Scenes in The Big Bang Theory primarily take place in the apartment of Leonard and Sheldon, sometimes in Penny’s apartment. Between the two apartments is the broken elevator that forces the characters to walk up or down. However, there is an important reason for this, aside from the joke.
The infamous elevator: In the very first episode of The Big Bang Theory in 2007, the elevator is mentioned because it is broken, which forces the characters of the series to walk the many stairs. This situation is a regular part of jokes in the series and continues almost until the end of 2019.
In the 22nd episode of the 3rd season, it is explained within the series why the elevator is broken. When Leonard moved into the apartment, it was still operational. However, during a failed experiment, Sheldon had to throw something into the elevator, which then exploded. This ultimately led to the destruction of the elevator.
But that is just the reason within the series; it is also a significant advantage for the script and the structure of the scenes. A great asset for the show was probably also Kaley Cuoco: The Big Bang Theory: Before Penny, there was actually another female lead, but everyone found her terrible
A place where characters can walk and talk
Why is it important for characters to walk up stairs? The most important thing in a sitcom is the dialogues. To create dynamics and variety in a dialogue scene, a change of scene is necessary. In The Big Bang Theory, the stairs provided the dynamics. This was explained by co-creator Bill Prady at the WonderCon.
So, one of the things you need is a place where characters can walk and talk. […] When Chuck Lorre and I were working on Dharma and Greg, we had this street set where the characters could converse. […] We tried to do that with Big Bang, but it was just too much space and we started talking about: “What if they always had to go up the stairs?”
You need a place where characters can walk and talk. In the case of The Big Bang Theory, this was initially only possible in the stairwell. As the series progressed, there were of course more settings, but until the end, the stairwell remained an important place, even for private conversations.
How were the scenes in the stairwell filmed? Despite the simple setting, filming in the stairwell was not easy. There was never a real stairwell, but a set. As Kunal Nayyar, who played Koothrappali, revealed in an interview with The Independent.
There was a set with the staircase that leads nowhere. Once a shot is finished, the set is slightly rearranged to make it look like the actors are walking up or down the stairs. This created the illusion of many stairs. An iconic scene in Friends was also associated with difficult filming: Friends: Lisa Kudrow explains how terrible the intro was and why they all laughed hysterically anyway.
