Leonard is a mature adult who is looking for an equal, but was willing to accept Penny when she was not his equal in terms of money or career, because of her looks.

 

He was smitten by her looks initially, then fell in love with her over years.  I don't agree with this oversimplification of what he wanted or notion of him "accepting" (read: lowering himself to) Penny.  That's not what I've seen the show showing us.

Edited October 27, 2014 by pennben

[photo fox]

Can anyone here really imagine her speaking convincingly about pharmaceuticals? Flirting with old, skeezy doctors? Yes.

You called it!

I don't know about pharmaceuticals, but the outside sales force at my company is absolutely made up of pretty people. With few exceptions, they are tall, thin, young, and stylish. But they are also smart, even if not educated in our specific sector. Sales is as much about personality and customer service as product knowledge.

I think Penny and Leonard's formula is simple. They make each other feel special. Leonard was raised by emotionally unavailable parents who always made him feel not good enough. Penny has dated a long line of guys who just wanted a cute blond, and any cute blond would do. But Penny gives Leonard warmth and appreciation, and Leonard treats her like she really matters.

[One Tough Cookie]

. I find it hard to believe that a woman who couldn't even string two coherent setences together about slavery, and had to get Bernadette & Amy write her papers for her because she was too dumb to do it on her own, would even be smart enough to be a pharmaceutical sales rep

 

 

Thank you.  I found this turn in her "career" difficult to swallow as well.  The two pharm reps I know have grad degrees. Penny had great blonde hair.  Now she doesn't even have that going for her.  I find her character intensely unlikeable.

[Oldernowiser]

YMMV...I always felt like Penny as a character held her own with the geniuses because she was quick-witted and intelligent, just not in a formally educated kind of way. Where I live now there are many people who never attended college but many of them are far more intelligent, well-read, and conversant than lots of the stoners I went to undergrad with.

My belief is that she was just lazy intellectually because pretty was getting her by...until it wasn't. I find it credible because I've known many people who were late bloomers and when they finally decided to apply themselves to a field they were honestly interested in, they kicked ass.

Well, and she's fictional...there's that...

Edited November 1, 2014 by Oldernowiser

[springtime]

Has anyone else noticed that Penny has developed an annoying and permanent lip movement/  "tsk" whenever she says a line?

[EtheltoTillie]

Remember the scene where she kicks Leonard's butt in chess. One of my favorites. You can YouTube it.

Still, she has been inconsistent, as have all the characters. Blame the writers.

[CherryAmes]

Still, she has been inconsistent, as have all the characters. Blame the writers.

 

Absolutely.  Watching the series overall I think Penny is pretty bright, she can certainly hold her own with the others when it comes to witty comebacks and she has demonstrated time and again that she is capable in many areas except academics.  That said, when the writers decide they want her to be dumb they plumb the depths of dumbness, I am reminded of the time she couldn't even handle glue. 

 

That's not the Penny that I've been watching, that's Dumb as rocks Penny that the writers pull out of the joke bag every now and then to get a cheap visual laugh.  At least thank god they haven't decided that humiliating one of the characters like they do Alan on Two and half Men, who seems to show up in every episode in his underwear,  would be a good idea.  So far.

Edited November 2, 2014 by CherryAmes

[EtheltoTillie]

. " At least thank god they haven't decided that humiliating one of the characters like they do Alan on Two and half Men, who seems to show up in every episode in his underwear,  would be a good idea.  So far."
 

 

 

Well, they did it to Sheldon.  Yikes, that was hard to take.

Edited November 2, 2014 by GussieK

[LoneHaranguer]

 

That said, when the writers decide they want her to be dumb they plumb the depths of dumbness, I am reminded of the time she couldn't even handle glue.

The glue scene was a bit odd because it seemed like it was directed and acted as though we were seeing drunk!Penny, but some of the dialogue suggested it was written to be dumb!Penny. An example of non-alcoholic dumbness was her asking Prof Proton if he used a trick clock or a trick potato. Actually, they also dumbed down Sheldon in that one; the real Sheldon wouldn't have said that the egg would be sucked into the flask because it technically gets pushed in by the air pressure in the room and he's a stickler for details like that. Nobody's character is safe from the hunt for a quick laugh.

[Guest Accused Dingo]

Penny has always struck me as one of those people who pretty got them by until it didn't anymore. Hell like the tv show says she's probably hot in Cleveland or wherever Penny comes from but in California she is just another blonde.

I have known plenty of people like that in real life who got by on their looks and didn't apply themselves and then age happened and they got stuck in menial jobs.

My favorite two Penny scenes actually involved Sheldon. One was when Sheldon and Penny were at a bar talking about Star Trek and Kirk and the Kobasi Maru test and how he past ot. And Penny said "Kirk cheated". My other favorite was the three strike episode when they were having the fued neither would give up on until Leonard gave Penny Sheldon's mother's phone number.

Those are the moments i like Penny.

Edited November 3, 2014 by Accused Dingo

[Dobian]

I like Penny.  Who cares if her sales job is believeable?  Most of the things on that show are unbelievable, like Amy still staying with Sheldon.  I'm glad she didn't become a famous actress.  First, because shows where an actor plays a famous actor just don't work for me.  There's just something inbred about that.  And second, it would just cause this show to jump the shark.  They'd be shifting the action to film sets and Hollywood locations, episodes with Sheldon and Leonard getting into hijinks at a studio, etc.  I think the show would have gone off the rails.

Edited November 6, 2014 by Dobian

[Quof]

shows where an actor plays a famous actor just don't work for me.

 

 

Aw, you didn't like Dr. Drake Ramore???

[LoneHaranguer]

 

I'm glad she didn't become a famous actress.

I don't think anyone was looking for more than just a little success. It was past time for her character to advance. That could have been cheesy get-ups in local ads (like Kelly Bundy as the Verminator).

[Hecate7]

The big pharmaceutical companies lead the Fortune 500 because they don't mind making huge profits off the backs of sick people, so for me, Penny's new job doesn't represent such a big step forward or a reason to give up alcohol.  But then, I never did see anything shameful in being a waitress/actress.

 

There's nothing emasculating about a woman making more money, but selling his gift and giving him the money was just plain bad manners and if she takes Bernadette's example and starts doling out stars and allowances then I would hate that.  One spouse, controlling and dominating the other one seems wrong to me no matter what gender is doing it.

There's nothing shameful about being a waittress, except always being late with your rent, never being able to treat others, and having to find ways to mooch off your neighbors for dinner.

 

In our culture poverty is treated as a very, very shameful thing. Penny would never dole out stars and allowances. In the first place, she's compensating for the humiliating fact of her earlier poverty and her lack of education compared to Leonard. If anyone's doling out stars and allowances in this relationship, it's Leonard, not Penny. He's the one who got to adulthood and success first. Penny is still finding her way.

[Superpole2000]

Remember the scene where she kicks Leonard's butt in chess.

Complete novices don't just win chess games because they are clever...unless their opponents are absolutely terrible at the game. I guess Leonard really is an awful chess player, though I find it difficult to believe he would be worse than Penny. The same type of mind that would succeed in his profession would allow a person to defeat a novice very easily.

[Oldernowiser]

My four-year-old nephew beat my father the second time they played chess and my father is 1) a poor loser, to say the least, and 2) no slouch. My nephew's brain just worked that way and he's still scary smart in that visual/analytical/strategic kind of way.

So it's possible. Not likely, but possible.

[EtheltoTillie]

I just thought it was meant to be a funny anomaly. It's a sitcom! Remember she was calling the pieces the wrong names, like the little horse. Someone could be a savant at games even though never having played before. Farfetched but funny

[LoneHaranguer]

 

I guess Leonard really is an awful chess player, though I find it difficult to believe he would be worse than Penny.

There are two ways of winning at chess. One is to have the right kind of visual skills (as Penny probably does). The other is to be able to think through the potential consequences of each possible move in depth. The latter is what computers do, and likely what Leonard does, except that he's not as fast as a computer, and his habit of overthinking things will lead him to over-analyze some moves at the expense of others. So Penny wins, unless Leonard can clear the board enough to give his style of play a chance.

[SmithW6079]

I like that Penny is having some financial success at something and is maturing. It bugs me when characters never grow up or move on. Jack on "Will and Grace" was one of those characters. He was flighty and annoying and, basically, a failure with his "Just Jack!" show. I think during one season, they started to give him a new career -- nursing -- and he liked it, but by the next season's premiere, he was back to flighty "Just Jack!"

[KatWay]

You can also win at chess if you're just doing whatever and your opponent plays you like he would a 'real' opponent, who'd also be thinking about every move in depth etc. I've seen it happen.

I'm guessing that's what happened with Penny, I certainly never thought it indicated that Penny was a secret genius at chess or something. Penny's been shown to be at best street smart (and there have been episodes where even that was called into question).

[CherryAmes]

Penny has been consistently shown to be good at games, it's no surprise that she'd win at chess.  Penny almost always wins when she plays games with the guys now I come to think of it.  Of course that's probably more because it's a lot funnier to have "the girl" win games you wouldn't expect her to win rather than because they've taken the trouble to write Penny's character in a way that means she would win.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Of course that's probably more because it's a lot funnier to have "the girl" win games you wouldn't expect her to win rather than because they've taken the trouble to write Penny's character in a way that means she would win.

I'm sure that's true, but the kinds of activities she grew up on are those that would develop the kinds of skills that would give Penny an advantage over the guys in those cases anyway. If the guys wanted to win on game night, they should have pulled out a Star Wars or Lord of the Rings edition of Trivial Pursuit.

[saki]

I'm really not a Penny fan.  I think part of it is the way that they try to portray her as "normal" when she's not - she's a standard Mean Girl type who is used to people doing what she wants because she's pretty.  She is not particularly nice - she was a bully at school, she mooches off her friends, and she looks down on anyone who is different.  But, somehow, we're supposed to root for her.

[CherryAmes]

Penny has also been shown to be a loving and loyal friend and someone who, within her means, is very generous.  Penny's character gets messed with a lot to "bring the funny" and it's too bad when something done for the benefit of a scene or two in one episode ends up defining her.

 

Personally I've never bought that Penny was a bully - that aspect of her past showed up in one episode and, frankly, never made sense in terms of the person Penny became as an adult. 

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Personally I've never bought that Penny was a bully - that aspect of her past showed up in one episode and, frankly, never made sense in terms of the person Penny became as an adult.

One way to avoid being bullied in school is to be part of their entourage. I think that's what Penny did and she rationalized away her participation.

[Miss Scarlet]

Kaley is one of the worst actresses I've ever seen on TV. I want to like her/Penny, but her horrible acting takes me out of every scene she's in. She's gotten a bit better since the series began, but she's still awful. I know some people have said that she gives good reaction shots, but to me it just looks like she's breaking characters and the cameras are catching her laughing.

 

I don't even understand how she got this role in the first place. I know she started as a child actor and most child actors are pretty bad. Since the bar is set so low for them maybe it was easy for her to get parts as a kid and then by the time she was older she had enough experience and contacts in the industry that it compensated for her horrible acting?

[MaryMitch]

I gotta disagree with you there; I think she's pretty good.

[CherryAmes]

I know some people have said that she gives good reaction shots, but to me it just looks like she's breaking characters and the cameras are catching her laughing.

 

I've heard this said about other actors as well and I don't buy it.  Most of the time by the time we see the finished product on air the actors involved have done the scenes over and over again.  IMO anyway we're rarely seeing someone break character when they laugh, we're seeing an accomplished performer who is capable of reacting naturally to what is going on on stage.

 

I know she started as a child actor and most child actors are pretty bad. Since the bar is set so low for them maybe it was easy for her to get parts as a kid and then by the time she was older she had enough experience and contacts in the industry that it compensated for her horrible acting?

 

 

I don't know what she did as a child but I first saw her in 8 Simple Rules where she played the eldest daughter and I thought she was very good in that.  I'm guessing she'd have been in her late teens at that point.

[Miss Scarlet]

 

 

I've heard this said about other actors as well and I don't buy it.  Most of the time by the time we see the finished product on air the actors involved have done the scenes over and over again.  IMO anyway we're rarely seeing someone break character when they laugh, we're seeing an accomplished performer who is capable of reacting naturally to what is going on on stage.

That could be true or it could be that the directors/producers/whoever also liked the reaction and kept it in, even if it was her breaking character. It's hard to tell if she's breaking character or not because she basically only has 2 different expressions that she uses in every scene of the show, so I usually assume she's breaking.

[KatWay]

I think she plays Penny well enough and only sometimes falls a little short, but overall I think she has very little range. When you see her in interviews she basically is Penny, there's no real difference to me. I've never seen her in a role where she showed anything more than playing herself (except maybe a more airheaded version, or a more sarcastic version). I do think the laughing and smiling at the antics etc. are an acting choice, but it's also one that comes very easy to her.

 

She's very good with the comedy and sometimes falls flat with the drama parts for me.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

She's very good with the comedy and sometimes falls flat with the drama parts for me.

She often credits John Ritter for helping her learn while on 8 Simple Rules, but he had the same problem, so that's not surprising. And where else could she have honed that, Charmed?

 

 

I've never seen her in a role where she showed anything more than playing herself (except maybe a more airheaded version, or a more sarcastic version). I do think the laughing and smiling at the antics etc. are an acting choice, but it's also one that comes very easy to her.

Isn't that part of why a casting director picks someone? Why would you want to have an actor for whom the character is difficult; that wastes time you don't have when filming a TV series. Maybe if you have a big-budget movie and want to have a currently-big-name star, but then you're taking a risk.

[stealinghome]

Yeah, I really enjoy KCS as Penny. I'm the first to say I don't think she's the most talented actor/actress on the show, but the camera just loves her--she gives great, great reaction shots and is very charismatic--and you can't manufacture that kind of charisma. In group scenes, my eye is always drawn to her or Jim Parsons; they just have that "it" factor, that screen presence. Plus, I kind of think she's the show's glue insofar as she's everyone else's best screen partner. I think all the other actors have more chemistry as actors with Cuoco Sweeting than they have with anyone else on the show. She brings out the best in the cast.

 

Also, to be perfectly honest, I suspect that several of the actors on this show play a version of themselves. I find Jim Parsons to be very Sheldon-like IRL, and Howard's skeeziness aside, I would say the same for Simon Helberg and Wolowitz.

[Mama No Life]

Is it just me or has she totally changed her style since cutting her hair? She is always in the same thing....long sleeves and skinny pants. 

[theatremouse]

Unclear if the styling change corresponds to the haircut or the character's new job. (Wait, I'm assuming you mean Penny's styling not Kaley's?)

[Mama No Life]

Yeah, I meant Penny.  I don't really keep up with Kaley....

Edited April 12, 2015 by Mama No Life

[pandora spocks]

Has it ever been established what Penny's surname is?  So far, I've never heard it on any episode.

[MaryMitch]

Has it ever been established what Penny's surname is?  So far, I've never heard it on any episode.

I believe I read somewhere that Chuck Lorre has said we will never find out Penny's last name.

[pandora spocks]

I believe I read somewhere that Chuck Lorre has said we will never find out Penny's last name.

 

Alrighty, then.  Thanks, I'll erase this mystery from my pop culture list.  The only thing left is what Malcolm's last name was on Malcolm In the Middle.