Yes sorry Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting but you play the WORST character currently on TV, and what makes this so sad is that you play a character on one of the most watched TV shows of all time.
This may come as a shock to some people, but Penny is just awful. I am talking about the character and not Kaley herself, she does a good job with what she is given. Penny has come along way over the years, she has developed into a very self centered and awful person. Penny sees herself as the best member of the group, despite the fact that aside from Howard (and herself) the entire group have PhD’s.
But why may this be? Well Penny is not a nerd or a geek, and she is attractive, that is all it is. Even when she was barely making any money, not making her rent payments, she considered herself better than anyone else on the show. Her looks are basically why Leonard pays for things for her and helps her out. This was well before they even began dating, his crush on her is based on how she looked. Nothing wrong with that, but she plainly used this fact with Leonard in those early seasons. Despite of all this she feels better than he does, entitled to be so, and during their times dating on the show she often puts him down. Making a joke about how Leonard wouldn’t get another woman, but she would rebound straight away. Not to mention the way she solves any and all problems is to drink them away yet despite how much she drinks this is never addressed as anything serious.
She couldn’t even wear a costume without being nasty about it.
Penny also likes to think she is better than everyone else because she seems to know all about say Brad and Angelina yet Sheldon and Leonard do not. There was an earlier episode that made fun of this, and she did seem to act like a know it all when they didn’t know who was voted the sexiest man alive twice. With the other two women on the show she takes the lead, you can tell she feels like she should be the best of the lot. And why? Because Bernadette is smart and with Howard, Amy is a huge nerd and never shows any skin and with Sheldon. It really is just very superficial with Penny, she rarely does anything nice for anyone.
I would go so far as to say that she isn’t nice (anymore) to any character on the show except on the occasions she is nice to Sheldon and Amy. I can’t buy her relationship with Leonard because there is no love there, she still feels superior to him, based on she’s a hot woman. She is always quite nasty to him, but it is done in a comedic way so we are meant to laugh it off. In the earlier seasons she was not always this way but she has gotten there and to put it plainly and I really do not want to use this word ‘she is a bitch’. The fact that she doesn’t want to go into the comic book store because it is beneath her is rather quite insulting (women go and work in comic book stores writers of BBT).
Penny is not superior to anyone on the show, she isn’t very educated, Bernadette helped her land a high paying job after her acting failed. She never thanked Bernadette for helping her, and in fact to get in at work she talked badly about Bernadette behind her back. She is not smarter than anyone on the show, she makes a lot of mistakes, and treats her so called friends very poorly. Not surprising Penny is a poorly written character and she is never allowed to really develop into a woman with substance.
I would love to enjoy Penny, but I really can’t, she is exactly what is wrong with the media portrayal of women. Why can’t the attractive woman be nice to everyone? Accept her friends for who they are? Not feel superior for superficial reasons? Better herself? This will not happen because The Big Bang Theory will not allow it, sure we have Bernadette and Amy who are stunning smart women, but especially in Amy’s case she isn’t considered a pretty one. She has grown as a character sure, but they tend to stop growing on this show. We can’t be totally shocked by the treatment of women, especially with how Penny is constantly written from the makers of one of the most sexiest and misogynist shows of all time Two And A Half Men.
Women deserve a far better representation on a television comedy than Penny no last name.
The Super Network 
Poorly written, would recommend taking more english classes at your local CC, but other then that SPOT ON!
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How exactly is this poorly written? Please explain this to me …
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its not poorly written ..hes bein an asshole
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Get the hell off here, you liar! Penny sucks and always will because of her feminaziism. And all Penny’s fans can kiss my ass.
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i hate peny so much ..not only she thinks shes above evryone in looks but after she got a job of pharmaceutical sales rep shes been bragging about she earning more than leonard. Leonard copes up with him, if u ask me its leonard who settled for penny otherwise penny’s life would have been filled with dumb goons who fuck her like a whore and then leave . I really hoped her character would grow but it keeps getting worse with time .
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Screw off, hypocrite! supermarcey can badmouth that blonde whore all she wants.
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THis is way to nice penny just annoys me at this point I think they should cut here out of the show
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First of all – *than.
Secondly, Its spot on. The character Penny is a bitch and has zero redeeming qualities.
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This article is way to nice to Penny. Almost all my friends love this show, and we all have a white hot rage for Penny. Don’t get me wrong, Kaley Cuoko is hilarious! But the character of Penny rivals Joffery Baratheon and Skyler White as the most hated characters of all time. She’s a manipulating, condescending, worthless, pathetic, imbecile prostitute. She is tens of thousands of dollars in crippling debt years past due… and Boom! She bombs an interview for a mediocre job that was handed to her. But the next day she suddenly has a “guy” who takes care of her financials cause she makes “twice as much” as Leonard now. What a load of crap! This show just randomly said, “Uhhh… Maybe like, Penny has a bunch of money or something, like, out of no where, and like, uhhh… makes more money than PhDs, or something. Derp!”
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I hate both Kaley and Penny.
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This article just expressed every reason why I dislike Penny. I don’t actually have so much of a problem with her being less educated than the guys than I do with her selfishness, arrogance and condescension towards them. Sometimes, her annoyance with them was justified; she was right to put Howard in his place when he wouldn’t stop pestering her for sex. And I do enjoy watching her friendship with Sheldon, which is the only relationship she has that appears to be based on mutual respect. But a lot of the time her behaviour irritates me, particularly with Leonard, who constantly devalues himself just because she is “conventionally attractive” (a stupid and nonexistent concept). I know Leonard is not perfect and some people dislike him altogether, but there is plenty of evidence that shows he is a decent, caring and loyal boyfriend to Penny, hence there is no reason for him to act as though he should kiss the ground she walks on just because she is attractive. It’s unhealthy. And I find it obnoxious that she constantly lauds her sex appeal in his face, which only lowers his self-esteem. A horrible character.
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I couldn’t have typed all that better myself.
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I couldn’t have typed all that better myself. If you ask me, she acts like she’s all perfect and stuff. Well, that isn’t my type of perfection. As far as I’m concerned, I’d like to see Sheldon kick her ass and get rewarded for it.
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I hate her as well, I never understood why she was around. If they took that character out everyone would still love the show. They need to write this character out. It makes so sense because if she is so superior why does she hang out with them?
Because she’s a loser herself, no education, unsuccessful, to put it bluntly she is th cool kid that the other cool kids hate and make fun of. Ahe is at the bottom of her own social circle.
Which wouldn’t be bad if they explored that angle , make her venerable somtimes, and apologetic, but still stay in character.
Its not hard….
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Thank you! I can’t stand her because of her feminazi bullcrap and hypocrisy. Hell, her street smarts piss me off. And so, I favor Sheldon over her. Besides, he has more flaws than Little Miss Perfect with Blonde Hair.
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Kaily couco comes off like cool bitch in real lifeaa
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Bitches are never cool in fiction and non-fiction.
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You wish! She’s a stupid slut.
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Kaley sucks dick mainly because of her screams.
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I can’t stand her character either. She is a horrible person. As if some one with no education would be friends with these nerds. Not even possible. I like everyone else on this show but Penny.
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Anyone who sides against Penny is cool in my book.
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Excuse me but why aren’t my anti-Penny comments on here?
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Oh, sorry for impatience.
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I agree she’s the worst!
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You got that right.
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The thing that always drove me nuts about penny is she wanted to be an actress, but can’t appreciate Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Buff the Vampire Slayer or Star Trek. Those are some of the most successful franchises ever made, even an actress who was interested in the genre should be able to appcriate there success and pop cultural significance.
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good point!
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You may have a point there, mike. But Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s the only franchise you mentioned that I dislike mainly because of how it comes off to me.
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Very true 👌🏻 Cannot stand her. Almost ruins the entire show for me.
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I believe you.
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Oh sorry for being impatient. I didn’t think that my comments would be posted here right away.
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I guess I do exactly what the writers want us viewers to do. Overlook the character of Penny being a bitch and laugh it off because Kaily is very attractive. But this article is spot on about Penny’s personality. The only thing you could say in her character’s defense is the group (mainly Sheldon) make fun of her being dim. That’s no reason for her to act the way she does just covering all basis.
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Not only is her character annoying and unnecessary but Kaleys crappy acting and stupid facial expressions make her unbearable to watch. Bernadette is a million times funnier and infinitely more attractive. I’ve been saying that since the very first episode she was introduced. Drop Penny and give more time and money to Bernadette and Amy, two much more talented actressses
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This was written in 2015 and it’s only gotten worse since then.
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The character is horrible and wouldn’t be missed if written out. The studio would save a lot of money. Let’s not forget to state the obvious….. Kaley is a terrible actress and doesn’t deserve that paycheck. The other cast actors are carrying Kaley and make the show enjoyable to watch. Have you seen “Wedding Ringer”?. Kaley has my vote for Razzie Award!!
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I hate how Leonard devalues himself in the presence of Penny. A CalTech scientist with a 173 IQ keeps being put in his place by an attractive girl. This gets boring.
But such outcomes are more common than one imagines. Why do guys let attractive girls walk all over them?
I am like Sheldon Cooper in the sense that I don’t give a rat’s about a girl’s good looks. If she owns a shitty personality, I will give her a hard time. During my college days between 2001 and 2005, my male buddies would frequently let me down. All the girls were attracted to our group of dorks precisely because of my “I don’t give a fuck” attitude. But my “comrades” had to surrender like the turkeys they were, cowardly reminding me to BE NICE to the ladies.
Why should an individual be entitled to nice behavior from me because of that extra X chromosome?
For the record, I am nice to anyone as long as there is equal reciprocation. Is that too much to ask?
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Can’t get through such bad writing. Take a course, or ten, Miss Marcey.
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Considering I wrote this years ago, and you can’t even form two sentences without sound like an idiot … yeah you get the hint.
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It’s funny I found this post a while back and must of subscribed to the comments.
I used to really like Big Bang, but over time really all the characters have started to wear on me.
I caught the episode the other day on rerun where the guys pick on Zach. The show just recycles the same old cliches and stereotypes.
The first few seasons make it with the novelty of Geek culture but over time you realize it’s just rehash of ever other show.
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Naah, Penny’s one of the best characters.
But pretty much all you wrote about Penny can be said about Bernadette.
..and Howard! Also Stuart, Barry, Leslie. The list goes on.
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I’m sorry people, but “Penny thinks she is better than everyone” is a 24k bullshit.
Unless u got Penny mixed up with SHELDON.
IF Penny had actually thought she is better than everyone, she wouldn’t have ALLOWED Sheldon to point out flaws about her all the time. But she did, cuz Penny is a good person. She thinks “Sheldon doesn’t even realize he is being mean, so he doesn’t mean to behave like that, hence I shouldn’t fire back at him. And he means a lot to Leonard whom I love, so I’ll keep cutting Sheldon slacks throughout my entire life”.
Through the entire show, the one who gets treated the worst by Sheldon is PENNY.
If someone like Sheldon thinks he can look down on others merely for their intelligence being lower than his, he should be dragged him down, not just personally, but also publicly.
Cuz people like Sheldon don’t deserve a honorable position in the society, until they’ve gotten the mental help they need and made changes to themselves. Because it is toxic to pretend like there is nothing wrong with them, when their sheer existence is making others lives more miserable.
I understand Sheldon can’t help his personality/character being that way, but it just doesn’t JUSTIFY his behavior.
I thought there would be genuine reasons for the hatred against Penny, but you pointing out how other women:
Don’t show skin like Penny
Earn more than Penny
Have more educational qualifications than Penny
It only shows how you are trying to gain validity for you narrow minded hatred against Penny.
Let me break this down to you:
Women showing lesser skin doesn’t make them any better.
Women earning more doesn’t mean they’d get treated better than women earning less.
Some women not being educated as much as others doesn’t mean they can be looked down upon by others or that it should be considered a flaw.
I tried my best, but there isn’t a single point in this article which is actually true and non-biased.
The next time you write an article like this, try to think from pov other than your own.
Ex: Ask yourself “If I’m going to say Penny is the worst character on this show, then are other characters really not as worse as her?”, rather than your current mindset of “I have some things which are Penny’s flaws, I’ll make a long list of those, to validate her as the worst character on this show”.
I mean, just read these lines you’ve wrote, I can’t believe that you really didn’t think twice about these? or you’ve thought about it and still didn’t realize how wrong you are?
“Why can’t the attractive woman be nice to everyone? Accept her friends for who they are? Not feel superior for superficial reasons?”
Penny is more nice than she needs to be with Sheldon, she only gives temporary comebacks to Sheldon or just brushes it off, she should stand up for herself and put Sheldon in his place.
She is friends with people who share nothing in common with her interests, one of them is also really full of himself, one is really perverted, yet she only treats them all EQUALLY, as her friends. The only time Penny was shown as a rude person was when they revealed her as a bully during her school days.
It’s also weird how Penny poking fun at her partner’s masculinity is highlighted as “proof” for Penny’s mean behavior, meanwhile Bernadette throws Howard’s masculinity out the window 24/7, but Penny is the worst right?
And she is nowhere near being superior. Her tolerance of Sheldon alone proves how much she “brushes off toxic behavior” in the name of “friendship”. That isn’t superiority.
And to top this all of, the number of people who don’t recognize how biased these opinions is sickening.
And saying that they portray Penny as “woman without substance” highlights how much you look down on women like Penny merely for the way they dress, not being much educated, not preferring comic books, etc.
These factors about Penny alone made you not notice Penny’s actual character.
This is one of the moments when someone thinks they are fighting a stereotype like Penny’s character, but they are the ones forcing a stereotype of how women like Penny are lowly or something.
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Ok, so yea at the start Penny uses Leonard and the guys, and shes looked down on the whole group, but as the series progresses she gets a lot better, she is that way because of how she was brought up. And thinking they’re better than everyone, thats Sheldon, and Raj, like he’s always desperate to get a girl but when he does he’s a complete jerk. Not to mention the fact that Leonard actually cheated on Penny whilst on the North sea expedition. She actually doesn’t look down on Bernadette and Amy, they look down on her sometimes, because they earn more, and have higher IQ. In one of the latter seasons Penny actually complains that she hates having to flirt with people to get sales, to the point where she wanted to quit her job. I’m just pointing out that every character has their flaws. And it’s not Penny’s fault that her two girlfriends are nerdy, and bullied in the past. And the drink, Bernadette drinks too, and Howard uses sex. Sheldon is always looking down on Leonard saying he’s not as smart, and that Sheldon is better than everyone. So just lay off Penny, you’re all just completely ignoring all the flaws of the other characters and aiming everything at her.
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And It’s not her fault that she’s good looking, you’re stereotyping her, Just because someone is pretty, or whatever, doesn’t mean they can’t be a goof person.
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I wrote this YEARS ago, at a point where Penny had not really grown as a character and they failed to actually make her worth more than she is. My thoughts have since changed as they did in the last few seasons actually make Penny a much better character.
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