Big Bang Theory Missed A Huge Character Opportunity, According To One Star

"The Big Bang Theory" aired its final episode in 2019, but one of the hit sitcom's main actors believes his character missed out on a major storyline development. While speaking to The Press Association (via The Inquisitr), Simon Helberg noted that Howard Wolowitz's story could have been explored further, especially in regard to his family.

"I think it would be nice to potentially meet his dad," Helberg said. "I don't write the show, I don't create any of those aspects so I get a script, open it and find out his dad abandoned him. It's interesting. I can't wait to see what they've got for us."

Generally speaking, both of Howard's parents remain somewhat of a mystery. Fans never got to meet Mrs. Wolowitz on "The Big Bang Theory" either, even though she spent most episodes screaming at her son from various corners of the house until her unfortunate death in Season 8. Howard's dad, however, remained completely out of the picture. But while his fate was never revealed, it was teased.

Simon Helberg believes that the show's decision to not introduce Howard Wolowitz's dad was a missed opportunity, but the absent parent was obviously on the mind of the show's creators form time to time. Furthermore, we do get some basic background information about him, such as his name being Sam Wolowitz and the fact that he walked out on the family when Howard was 11. Unfortunately, the series also robbed viewers of the chance to know what happened, despite getting their hopes up.

The Season 6 episode, "The Closet Reconfiguration," sees Howard find a letter that his old man wrote for his son's 18th birthday. Instead of reading it, however, the awkward aerospace engineer gets rid of it, an action he later regrets. The rest of the gang then give their own accounts of what they saw in the letter, but it's possible that they were telling fibs. For example, Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) tells him that his old man attended his high school graduation, which is lovely and plausible. Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), on the other hand, says that the letter contained a map to buried treasure, just like "The Goonies."

In short, what happened to Howard's dad will go down in history as one of "The Big Bang Theory's" unanswered questions, but coming up with our own theories is part of the fun, right? 

To learn more about this hit sitcom, check out more deep cut details about "The Big Bang Theory."