Seven years before Penny's controversial pregnancy plot twist, The Big Bang Theory had already committed the same narrative crime. Despite an uneven final season, The Big Bang Theory finale still stuck the landing with regard to sending off the Pasadena gang. After spending the whole season working on his Nobel Prize in Physics bid, Sheldon finally won his lifelong dream, which made for a satisfying conclusion to his arc. That being said, certain elements in the series were more divisive, including the last-minute revelation that Penny was pregnant after explicitly telling Leonard that she wanted to be child-free.

Five years after the controversial twist, the Young Sheldon finale effectively resurrected the conversation about the matter because of its Penny reference. While the prequel's ending didn't feature Kaley Cuoco reprising her beloved role, it raised questions about how she has been doing since the end of The Big Bang Theory. The lack of update has only bred speculation, and effectively became a reminder of how poorly executed Penny's pregnancy arc was. To make things worse, the nerd-centric sitcom had already done the same thing to another cast member seven years earlier.

The Big Bang Theory Also Ignored Bernadette's No-Child Stance In Season 5

Bernadette Listed Down All The Reasons For Not Wanting To Have Kids

Back in The Big Bang Theory season 5, Bernadette and Howard also went through the same pregnancy kerfuffle that haunted Penny and Leonard in season 12. By then, the future Wolowitzes were already engaged to be married, but they hit a snag in their relationship when Bernadette revealed that she didn't want to have kids. At first, she reasoned that she couldn't stand them after having to deal with them when she was younger. Subsequently, however, she candidly revealed that she was worried about how getting pregnant would impact her career, which was essentially Penny's same reason for her stance.

In The Big Bang Theory season 9, it was revealed that Bernadette was pregnant, and neither her initial feelings about it nor the deal she made with her husband was brought up.

Like Penny, however, The Big Bang Theory still found a way to work around Bernadette's original decision to not have kids. She did eventually offer a compromise to Howard, suggesting that he'd stay at home to raise the kid, but that didn't happen. In The Big Bang Theory season 9, it was revealed that Bernadette was pregnant, and neither her initial feelings about it nor the deal she made with her husband was brought up. Instead, Bernadette didn't have any issue with the matter, similar to Penny's joyful demeanor about her pregnancy in The Big Bang Theory finale.

Why Penny's Pregnancy Reveal In TBBT Is Still Worse Than Bernadette's

The Timing Of Penny's Pregnancy Reveal Makes It Worse

The Big Bang Theorydisregarding both Bernadette and Penny's stance of being child-free is frustrating, especially given its treatment of its female characters. However, Bernadette's story was still done so much better than her friend's. While it was eventually overturned, at least Howard's wife was able to properly sit down with him to discuss a compromise. Because season 12 spent way too much time with Sheldon and Amy's Nobel bid, and ran in circles with the Hoftstadters' issue, Penny didn't get the same opportunity. The Big Bang Theory season 13 would have fixed this, but that wasn't in the cards.