The Big Bang Theory's Male Actors Had To Follow A Strict Appearance Rule

When you're a performer on a major sitcom, you're probably saddled with some rules and restrictions about what you can and cannot do while you're not filming. Apparently, the creator and showrunner of "The Big Bang Theory" — sitcom legend Chuck Lorre — insisted that nobody make major changes to their hair during the run of the series for continuity purposes, which makes sense; all of the main characters established their individual looks pretty early on in the series, so it stands to reason that they'd all look roughly the same. (Plus, in the show's universe, Jim Parsons' Sheldon Cooper is terrified of change, so his friends would probably avoid drastic haircuts to avoid his irrational wrath.) Still, in precisely one episode, Parsons and his co-stars Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg, and Kunal Nayyar — who play Leonard Hofstadter, Howard Wolowitz, and Raj Koothrappali, in that order — were allowed to sport beards.

In the season 3 premiere "The Electric Can Opener Fluctuation," Leonard, Howard, Raj, and Sheldon return from an expedition to the North Pole where they were conducting research on magnetics, and they're all seen with extremely dramatic beards (ostensibly to show how much time has passed). This is the only time any of them sport facial hair during the series, but in real life, one cast member did drastically change their hair, alarming Lorre in the process.

If Kaley Cuoco has any regrets from "The Big Bang Theory," one of them is the drastic haircut she got in real life shortly before filming the show's eighth season. As Cuoco revealed in Jessica Radloff's book "The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series" (via an excerpt in Us Weekly), she didn't tell anyone about the chop; she got it for an independent film called "Burning Bodhi" and simply showed up to work with a brand new haircut. This did not please Chuck Lorre, as he admitted to Radloff.

"We didn't have a heads-up on the haircut! When you think back on it, it was startling," Lorre recalled, saying that he would have warned his leading lady that shows like "Dharma and Greg" and "Felicity" went down in their respective ratings after their respective stars Jenna Elfman and Keri Russell got similar pixie cuts. "The audience had become infatuated with the character, and not just the character's behavior and flaws and strengths, but in how the character looked," Lorre continued. "They became iconic, and to disregard that audience attachment was a mistake. And I witnessed it firsthand. It would have been the same thing if Johnny [Galecki] had come to the wrap party and had shaved his head. We're all in this together! But I love that Kaley recognized it for what it was. She's very self-aware, and we survived it. As bumps in the road go, that was a small one."

That said, Chuck Lorre instituted other "rules" during the run of "The Big Bang Theory," including one regarding a very serious situation. In another excerpt from Jessica Radloff's book obtained by People Magazine, Lorre discussed the time that Kaley Cuoco got into a terrifying accident while horseback riding and opened up about just how frightening it was. Cuoco, who is an accomplished rider, was horseback at a ranch in Los Angeles when her spooked horse bucked her off; as the horse tried to get away from whatever was scaring it, one of its hooves landed on Cuoco's leg and led to a serious injury. Cuoco was hospitalized and the wound required immediate surgery due to an open wound that could have become infected.

"That was the darkest, most frightening time in all 12 years [of the show]," Lorre said in the excerpt. "Kaley could have lost her leg. It was a series of miracles that allowed us to get through that and for her to come out the other end of that healthy."

Still, Lorre found a way to joke about it. In a vanity card for the show — chronicled on Lorre's own website — the showrunner decreed, "Following Kaley Cuoco's horseback riding injury, I've instituted new rules governing acceptable leisure activities for the cast of 'The Big Bang Theory.' 1. No friggin' horses. This includes those found on merry-go-rounds and in front of supermarkets." (Other rules covered activities like drinking alcohol, riding on motorcycles, boating, and attacking the city of Kandahar in Afghanistan.)

"The Big Bang Theory" is streaming on Max now.