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In the modern era, few shows can claim to have a fraction of the success that “The Big Bang Theory” experienced. Created by network television maestro Chuck Lorre, the sitcom centered on Sheldon, Leonard, and several other geniuses who had brilliant minds but struggled to navigate the real world. The series ran on CBS for 12 seasons and nearly 300 episodes, a mark it would have surpassed had “The Big Bang Theory” season 13 happened. In its heyday, the show was such a success that it even attracted an unofficial remake. Or, to put it more bluntly, a knock-off.
In 2009, a Belarusian series called “The Theorists” aired. It had a suspiciously similar premise to CBS’ popular sitcom and even featured characters with the same name. Plain and simple, Belarus pretty much stole the show and remade it. Lorre called out a knock-off of his hit TV show in the credits of the season 3 episode titled “The Large Hadron Collision.” In the Chuck Lorre Productions vanity card at the end of the episode, the show’s creator wrote the following:
“Belarus does have a bustling TV production industry. One of their most recent hits is a sitcom about four nerdy scientists who live next door to a beautiful blonde waitress. The characters are named Sheldon, Leo, Hovard, Raj and Natasha, and the show is entitled, The Theorists. Each episode begins with a rapid-fire montage of images which takes us from the dawn of time to the present moment. Keeping with that theme, the montage is scored with what is probably the worst piece of recorded pop music since the dawn of time. And finally, each episode appears to be a Russian translation of a Big Bang Theory episode.”
Indeed, even down to the name Sheldon, clearly named after Jim Parsons’ Sheldon Cooper, who would get a spin-off in the form of “Young Sheldon,” this was an unsanctioned rip-off. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a whole lot that Lorre or the money men could do about it.
The Big Bang Theory fell victim to complicated copyright issues
On that same vanity card, Lorre explained that he approached the legal department at Warner Bros. Television to see if there was anything that could be done. As he soon learned, there was virtually no course of action to take because, in essence, the government of Belarus was backing “The Theorists.”
“When we brought this to the attention of the Warner Brothers legal department, we were told that it’s next to impossible to sue for copyright infringement in Belarus because the TV production company that is ripping us off is owned and operated by the government of Belarus. Having no other recourse, I’m hoping that this vanity card will be read by the fine folks making The Theorists, and, wracked with guilt, they break down and send us some felt hats. The Kyrgyzstan version of Dharma & Greg already sent me some wallpaper paste.”
Copyright is a complicated business. There are many ways to get around being sued. It’s why companies like The Asylum can make a mockbuster called “Top Gunner: Danger Zone,” clearly trying to capitalize on the success of “Top Gun: Maverick,” and not face any legal action. It gets even trickier internationally, as U.S. copyright law doesn’t extend overseas. As a result, Belarus faced zero consequences.
Fortunately, Lorre seemed to have a good sense of humor about the whole thing. Even in describing what a vanity card is on his website, he demonstrates a “don’t take it too seriously” attitude about working in Hollywood.
“A full-screen production company credit that airs for one second at the end of a TV show. So named because the credit is bulls**t. The actual producer of every network TV show is a large corporation that risks capital in development costs and deficit financing so that, in success, it can steal money from profit participants (i.e., schmucks with vanity cards)”
In the end, “The Theorists” didn’t last very long while “The Big Bang Theory” thrived. Aside from that, “Young Sheldon” went on to have a long life, spawning another spin-off in the form of “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.” Aside from that Warner Bros. Television has begun developing yet nother spin-off set to focus on Stuart Bloom, Bert Kibbler, and Denise. Lorre will just have to find a way to sleep at night without those felt hats.
“The Big Bang Theory” is currently streaming on Max, or you can pick up the series on Blu-ray/DVD via Amazon.
