Able to stay near the top of the ratings throughout its 12-year run, one of the major reasons for The Big Bang Theory’s success was its ensemble cast. However, back when the show began it only had a single female lead character, Penny. For that reason, most of the show’s many fans have a lot of affection for the character.
As is the case with most characters that remain at the core of a show for 12 years, Penny has undergone quite a bit of change over time. While The Big Bang Theory’s fans have largely been pleased to see how much she has grown, the fact remains that there are certain aspects of Penny’s character that don’t make much sense. With that in mind, it is time to take a look at this list of 20 nonsensical things about Kaley Cuoco’s Penny that fans chose to ignore.
20 Penny Using The Same Purse For A Very Long Time
Over The Big Bang Theory’s lengthy run, there is no doubt that Penny changed a lot. However, throughout the series, she cares deeply about her clothes and she even puts herself in massive debt in order to spend a fortune on fashion.
Yet for some reason, over several seasons she is seen carrying the same plain brown purse in one episode after another!
19 Amy’s Ongoing Admiration For Penny
As two very different people, Penny and Amy remain friends largely because of the latter’s desire to know someone popular. While that was easy to understand at first, over time it became harder to believe that Amy would continue to admire Penny so much.
After all, Penny can be a bully and given how much Amy was picked on growing up, you’d think the bloom would come off that rose.
18 Penny Only Finding Out About Leonard Kissing Mandy Chow Years Later
Due to the fact that so many fans loved seeing Leonard and Penny together, it was frustrating when things went awry for them. For example, it was hard to take it when Penny learned that Leonard had kissed Mandy Chow behind her back.
There was another reason why that storyline was hard to take: there is no way a worrier like Leonard could have kept his lie a secret for so long.
17 Penny Wanting To Spend So Much Time With Amy
Earlier in this list, we touched on the idea that Amy would grow to resent Penny. Now it is time to look at our opinion that Penny would’ve wanted to ditch Amy early on.
After all, as much as we grew to love their confusing dynamic, it made no sense that Penny agreed to hang out with Amy when she often rolled her eyes at her new pal.
16 Penny Continuing To Judge The Guys' Various Hobbies
Even though people say that The Big Bang Theory celebrated nerd culture, that idea was undermined by Penny constantly mocking her friends' love of comics, sci-fi, and the like. Those jokes were baffling in two ways.
First, why would the guys want someone who mocked them around all the time? Second, her brief obsession with World of Warcraft proved she had nerd tendencies too!
15 Why We Never Met Her Sister
As any fan of The Big Bang Theory will know, over time we got to know the families of many of the show’s main characters. For example, Penny’s felon brother, her mother, and her father were all seen on the show.
Yet for some reason, the sister Penny referenced on several occasions never made an appearance, even when Penny got married.
14 Penny Affording Her Apartment
Given that Penny’s original apartment was smaller, it seems obvious that her rent would have been cheaper than Leonard and Sheldon’s. However, the costs wouldn’t be different enough to explain how she afforded her place.
After all, Sheldon had to get a roommate to afford his apartment and Penny almost never got paid to act. She was also a bad waitress who would have made minimum wage and tips.
13 What Happened To Her Other Friends
Back during The Big Bang Theory’s early episodes, Penny could occasionally be seen partying with a large group of friends she’d made before the show began. When we think back on those episodes, it leaves us wondering what happened to those people.
Sure, most of us grow apart from friends from our youth over time but her pals all seemed to disappear en masse and never returned.
12 Penny Continuing To Be Friends With Leonard And Sheldon After They Snuck Into Her Apartment
During an early TBBT episode, Sheldon learned Penny was a huge slob and couldn't take it. As a result, he broke into her apartment during the night and cleaned it, with a reluctant Leonard at his side.
When Penny discovered what they’d done she understandably called them insulting names. Even though her apartment had been invaded as she slept, Penny remained friends with the two creeps who did it. It makes no sense!
11 How Severely Penny Judges Stuart Even Though They Briefly Dated
Unlike Penny who grew a lot during the series, Stuart Bloom was a normal guy before he became a sad sack. For example, during his debut episode, he was charming enough to land a date with Penny, after which she even invited him in for some coffee.
Things clearly didn’t work out for the pair but it is still surprising that she went on to deride the man who once wined and dined her.
10 The Inconsistency Of Penny’s Mom
Long before Penny’s mom made her first onscreen TBBT appearance, Penny ate a dumpling and Sheldon snarkily responded to her by saying, "I've seen pictures of your mother, keep eating."
Despite that clear reference to Penny’s mother being overweight, several seasons later the always fit looking Katey Sagal was cast to play the character in a single episode of the show.
9 Penny Landing A Job In Pharmaceutical Sales
For anyone who wanted Penny to finally find professional success after toiling away for many years, it was very nice to see her get a job in pharmaceutical sales.
That said, however, it never seemed right that a community college dropout would land a highly sought after job like that, especially since she has bragged about being very well paid for her work.
8 Why She Spent So Much Time With The Guys Early On
Back when Leonard first introduced himself to Penny, it made sense that she was open to being his friend as she clearly was an outgoing person and he seemed nice. However, we can’t imagine why she continued to hang out with him and his friends.
After all, Raj couldn’t even talk to her, Sheldon was incredibly rigid and condescending towards her, and Howard always made moves on her she didn't appreciate.
7 Penny Apparently Didn’t Even Know Her Father’s Name
Now that The Big Bang Theory has ended, many viewers are baffled that the series never revealed what Penny’s maiden name was. If you rewatch the series, however, it makes sense that she never brought up her own last name as she forgot her own father’s first name.
In an early episode, she refers to her father as Bob but when her dad shows up he is named Wyatt. Oops.
6 How Fine Everyone Around Her Is With Her Excessive Drinking
When you think about Penny’s character, there are bound to be certain things that come to mind, like her acting career and her biting wit. In addition to her positive traits, her constant drinking also is a big part of her character.
While her love of wine often could be amusing on the show, it is baffling that nobody in her life ever confronted her about the issue.
5 Penny Marrying Leonard
Don’t get us wrong, we always wanted to see Leonard and Penny wind up together. The problem is, judging by the way she acts, we have no idea why Penny chose to marry Leonard.
In fact, it often seemed like Penny may not have even liked Leonard in the later seasons as she went from making loving jokes about the guy to outright insulting him all the time.
4 Penny Thinking Vegas Chapel Weddings Aren’t Legal
When it comes to The Big Bang Theory storylines that are hard to stomach, the idea that Penny married Zach in Vegas and years later thought it wasn’t legal was one of the worst.
After all, who doesn’t realize those ceremonies are binding? On top of that, she followed celebrity gossip and many stars have been married in that setting.
3 She Set Howard Up With Bernadette
As we touched on earlier in this list, it is pretty baffling that Penny was willing to spend time with Howard early on. Instead, she should have been put off by a guy who once drove a remote control car with a camera on it to a spot where he could spy on her.
Yet, not only does she like Howard, but Penny sets him up with her good friend, Bernadette.
2 Penny Not Understanding How Unkind She Was As A Teenager
During a 5th season episode of the show, Penny laughed while talking about the time she mistreated a girl in school simply because the girl got really good grades.
Even if she thought of this moment as a harmless prank in her teens, how could she not have realized how mean she’d actually been after being friends with so many people who’d been bullied for years?
1 It Makes No Sense That She Becomes So Close To Sheldon
When it comes to The Big Bang Theory’s most heartwarming moments, many of them involve Penny and Sheldon’s friendship. However, in order to enjoy those scenes, we have to overlook the fact that he never should have liked her at all.
As a highly quirky person who has to control most things in his life, in reality Sheldon should have resented the fact that Penny challenged him more than anyone else.
Sources: ScoopWhoop, Big Bang Theory Fandom, You Tube