Piper Nuelle

I have not always been a ‘TBBT’ The Big Bang Theory fan… Not until earlier this year. I had heard about it of course, it was one of the most talked about television shows in history, it one of those a bit like ‘Friends’, everyone has heard of it even if they haven’t watched it.

I was going through a pretty scary time in my life, I was put into a forced menopause due to my endometriosis and told I needed a full hysterectomy, I ended up with symptoms that mimicked a brain or ear tumour, even my GP put the fear of God into me as she panicked going I just don’t know what to do with you. The NHS said I would have a 26 week wait to see a ENT specialist and then I would under go some tests!!! Which would all take time to be booked in and checked and then waiting for follow ups etc! 6 months, 6 damn months of waiting it was estimated, well I waited four and then bit the bullet and decided debt would be better than death and went private. I couldn’t stand wondering any longer if I had a brain tumour, wondering if it being left for too long it may grow and kill me, take me away from my kids and my family. Plus, we had just come out of a pretty shitty ten years of hell when my husband was run over in a hit and run, then we had nine years of failed operations, poverty, and just a life that for many would have broken them. He then ended up last year with a leg amputation!!! It just seemed so fitting that we would come out of the bad, from someone ruining my husbands life, me becoming his carer over night and living in a small room with him in a wheelchair, house bound and depressed… We had just come out the other side, we had reached the light at the end of the tunnel… And then this!!! This was all we needed!!! It also turned out that I had no actual friends or family either. Ten years is a long time for a family to go through hell, and eventually it gets boring for those you consider friends or family, they eventually give up inviting you out because they know you can’t because you are a carer, or you can but only for an hour or two… Because you need to get back to help them to the toilet, make them a drink, be there because they have no one else. Then with this new panic of a potential brain tumour I was scared and very, very alone. Obviously I had my husband but he was still recovering from his amputation and would have to go for physio miles and miles away sometimes for days at a time and I couldn’t very well put all this on my kids, it wasn’t fair.

During this time my phone kept showing me reels or short clips of the Big Bang Theory. At first I would just swipe past them not really paying any attention, but then I would be washing up and I would leave one on to listen to, and it was funny, it made me laugh… But it was also a story about friends who were all very different from one another, some were geeks and nerds, others were scientists on the spectrum, one was a pretty girl who had been the popular girl at school, another one was a girl who had been brought up to fear popular girls, another one was short, tiny and quiet but was fierce and scary. Ultimately the show showed how unique people can find each other and become friends and essentially become a family, even if there was tonnes of stupid and funny shit in-between.

I ended up downloading Disney + just so I could watch the whole series and to say I was hooked would be a lie, I was obsessed! Every moment or opportunity I could watch it I would, whether that was when washing up, doing washing, mopping the floors, getting ready in the morning, I would have it on and then once the series ended, I would start it again, it became addicting but it felt like I wasn’t alone.

Then I was scrolling through Amazon and this book popped up. I had seen it mentioned online before but didn’t really go looking for it, then it appeared on Amazon, so on a whim, I purchased it! And wow, this book is utterly amazing!!!

I didn’t really know what to expect when it arrived, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so huge, the book is massive and it actually took me quite a while to read because it was so big but also it’s not a story, its a compendium all about the show, it has interviews with all the cast and the writers etc, it tells stories and has anecdotes on certain themes or parts of the show that were easy to write, hard to write. Again, I was hooked! But it took me time to process it all and take in each word.

And I guess because I came in late to the game I found out things that others already knew about the show but I didn’t. Like for instance the chemistry between Penny and Leonard wasn’t just on the show, it spilled into real life for a while, and then they split up but still stayed professional, even when their on screen characters were on again off again.

It was fascinating to see who they originally wanted to be cast for certain characters but how the process of writing can change a character and then the original actor wanted didn’t fit the bill anymore. Or how with Raj’s actor, how he was fired and then re-hired because Chuck fought to keep him, and it’s good he did because I can’t imagine the show without Raj and Howard and their Bromance. And then there was Sheldon, sweet, funny and totally enraging Sheldon, but his actor had to memorise lines that were so scientific it was brain muddling, and how his actor lost so much weight through stress and then they brought in Amy, whose actress is really a scientist to help level the science talk load. But it also deep dived into how the show was made, how the set was made and then the stage was re-named to the Big Bang stage and only a few stages end up with names like that, usually they are just numbers. It showed how the staircase only went up so far and how the actors would have to walk up, then down, then up again to make it look that they were climbing up so many flights of stairs, and yet all while the cast have to keep the conversation flowing and in front of a live audience.

I really enjoyed this book, especially with a cuppa tea, a candle and some biscuits. Just some chill out time with me, myself and I and Penny, and Leonard, and Sheldon and Howard and Raj and Amy with Bernadette and Stuart and so on. They all became my friends. They didn’t know it of course, but they became the people I turned to, that when I was scared they made me laugh, they humbled me when I would feel so down and sorry for myself. They got me through a very painful and lonely time in my life.

Luckily I don’t have a brain tumour, I do though have an aneurism though and hormone imbalances with endometriosis and a forced menopause with a Zoladex injection which caused so many symptoms to mimic a brain tumour. Basically my body has had enough and is throwing a hissy fit and a huge tantrum. But this was such a scary time in my life and although my husband and kids have tried to be there, sometimes you just need a friend to offload to, to not upset your family, and although I have no one of that description, I did have these guys to make me smile, to make me feel better. And reading this book just kept that magic of the Big Bang Theory going just a bit longer for me. In fact it made me appreciate the characters even more, because some of the cast also had things going on and personal issues in their life but they still acted, they still brought laughter to our screens. Because they too are only human… But the best humans.

I will always love, TBBT!!!

If you are a huge fan or even just a fan, this book is for you, it goes into so much detail and really makes you appreciate the show and the cast even more.

Hope you enjoyed my book review. Speak soon.

xo Piper xo