Did you know that is the longest-running sitcom of all time? This show was 12 seasons and more than 270 episodes. While the series focused mainly on the lives of four socially awkward friends, Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, Raj, and aspiring actress Penny, other new characters were introduced into the show as time went on.
By its last season, the main cast had grown to make space for and .
Throughout its 12-year run, many well-known , including Mark Hamil, Carrie Fisher, Charlie Sheen, who absolutely , and Sara Gilbert, who portrayed Leonard’s (Johnny Galecki) friend and, later-on, romantic interest.
Sara Gilbert began her acting career at a young age. Her first gigs included lesser roles in movies and television series, as well as a Kool-Aid commercial.
However, she wouldn’t get her big break until she turned 13 and landed the role of Darlene Conner on . Gilbert would be a part of the show’s main cast during its nine-year run from 1988 to 1997, and she would receive two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her performance.
Following the success of , Gilbert appeared on popular TV shows such as and . Then, in 2004, she got a recurring role on seasons 11 to 13 of the hospital drama .
In 2012, Gilbert created and co-hosted of the CBS daytime talk show , alongside Julie Chen, Aisha Tyler, Sharon Osbourne, and Sheryl Underwood. Four years later, she won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show for being a producer and creator of the show.
In 2017, Gilbert reprised the role of Darlene Conner in an eight-episode revival series of
Before playing experimental physicist Leonard Hofstadter in appeared in numerous movies and TV shows. In fact, before landing this role, Galecki had already worked with two of his future co-stars.
In 1991, he appeared alongside in an episode of the NBC sitcom and, a year later, he joined the cast of
During their time on Gilbert and Galecki had to play romantic interests. The pair soon realized their chemistry was still present when the cameras weren’t rolling an started dating while still on the show.
However, their relationship would soon come to an end after
"I eventually told him that I thought it was about my sexuality and he was super sweet about it." Although their relationship ended abruptly, both Gilbert and Galecki managed to maintain a close friendship after the breakup.
From 2007 to 2010, Sara Gilbert portrayed Leslie Winkle, a scientist friend of Leonard Hofstadter, in . During the show’s second season, Gilbert was elevated to part of the main cast. She would then go on to play a potential love interest for Galecki's character, and, later on, a love interest to Howard Wolowitz (portrayed by ).
However, in 2009, her character was reduced to a recurring role and, ultimately, Winkle disappeared completely from the show when the characters of Amy Farrah Fowler and Bernadette Rostenkowski became more popular.
Sara Gilbert has admitted she enjoyed her time on and it doesn’t seem like working with her ex, Johnny Galecki, was a problem for her. In fact, fans believe that her close friendship with her co-star could have been the reason why she took this role in the first place. Plus, both Gilbert and Galecki had worked with creator, , when they starred in .
