Over the course of nine seasons on The Big Bang Theory, we’ve learned a lot about all of the characters on the hit series, including their strengths and weaknesses and their likes and dislikes. For better or worse, we’ve also met a lot of their parents, but there’s one parent that actor Simon Helberg would really like to see on the CBS comedy: Howard’s father.
I think it would be nice to potentially meet his dad. I like it when the writers get deep because it’s hard to do that on a sitcom without hearing the cheesy violin or having that special episode feeling, and they do it so well and I love getting to learn about this character I’ve played and known for over seven years, and getting to discover things I never knew.
While Helberg isn’t one of the people working on scripts each week, the ideas he related to the Press Association about introducing his dad aren’t totally far-fetched. In the years since The Big Bang Theory first hit the air, we met Howard’s mother, Debbie, on the series, played by Carol Ann Susi. Last season, Howard learned his mother had passed away in her sleep following the news that Susi had died in real life. But before she was off the show, we learned that Debbie’s husband and Howard’s dad, Sam, had left when Howard was still just a kid. They haven’t had a relationship, since, but there could potentially be plenty of ways for The Big Bang Theory to allow the two characters to find one another, again.
Maybe they’d run into each other at some random event or Howard would simply want to look his father up. Considering that when Debbie died, Howard’s father signed the house over to Howard without actually contacting him, the potential for Sam being the one to reach out does not look good, but there are always random ways estranged family members can come back into each others’ lives. Especially since Howard is now aware his father had a second family after he left and left them, as well. Any meeting between the two would be bound to be awkward, leading to plenty of comedy opportunities.
Obviously, this isn’t an announcement that we’ll meet Sam Wolowitz at some point, but since The Big Bang Theory has been delving more deeply into the characters and their relationships in recent seasons, it's entirely possible this could become a thing. While the inclusion of all of this personal stuff has been good for some and less exciting for other fans, it doesn’t seem to be an outlook the comedy has plans to change anytime soon, as Sheldon and Amy deal with their breakup and Leonard and Penny deal with the ramifications of getting married and moving in with one another. In fact, throwing in another dysfunctional relationship between Howard and his absentee father might actually shake things up a bit.
What do you think? Would you like to see The Big Bang Theory introduce Howard’s father? Or do you think bygones should be bygones?
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The Big Bang Theory currently airs on Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET on CBS but will return to its normal Thursday night timeslot after football finishes its run.
