'Big Bang Theory' hits Paley, Cuoco to guest on 'Grey's Anatomy'

I'm a little bit in love with the cast of "The Big Bang Theory"... and God bless The Paley Festival, it was the perfect event to grow said love. The gross TV geek in me really came out.

I got to chat with a few of the actors before the panel last night and learned several things, both interesting and heartwarming...

a) Kaley Cuoco (Penny) will be guesting on the season finale of "Grey's Anatomy" but she has no idea what she'll be playing. It's cloaked in total secrecy. I overheard her telling someone that the producers called her personally -- on her cell phone, in fact -- to request her acting services and because it's "Grey's" and because she's a fan, she accepted the offer even though her role will remain a mystery to her till shortly before they yell action.

UPDATE: Cuoco has pulled out of her "Grey's" commitment due to "unforeseen scheduling conflicts" supposedly related to "Big Bang" publicity.

b) Kunal Nayyar (Koothrappali) follows me on Twitter... when I introduced myself, he told me so.

c) Sheldon and Penny are not hooking up. Jim Parsons (Sheldon) and exec producer Bill Prady have no idea who started those rumors and find them funny since Sheldon has made it clear that his only love in life is science. Besides, there are some big Penny-Leonard moments on tap for the season finale. Kaley told me she absolutely believes that Penny and Leonard will, in the end, be together... However, Kaley and Jim do have a Hollywood couple name. They refer to their onscreen time together as "Shenny" scenes, although sometimes they switch it up to "Peldon."

d) Did I mention Koothrappali follows me on Twitter?

During the panel, more revelations...

Jim Parsons, who seems shockingly similar to Sheldon, but in a crazy adorable and accessible way, is really bad with names. When his agents told him he was going in to audition for a Chuck Lorre pilot, his first thought was, wow, I didn't know the guy from "Love Connection" (Chuck Woolery, fyi) wrote, but he must've written something good 'cause my agents seem really excited...

"The Big Bang Theory" almost never was. Lorre and Prady produced a pilot titled "Lenny, Penny & Kenny" -- with Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons and a Penny character that was, in that incarnation, a dark and destructive party girl -- which CBS did not like. But because they saw the potential in the pairing of Galecki and Parsons, the network did a very rare thing and gave the producers another shot at reinventing it. That's when Kaley, Kunal and Simon Helberg (Wolowitz) were brought in and lightning finally struck.

Bill Prady was a computer programmer in his 20s and the show concept is pretty much based on the people he worked and hung out with during that time. There was one dude who was a literal math genius. He could calculate faster than a calculator, but could not for the life of him figure out how much to tip in a restaurant, because the formula for tipping -- between 15 to 20% based on the level of service -- included a human element (level of service) and there was no mathematical formula for that... Another dude? The total inspiration for Wolowitz. His game: Proposition every woman you see, have no standards.

Chuck Lorre initially had Johnny Galecki in mind to play the role of Sheldon. The two had worked on a movie together way back in the day -- when Johnny was about 12 -- and had toiled on "Roseanne" at the same time, so they knew each other fairly well. Johnny was in New York doing a play when Chuck called him up with the idea for "Big Bang" and after hearing the concept, Galecki said, I think I'm more interested in the Leonard character. He said he saw the Penny/Leonard relationship as promising and because he rarely gets to play that sort of male lead role, Leonard seemed exciting to him.

Koothrappali's original first name? Dave. Yeah. The initial concept for that character was American born to Indian parents, but when Kunal came in to audition, he -- in Simon Helberg's words -- "was just so Indian" that they switched it up. They also let Kunal pick his character's first name.

Carol Ann Susi is the actress who voices the role of Wolowitz's mom. Look her up, you'll definitely recognize her from one TV credit or another, and yeah, that'll be your only chance of seeing what Wolowitz's mommy looks like. "It's a spectacular voice, isn't it?" Chuck Lorre said when asked if we'll ever see the character onscreen. "I think it's best left to the imagination." Wolowitz's pop on the other hand? They're thinking Ringo Starr. No joke.

The Barenaked Ladies theme song? Almost didn't exist. The-Powers-That-Be didn't want them to do it. They said, that's just going to take time out of your episodes. But Chuck and Bill insisted and are so glad they did, because the result is, well, you know, it's pretty great. "They nailed it," Chuck said, referring to the Barenaked Ladies who they approached to compose the song. Their guidelines: Cover everything in the history of the world in 15 seconds.

This cast hates each other. They don't get along at all.

No, quite the opposite, they actually hang out all the time -- I've seen them on the town together a lot actually -- and the dynamic they've got going is eerily similar to their characters. Actually, it's kind of awesome. They tease and heckle each other as real friends do and, yes, we should all be jealous, they're living the TV dream, old school sitcom style...