Penny Hofstadter

Penny Hofstadter (neé Teller) is the tritagonist of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
Penny lives across the hall to Sheldon and Leonard (who would later become her husband) she also acts as the straight man at times in comparison to the Social Groups lack of foundational understanding and street smarts. Penny is also very sociable and normally goes out with her friends such as Bernadette and until later seasons, Amy.
Penny remains a talented, but ultimately unsuccessful actress. So far the only successful role she has had in a movie is Killer Gorilla 2: Serial Ape-ist until she was fired, prompting her to rethink her entire life and ends up getting engaged to her beloved boyfriend, Leonard. The movie has a cult following, she had her five minutes of fame. She switched career and works as a successful pharmaceutical rep.
She was portrayed by , who voices Harley Quinn from the titular animated series. She was also portrayed by Quinn Aune as a child.
==Origin ==
Originally, two different female leads were written for the Pilot episode. The unaired pilot episode had an alternate version of the female lead named Katie. Katie was bitter and snide and was received by audiences to be too mean to Sheldon and Leonard. 
Kaley Cuoco did not portray this alternate version of the female lead, but instead was hired to do the second version filmed after the unaired pilot, which was sociable and nice and was the one that the producers decided was the more interesting and appealing out of the two.
Some of Penny's comedic role in the series is rooted in her ability to execute practical and simple solutions to problems of which the guys try to solve through complicated or scientific means. For example, in the episode "The Pants Alternative", Sheldon reveals that in spite of his ability to talk excessively to people in small groups, he has a severe case of stage fright, and wouldn't be able to accept an award. While Leonard tries to get to the root of his problem through a psych evaluation, and Raj attempts to use meditation, Penny solves the problem by having him buy a new suit and getting him intoxicated right before he makes his speech. This, however, failed miserably as Sheldon made a fool of himself onstage, pulled his pants down and showed everyone "Uranus".
As the series developed, Penny's character took on the theme of being the virtual polar opposite of Sheldon, which created a unique relationship between the two characters. Penny's relationship with the other guys is usually perceived as something of an older sister, or a mother in some cases with Sheldon. 
==Series Biography==
===Season 1===
Penny moves into Apartment 4B across from Apartment 4A where Leonard and Sheldon live. Penny had broken up with her boyfriend Kurt because he cheated on her. She asked the guys for a favour to go get her TV from his apartment, but he steals their pants and Penny apologizes for everything and later the three go out to dinner with Howard and Raj ("Pilot"). She becomes friends with the guys sponging both meals and WiFi off of them and agrees to go on a date with Leonard at the end of the season.
===Season 2===
After a post-date disagreement, Penny remains friends with all four guys, becomes an integral part of the Social Group and very good friends with Leonard.
In "The Hofstadter Isotope", Penny is asked out on a date by Stuart and things end later in the next two episodes after it is revealed she called Stuart "Leonard" when kissing him.
In the episode finale "The Monopolar Expedition", Penny wishes Leonard wasn't going to the North Pole.
===Season 3===
When the guys return from the North Pole, Penny has missed Leonard enough that she expresses her feelings for him and they date for most of the season.
Penny introduces her friend Bernadette to Howard as part of a Girlfriend Pact made between Howard and Leonard. Things don't go to too smoothly until the two of them find out they both have overbearing mothers.
===Season 4===
Penny resumes being part of the guy's group and has her own friends, Bernadette and Amy. Also, she realizes that she still has feelings for Leonard, especially since Leonard is dating Priya.
===Season 5===
Half-way through the season (on the 100th episode), Leonard asks Penny out and they reunite though Penny has misgivings. At the end of the season, Leonard asks Penny to marry him while they are having sex.
===Season 6===
Penny works through her doubts and has a stronger relationship with Leonard, as she is now able to say "I love you" to him. They discuss marriage.
===Season 7===
Penny finds out she is legally married to Zack after Leonard, Sheldon and Amy tell her that weddings in Las Vegas wedding chapels are real when the two thought they were fake. In the end, she and Zack fill out annulment papers and the marriage is legally annulled ("The Thanksgiving Decoupling"). Penny quits The Cheesecake Factory to concentrate on acting ("The Occupation Recalibration") and becomes engaged to Leonard in the penultimate episode of the season ("The Gorilla Dissolution").
===Season 8===
Between the finale of Season 7 and the premiere of Season 8, Penny drastically changes her look by swapping her usual long blonde locks for a short blonde pixie-crop, a look she sports throughout the entire season. She gets a new job at Bernadette's company as a pharmaceutical rep, making excellent progress in her field as well as spending the year as Leonard's fiancee. At the end of the season, she suggests they head to Vegas to get married.
===Season 9===
Leonard's little make-out session at sea makes their marriage have a rocky start, but they quickly reconcile though they don't move out of Sheldon's apartment (because of Sheldon going through a bad breakup, and due to Sheldon's abandonment issues). At the end of the season, when it's revealed that everyone is upset about not being part of the wedding due to their elopement, Penny suggests having a redo wedding ceremony.
===Season 10===
Penny and Leonard have their re-wedding ceremony in a park which is officiated by Bernadette ("The Conjugal Conjecture") in front of their families.
Penny and Leonard finally have their own apartment, Apartment 4A. In "The Cohabitation Experimentation", Amy's apartment suffered water damage, was uninhabitable and she needed a place to stay. Sheldon and Amy started a five-week experiment to see if they could manage to live together and moved into Penny's old apartment, Apartment 4B. It turned into a permanent arrangement in "The Veracity Elasticity". Penny also redecorates her and Leonard's bedroom.
===Season 11===
Zack reveals to Leonard a video from 7 years before that Penny had recorded shortly after her breakup with Leonard. She revealed that she did love him, but was scared of a permanent commitment ("The Bitcoin Entanglement").
Penny is chosen to be the maid of honour at Sheldon and Amy's wedding ("The Matrimonial Metric") and has to break up Sheldon, Leonard and Amy from working on a string theory breakthrough so Shamy can get married.
In "The Bow Tie Asymmetry", Penny picks up Amy's mother and father and at the wedding and snaps at Mrs Fowler just before the wedding ceremony to sit back down when Mrs Fowler wants to take Amy away.
===Season 12===
Penny reveals to Leonard that she doesn't want kids, which disappoints him ("The Procreation Calculation").
Leonard is dismayed when Penny doesn't remember the first time they kissed. Although Penny actually did remember, she explained why she "forgot" it. ("The Imitation Perturbation") because she felt that their kiss at his birthday party was under better circumstances.
When Leonard gets a chance to be a sperm donor for Zack, Penny decides to let Leonard go through with it so that he would get to be a father. Later, when Penny's father visits, she begins to realize that she has a problem with the sperm donation and that maybe the "never having kids" idea isn't suited for her after all.
During the penultimate episode, Penny takes Sheldon drinking and comforts him over the changes in his life and helps him realize that change is the only major constant in the world. She is also shown using the newly repaired elevator. Upon returning home from drinking, Penny has sex with Leonard and ends up pregnant, as revealed in the final episode.
==Relationship with Leonard==
Leonard is Penny's soul mate, true love and best friend.
Leonard almost immediately falls for Penny when she moved across the hall from him and his roommate in the pilot episode.
Penny first shows romantic interest in Leonard near the end of "The Hamburger Postulate", when she hears of his failed attempt at a relationship with Leslie Winkle, though the sign is seen only by the audience. Despite these signs, she continues to date other men, though she regularly visits Leonard's apartment every day to see him.
She and Leonard went on their first date in the finale of the first season, but they were unable to start a relationship because Penny feared he would get bored with her due to his high intelligence compared to her own. Regardless, Leonard continues his pursuit of Penny throughout the second season, even going as far as confronting her towering ex-boyfriend, Kurt in an effort to retrieve the money he owes her. 
Leonard and friends later decide to head to the North Pole for the summer to assist Sheldon. Out of Leonard's hearing, Penny admits to herself that he wished he wasn't going. After Leonard returns, Penny immediately kisses him, having missed him greatly.
Leonard happily returns her affections and they later make love for the first time. 
Despite another rocky start, Penny remains happy with Leonard throughout most of season 3, forming the kind of stable relationship that she hadn't seen in over two years.
Things went downhill, however, when Leonard told Penny "I love you," and he became angry and insecure at her unwillingness to reciprocate. The pressure he places on Penny long with a heated argument that occurred between the two during a bowling match eventually caused her to tearfully end their relationship, leaving Leonard heartbroken. Wil Wheaton pushes her so that she leaves making her bowling team forfeit.
They later agree to stay friends, even though it's clear that Penny has never stopped liking Leonard, and as she revealed in a game of truth or dare with Amy and Bernadette, she only broke up with him because she became scared after Leonard told her he loved her. When the girls point out that she could lose Leonard to another woman as a result of her decision, Penny gets very upset and storms into her bedroom and slams the door. 
When Penny's father Wyatt visits, she asks Leonard to join her in the ruse she has put on saying that they got back together after Wyatt was heartbroken at their breakup. But after he pushes Penny too far, she eventually tells her father the truth. Wyatt is upset that Penny would lie to him but forgives her. After Penny leaves the room, Wyatt begs Leonard to not give up on her. Wyatt uses reverse psychology by feigning anger at Leonard and yelling at him and Leonard leaves.
Penny feelings for Leonard are hinted during a New Year's Eve party at the comic book store where Penny let it slip out to Leonard that he was one of the reasons why she had been feeling sad recently.
Their friendship eventually becomes strained when Leonard begins dating Raj's sister Priya and gets worse when Priya forces Leonard to cut his ties with Penny permanently. During their time apart, Penny becomes very close to Amy and Bernadette, who provide comforting support and help her understand the depth of her emotions regarding Leonard's new relationship. 
In the season finale, Penny admits to Raj that she "screwed up," and that she never should have broken up with Leonard. 
Penny again reveals her regret in season 5 to Sheldon (without mentioning Leonard directly), telling him that he should never take his relationship for granted, which indicates how much her heart still aches for Leonard. The result was Sheldon thinking that she had a thing for him.
Penny finally makes her move after Leonard and Priya break up later in the season, asking Leonard out to the movies, but hiding her feelings by keeping things casual and telling him that sex was off the table. Leonard misses the hint; however, and the night turns into a disaster when the two attempt to make each other jealous by flirting with other people they encounter during the date. They do makeup in the end, and Leonard's hopeless infatuation for Penny surfaces when he becomes submissive once more in an attempt to sleep with her. 
At the spur of the moment in "The Recombination Hypothesis", Leonard asks Penny out on a date after he imagined what getting back with her might be like. He also realizes he overanalyzes everything too much.
 Their real date ends successfully and they agree to take their relationship slow in "The Beta Test Initiation" by identifying any potential problems and addressing any issues they have with each other openly.
In "The Launch Acceleration", Penny suggested that they move up their relationship to having sex again; however, Leonard ruins the mood when he asks her to marry him during intimacy. They later meet and Penny, unlike their first split, managed to reject his proposal and still stay in a relationship with him. During "The Countdown Reflection," they watch Howard's space launch while holding hands to comfort each other.
Things remain awkward between them in the months following the failed marriage proposal. Raj, who was butting into one of their dates, insisted that Penny tell Leonard that she loves him, but she was not ready and threw him out of the apartment.
Penny later expresses more doubts about whether she truly loves Leonard to her friends in "The Decoupling Fluctuation," describing her passion for him as "boring" compared to her previous relationships. She nearly breaks up with him at the conclusion of the episode, but changes her mind at the last moment and ends up sleeping with him to hide the truth, especially after he looks at her with a "sad puppy dog eyes" face. The next day, Leonard again expresses his unparalleled love for Penny via text message, making her feel even guiltier as she struggles with whether or not she wants to be with him. 
Their relationship takes a completely different turn, however when Penny visits Leonard's workplace with Amy and sees Sheldon's attractive assistant Alex flirting with him in the cafeteria ("The Higgs Boson Observation"), causing Penny to become jealous and defensive over Leonard. This also leaves her confused about her feelings for Leonard once again.
However, her romantic feelings for Leonard return during "The Holographic Excitation," when Penny decides to drop by Leonard's laboratory after Amy and Bernadette urge her to take a more active interest in his work. Despite her lack of knowledge in science, Penny becomes fascinated as Leonard uses holographic imaging to explain the basis of string theory and the holographic principle, speaking in a way that sparks her passion and earns him the kind of affection (bordering on love) that he had last seen during their first night together after he returned from the North Pole. 
In "The 43 Peculiarity", Penny is working with a British fellow student named Cole on an oral class project. Leonard is jealous so he follows him down the apartment stairs and tells him to watch out for "Penny's boyfriend" since he is a gang member. Penny is upset with Leonard and the two later meet in the hallway and have an argument. Penny tells him that she cannot believe that he does not trust her and that he embarrassed her in front of Cole who knew who he was since his picture is on her refrigerator. Penny continues to tell him that he is the one she is with and unwittingly mentions that he knows that she loves him. Leonard is stunned and tells her that that is the first time she ever said that she loves him. He then interprets her stunned reaction and asks if they aren't going to make a big deal about her confession. She agrees and runs off to cry.
In "The Egg Salad Equivalency", after Alex asks Leonard out to dinner and he didn't tell Penny about it, she begins to feel really insecure about their relationship. Penny also gets angry with Leonard when she discovers that he enjoyed the attention from Alex. Leonard apologizes by playing her an apologetic song on his cello and reassuring her that nothing will ever happen between him and Alex. She decides instead of feeling bad, she will do something about it. First, she looks into science classes at college, but they sound boring. Then she buys some geek glasses to look smart, which does affect Leonard as he pulls her into his bedroom.
In "The Bakersfield Expedition", she develops an interest in comic books and Thor's hammer. 
In "The Spoiler Alert Segmentation", Leonard suggests that he move in with Penny after he again gets exasperated with Sheldon. He asks her if she's all right with it, but she only agrees not to hurt his feelings and even tells Sheldon. When Amy confronts Penny since she can't move in with Sheldon, Leonard overhears. Penny tells him that he never asked her if she was ready and Leonard ends up back in apartment 4A.
In "The Tangible Affection Proof", Leonard takes Penny out to dinner for Valentine's Day. Penny feels that all the efforts never meets the expectations. Penny sees a former boyfriend proposing to the girl that broke them up. Leonard again tries to propose and Penny stops him. That night Leonard tells Penny that she made a mess of the whole evening. Penny finally admits that she has commitment issues and the obvious path of their relationship ending in marriage scares her. Leonard then puts the responsibility of proposing on her and she should do it when she's ready. In the end, she does ask him to be her Valentine, to which he accepts. 
In "The Closure Alternative", Penny was concerned about the passion Leonard showed for science, comics and various television shows while she had no passion in her life. Her dreams had always been to become a famous movie star and live a glamorous life. Anything less than that she felt was settling. Her epiphany comes that she is passionate about her boyfriend Leonard and all her wonderful friends. 
In "The Bon Voyage Reaction", Leonard takes a job working on a Stephen Hawking expedition in the North Sea for four months over the summer. Penny will miss him but knows that it is a good opportunity and sends him off. At the airport, she is fussing over him like his wife sending him off on a business trip. She also has to watch Sheldon over the summer, too.
In "The Hofstadter Insufficiency", Leonard hurts Penny because he seems to be having such a great time on the ship; she thinks that he is not even missing her, however, she was touched to learn that he made Sheldon promise to take care of her while he was away. In "The Deception Verification", Leonard makes up for it by showing up early and hides in her apartment so that they can spend time together as a couple before telling the gang that he's back. It works until Amy and Sheldon find them together after they think that Penny is cheating on Leonard.
In "The Romance Resonance", Howard makes a romantic gesture to Bernadette by writing her a song. Leonard mentions that Penny never does anything like that, except for sex which doesn't count. Penny is determined to romance Leonard. Raj can only suggest that she cook for him or reenact a scene from a romantic movie.
Finally, after a candlelight dinner, Penny puts on some romantic music, spreads rose petals into her neatly cleaned the bedroom and present Leonard with the first edition of his favourite book from when he was growing up, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Unfortunately, Leonard had already purchased it after he had seen it in a secondhand bookstore with her. Penny gets upset telling him about all the thoughtful things he had done for her and shows him her collection. An aeroplane ticket to Nebraska so she could see her family, a rose given to her "just because", and the eleven-page letter he wrote her after the first time they slept together. Leonard was very touched that she kept all these things. He then kisses her, showing that Penny did do something romantic; it's also revealed that she kept the very first pregnancy test she used when they started having sex.
In "The Thanksgiving Decoupling", Penny reminisces about a Thanksgiving she had in Las Vegas with former boyfriend Zack Johnson which included one of those silly fake weddings. Penny appears devastated when her friends inform her that the wedding was real and she is married. This understandably causes a rift between the two as Penny and Leonard to argue about how quickly she should get her annulment so Penny invites Zack over to their Thanksgiving dinner at Howard's mother. Zack appears as dimwitted as ever telling them that breaking up can be hard on the kids which they don't have. Finally, Penny and Leonard makeup and she tells him that the next time she gets married it will be for real, for love and (jokingly) or for money and lovingly strokes his chin. 
In "The Hesitation Ramification" (S7E12), Penny is frustrated that she has nothing to show for herself after ten years in LA. Leonard points out that she does have him. A tipsy Penny then gets down on one knee and proposes. Leonard hesitates to answer her and she storms out. Leonard is worried that Penny is now going to break up with him. In the next episode "The Occupation Recalibration" (S7E13), Penny tells Leonard that he did the right thing since she was a mess that night and they do stay together.
In "The Table Polarization", the gang wants to add a dining room table to Apartment 4A which Sheldon objects to. Penny gets Leonard to pick out a dining set that she likes and gets Leonard to stand up more against Sheldon. Sheldon objects to Penny changing Leonard to go against him. Penny points out that Amy has changed Sheldon who agrees and then decides to break up with Amy.
In "The Friendship Turbulence" Penny's car breaks down and she is afraid she has to go back to work at The Cheesecake Factory. Leonard later pick's up Penny so she can get her old job back. She is not thrilled to go back since she left telling the bitches goodbye and that she'll see them at the Oscars. Leonard tries to make Penny feel better by lightening the mood; however, he is treading a thin line between her loving him because he's trying, and her hating him for making her feel worse. He opens the door of a strange car that Penny mentions is not his. He pulls out a key and tells her that he thought they would take her car revealing he's brought a new one for her. The car is nothing fancy, but she can use it to go to auditions and doesn't have to return to her old job. Penny is both shocked and touched; she hugs and kisses Leonard tightly.
In "The Proton Transmogrification" Penny asks Leonard to marry her to get their marriage proposal rejection score from 2 to 1 to even. She also gets upset when she is now getting all the Star Wars in-jokes during their Star Wars' Day celebration. She is slipped deeper into their geeky world.
In "The Gorilla Dissolution", Leonard and Penny get back in her apartment after getting fired from her movie. Penny wants to start making smarter decisions about her life. She says that they could get married and Leonard asks her to be serious. Leonard asks her if he is a smart decision, like choosing a healthy boring bran muffin. Penny doesn't care what pastry he is because she is CHOOSING HIM. Leonard wants to be a pastry like a strawberry Pop-Tart that she is excited about. Penny tells him to forget about it. Leonard does want to marry her but feels that she is just feeling sorry for herself because she was fired. Penny explains that it may seem that way, but getting fired made her think that fame and fortune are not what is going make her happy. Leonard wants to know what she needs. "You, you stupid Pop-Tart!" Leonard finally says that he guesses that he is in, which also bothers Penny.
Leonard then retorts that it is an excited "I guess I'm in" and they agree that they are engaged which seems somewhat anti-climactic. To change the mood, Leonard pulls a ring out of his wallet that he has had for a couple of years, gets down on one knee and asks Penny formally. Penny says "yes" and he slips the ring on her finger. She still has ape hair glued to it and they embrace happily. 
In "The Status Quo Combustion", Leonard and Penny announce their engagement; however, the gang is more excited about Raj and Emily hooking up. Leonard goes searching for the missing Sheldon and finds him at the railroad station leaving time to think about all the changes in his life. Leonard wants him to come home, but Penny convinces Leonard that he should let him go.
In "The First Pitch Insufficiency", they go on a double-date with Shamy where Sheldon is bragging about how their relationship is so much better than Lenny's. Shamy has an 8.2 out of ten for relationship stability based upon well-proven criteria. Leonard looks at it; however, Penny doesn't want to take the test. She already has his doubts and doesn't need them confirmed. They are engaged and still have very little in common which scares her. It also scares Leonard, but he still wants to face all their problems together. His reassurance really touches Penny and Amy who would like Sheldon to say things like that.
In "The Prom Equivalency", Amy and Bernadette throw a do-over prom on the roof of the apartment building. Penny is at first reluctant to attend the party because they always disappoint her, but Leonard tells her that he really wants to take the most beautiful girl to the prom, this time. She wears her old red prom dress. The roof is decorated wonderfully and Penny really gets into the mood. While others are still getting there, Penny and Leonard dance along without any music on the roof. First, they conclude that they probably would not have approached each other if they had been at the same prom. They are both definitely in a romantic mood, while Penny is also glad they aren't having the drama normally seen at proms.
In "The Space Probe Disintegration", Leonard tells Sheldon that his attitude is why he and Penny are not living together. After a tearful period thinking about them him moving out, Sheldon lets him go one night a week to stay at Penny's. Sheldon still sleeps on her couch that night.
In "The Commitment Determination", Sheldon keeps pushing them for a wedding date. The couple insists that they aren't in a hurry, are in a good place emotionally, and are concentrating on their careers. Thinking about the wedding details, they decide on a small church wedding dressed in black tie tuxes and no releasing of butterflies. Suddenly, Penny smiles and sits close to Leonard. She tells him that she's free that night. They could go to Vegas and just get married. Leonard agrees. Sheldon is happy for them, but still doesn't want them to sit in his spot. Driving to Vegas,
Penny is very happy and glad that they took their time to get to know each other so that there would be no surprises and no regrets. Leonard has one regret about a time when he was drunk and made out with a woman on his North Sea expedition. Penny is not happy but still wants to marry him. Last seen they were still heading to Vegas.
In "The Matrimonial Momentum", Leonard and Penny are at a wedding chapel and decide on their wedding package, which includes a live stream that allows their friends to watch from home. In the chapel, the minister asks Leonard and Penny if they had prepared vows. To Penny's surprise, Leonard has. He says that they are made from atoms that have travelled over 14 billion years to create them so they can come together as a couple and make each other whole, which overwhelms Penny. Penny sweetly says that he is the love of her life and her best friend and improvises, quoting the lyrics to 'You've Got a Friend in Me' from the Disney film "Toy Story". The minister asks if that was from "Toy Story." Penny says it was and informs him that she quoted the lyrics because he loves them. Leonard gets misty-eyed and confirms that he does.
Leonard and Penny are pronounced man and wife. Unfortunately, Stuart and Howard are the only ones remaining who catch it, due to Sheldon insulting Amy, causing her to finally break up with him, causing most of the group to leave. Leonard decides to carry Penny across the threshold into the suite, but huffs and puffs as he carries his wife into the hotel room. They kiss, but Penny still can't stop thinking about Mandy the girl on the boat. Leonard again insists that the kissing wasn't that great, especially since he also chipped her tooth. Penny wants to know if he feels guilty. Leonard jokingly says that he does not feel guilty because the girl had dental insurance. Leonard then adds that he does feel guilty when he sees her every day at work, freezing when he quickly realizes his mistake. Penny is shocked that he never told her this fact. Instead of spending the night in Vegas, they return back to their apartments.
In "The Separation Oscillation", Leonard confronts Mandy, his kissing buddy from the North Sea, about the incident and it doesn't seem to mean much to her. Leonard also realizes that he really was trying to sabotage the relationship. He went and talked with Penny and tells her. She too realizes she has been trying to sabotage their relationship. Leonard then confesses, "I've loved you from the moment we met and I will keep loving you until the end of time." Penny is very touched and tells him that that was the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to her. He follows with getting down on one knee and asks, "Penny, will you please stay married to me?" and she replies "Oh, damn it. You topped it." She and Leonard kiss and eventually reconcile. They then head into the bedroom to formalize their marriage. Later Sheldon gives them a wedding present - a trip to San Francisco for the three of them.
In "The 2003 Approximation", Leonard finally moves out of his apartment and eventually moves in with Penny into her apartment. The sleeping arrangements are still a little complicated. Even though they are living together in 4B, they sometimes sleep in 4A, in Leonard's old room. This is due to Penny having a change of heart at the last minute after feeling sorry for Sheldon who was having a hard time dealing with his breakup with Amy and Leonard moving out. In "The Helium Insufficiency" it is also apparent that Leonard is still maintaining an office in 4A.
In "The Valentino Submergence", Leonard and Penny go out to dinner for Valentine's Day and have to wait for an hour and suffer through an unsympathetic maitre d'. Penny decides to flirt with him, gets nowhere and is called "ma'am". She tries to get him to acknowledge that they are almost the same age; however, he is 21 and she is 31. Next, she drags Leonard out of the restaurant "while she is still young". After a fast food meal in the car, they look for something young and fun to do. The "Moulin Rouge" movie is too late, no skinny dipping or dancing either. They end up dressed as cupids breaking in on Sheldon's "Fun with Flags" programs yelling "Happy Valentine's Day" and that they are "young and fun".
In "The Positive Negative Reaction", they discuss having children. Although Penny says she is not in a rush, she's actually open-minded to the idea, and that someday they can
In "The Solder Excursion Diversion", Penny stops by when Leonard and Howard are working late on their guidance system prototype and she stays helping them make parts for it. She is very happy about getting to play a scientist. She and Bernadette are both furious when Raj tells them that they went to go see a movie and lied to them, but all is forgiven when they return with flowers, an apology, and the offer to pay for dinner.
In "The Big Bear Precipitation", while spending the weekend in a cabin, Penny learns that Leonard has been keeping a secret bank account for emergencies because he doesn't feel that Penny can handle money due to her large credit card debt. Penny, who makes more than him, admits that she does not like her job having to flirt to get her sales; however, she will keep at it because it is the responsible thing to do.
In "The Viewing Party Combustion", Leonard gets tired of the quarterly Roommate Agreement meetings where nothing important is ever discussed. Penny who has signed the latest on as an occupant of the apartment and wants to attend since she gets to lead them in the pledge. Leonard sulks about attending the meeting which makes Penny mad driving her and Sheldon over to her apartment breaking the gang into two separate camps. Leonard also points out the weird brother/sister relationship she and Sheldon have which Amy is also jealous of. Penny often takes Sheldon's side due to her sibling feelings for him.
In "The Line Substitution Solution", Penny attempts to bond with Leonard's mother, Beverly, only to discover that she, like everyone else, feels insulted about their spur-of-the-moment elopement. So, to make up for it, Penny suggests another ceremony so everyone can be involved. Later that night in "The Convergence-Convergence", she tells Leonard about the idea, he agrees, and it's official.
In "The Conjugal Conjecture"; the actual ceremony is officiated by Bernadette. Penny tells him how much she loves him and how glad they did elope. Leonard just tells her how much he loves her and that he can't believe she is with him. Also that he doesn't care if he knows why.
In "The Cohabitation Experimentation", Sheldon and Amy move into Penny's apartment for a five-week cohabitation experiment after Amy's apartment suffers a plumbing problem. The Hofstadter's are so excited about finally having a place of their own that they put on music (which Sheldon would never let them do) and have a private dance party in their underwear.
In "The Fetal Kick Catalyst", Penny is signing autographs for fans of the Serial Ape-ist movies where the fans think that she is a terrible actress and can't believe that the nerd Leonard is her husband. The fans sit around Leonard as he tells his story how he won the hot actress.
In "The Veracity Elasticity", Leonard learns from Howard that Penny has secretly been moving his collectables into storage. Although he's mad that she doesn't feel guilty about it, he does understand that she really hasn't been feeling comfortable like she belongs there. He allows her to redecorate their room any way she wants it. Upon seeing Penny's new design for the bedroom, he immediately hides some of her stuff in her old closet.
In "The Birthday Synchronicity", Bernadette has a false alarm trip to the hospital before she has her baby interrupting both Lenny and Shamy who are trying to have sex.
In "The Holiday Summation", the Hofstadter's cheerily head off to cut their first live Christmas tree and have a horrible experience. Leonard lets go of the axe sending it flying, the tree slips of the car roof while driving it home, Leonard collapses under the tree while carrying it up The Stairs and after getting it into the apartment, they find an animal lurking in the tree. It ends up being shoved down The Elevator shaft.
In ”The Romance Recalibration”, Penny feels that Leonard is no longer trying in their marriage; specifically he sits around in his underwear playing video games and never brings her flowers. Leonard thinks that he is the only one in their marriage that has ever worked at it. Leonard follows Penny to the spa that she took Amy instead of Leonard and they decide that they do have some challenges in their marriage. Reluctantly, both ask Sheldon to prepare them a Relationship Agreement like his and Amy's especially since he and Amy appear to be so happy living together.
In "The Emotion Detection Automation", Leonard and Penny have an argument over Randall coming to Pasadena, an argument where Leonard's friendly, reasonable and thinking-carefully personality goes the other way around.
In "The Escape Hatch Identification", Beverly thinks Leonard and Penny are trying to keep their "terrible" marriage intact since they took Raj in for a while and also asked Randall to live with them, which is not true since Leonard and Penny are okay in their marriage and are not looking for roommates, but are instead being generous to let someone they know quite well to live with them until they can get a house of their own.
In "The Cognition Regeneration" Leonard demonstrates some uncertainty when Penny is tentatively offered a job with her old boyfriend, Zack Johnson. The worry turns out to be moot when she isn't officially offered the job, because Zack's fiancée objected to him working with his old girlfriend.
In "The Proposal Proposal", Bernadette suggests that Leonard and Penny should have a baby in order to try and calm Howard and Bernadette's worries about having another baby so soon, but Leonard and Penny say that they're not gonna have a baby just to make Howard and Bernadette feel better, but when they are ready or when Leonard is certain Penny is going to leave him.
In "The Bitcoin Entanglement" (S11E09), Leonard and Penny visit Zack to reclaim Leonard's old laptop that Penny had given him years ago. Zack also shows them an old video a drunk Penny made after she broke up with Leonard seven years before. She did love him but was scared of a permanent commitment.
In "The Conjugal Configuration", Larry Fowler is hiding out in Sheldon and Amy's apartment. Mrs Fowler comes over demanding that her husband return. He decided to take a break from their marriage. His wife comes over to talk things over with Penny and decides that she is a good person and they should become friends. Penny marches over to 4B and demands that Larry goes home. Penny gets mad at Leonard when he compares their relationship to the bickering Fowlers.
In "The Procreation Calculation", Penny declares that she doesn't want to have children because their life is so great as it is. Leonard then declares that that is one thing on his bucket list that he'll never do like when he wanted to own a batmobile. In the end, Penny does rent him a batmobile for the day.
In "The Imitation Perturbation", Leonard reminds Penny of their first kiss on the couch during her Halloween party as they host one for the gang. Penny can't remember it until she admits that she does, but she was drunk and mad at Kurt. She would rather remember their first official kiss like the one at Leonard's birthday party where she gave it freely. Leonard agrees that that will be their first official kiss.
In "The Grant Allocation Derivation", he has to distribute some excess grant money which he takes very seriously. Penny finds that very sexy until Leonard can't decide between the last three.
In "The Propagation Proposition", Zack and his new wife Marissa want to have a baby, but Zack is infertile. They decide to ask Leonard to help them out since he thinks he's nice and smart. Leonard said yes and wanted to help them out. Penny was against it and then said that he could do it since she had decided to not have any children. Leonard at first was willing to help them out until he decided he didn't want a child in the world that he and Penny weren't going to raise.
In "The Stockholm Syndrome", Leonard and Penny are keeping a secret that she is expecting. When Penny returned from drinking with Sheldon at The Cheesecake Factory, they hopped into bed without "wrapping" something. Penny seems happy but is unsure about the whole baby thing. Sheldon and Amy pay for their clothes, ticket and hotels so they can all attend the Nobel Prize ceremony. When Amy and Penny were at the tailor's, Amy was ecstatic when Penny's dress had to be let out, she didn't care why which meant the secret was still safe at the time. Sheldon notices that Penny was quite sick on the plane, so the secret comes out and he is glad he won't get sick. Leonard is mad that Sheldon doesn't congratulate them and the Hofstadter's say they are heading home.
Penny is very sick and claims that she has to be there for Amy, with Leonard doing the same for Sheldon. At the ceremony, Sheldon puts aside his self-centred speech and realizes that his achievement isn't just his, but also his family and friends who encouraged him and tolerated him. Sheldon introduces his friends to the world and tells him how much he loves them.
==Trivia==
*Penny was 21 years old at the beginning of the show, which means she is the youngest of the gang.
*In real life, Cuoco is the youngest of the group, and approximately 13 years younger than Jim Parsons, who is the oldest of the group.
*Penny has been seen naked by three of the boys, Leonard, Sheldon and Raj in the series. Howard is the only person who never sees her naked.
**Leonard had relations with her multiple times in season 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. (Only one time in season 5). Leonard eventually became the only one to see Penny naked due to marrying her.
**Sheldon peeked at her while trying to help her get dressed due to her injured shoulder in "The Adhesive Duck Deficiency".
**Raj and Penny got undressed and had a one night stand in "The Roommate Transmogrification" (though it was revealed in the episode after that they never had intercourse at all).
*In "The Robotic Manipulation", Sheldon calculates that Penny dated an estimate of 193 (±8) men and had relations with approximately 31 of them.
*Penny grew up on a farm and rebuilt an entire tractor engine all by herself at the age of twelve.
*Penny was a junior rodeo champion.
*Penny is the only member of the main set of characters whose last name was never been spoken or revealed, even though Bill Prady claimed it eventually would be.
*In "Pilot," Penny claims to be a vegetarian but will eat fish and the occasional steak.
**Her beliefs in psychics, ghosts, astrology, voodoo, and other 'superstitions' (but not healing crystals) may be a reference to Kaley Cuoco's time on Charmed.
*Penny eats Chinese food with a fork and double-dips her egg rolls (unappealing attributes, according to Sheldon).
*Penny is often kindhearted and shows empathy toward others, but can become quite fierce when provoked. 
*Penny is very supportive and protective of Leonard and urges him to stand up for himself.
*When under pain medication, Penny exhibits some of Sheldon's behaviours.
*Penny has an amazing sense of smell.
*Penny went to community college but dropped out for unspecified reasons. She goes back near the beginning of the sixth season, taking one history course. By the middle of the season, she is also taking an acting class, and at the beginning of season 7, she is taking a psychology class as well.
*A running gag of the show involves Sheldon knocking on Penny's door and saying her name after every three knocks. He repeats this statement thrice or until she answers the door.
**This stemmed from Sheldon catching his father having an affair as revealed in "The Hot Tub Contamination".
*Penny often resorts to freeloading. When Sheldon's mom pointed out her disapproval of a top (shirt) belonging to Penny, she said that she had received free drinks by wearing that top. It is also known that, while she was dating Leonard, she never paid for her movie tickets. She also gets free meals from hanging with the guys since her portions were always paid by Leonard; she said they were loans, but she knew Leonard would not ask her to pay it back. She also gets free internet by using Sheldon and Leonard's wi-fi—leading Sheldon to regularly change the password to ones which accuse her of freeloading.
*Penny was a bully in high school, making fun of a girl with a stutter and taping another girl up and leaving her out in a cornfield until the next morning; she (along with the entire Zangen staff) would later become subjected to Bernadette's bullying ways. Being friends with Bernadette and Amy was her redemption for her mean girl ways. Even marrying Leonard was also part of her redemption. She even apologized to the girl she bullied in high school. It's never confirmed if the girl (now woman) accepted it on the phone.
*Penny is remarkably adept at games in general, excelling at Halo, Age of Conan, and chess, checkmating Leonard on her first try (though the latter may have been because, as Sheldon has pointed out, Leonard is terrible at chess).
*Penny owns a red 1980s Volkswagen Cabriolet Mk1 convertible car. Featured in several episodes, the car appears to be in a bad condition, which is not helped by Penny, who pays no heed to the warning lights of the car. While sitting in her car, Sheldon will continuously remind her that the 'check engine' warning light is on, an action that irritates Penny tremendously. Penny is a very bad driver: in "The Guitarist Amplification", a point of argument between Penny and Leonard is when Penny finds out that Leonard complains about her driving behind her back. Later in the episode, she runs a stop sign without even noticing it, and then, when Leonard mentions it, she looks back to find it, and Leonard, panicking, shouts "EYES ON THE ROAD, EYES ON THE ROAD!" She had gotten a car from Leonard in "The Friendship Turbulence" when her car broke down and she could not afford to fix it.
*When Penny is shocked, she bats her eyelashes several times while considering a reaction.
*Over the course of the series, Penny has exhibited traits of alcoholism. She is often seen drinking wine or other harder beverages while in her apartment, both alone and in the presence of her friends. She often seems to use wine as a means to deal with her issues. She will many times use this method on her friends as well to help them deal with their problems, most notably when she realized alcoholic drinks are able to help Raj overcome his selective mutism or to help Sheldon overcome his stage fright. 
*She often says "OMG" or "Oh My God" when shocked, to the annoyance of Sheldon. 
*Despite Amy's admiration for Penny, she does realize her limitations in her intelligence and her acting career.
*In "The Scavenger Vortex", no one wanted Penny on their team because she was a "liability".
*Penny was unknowingly married to Zack Johnson, as a result of her not believing in Las Vegas weddings being real.
*Though Wyatt (Penny's father) has been featured in the show, "The Maternal Capacitance" references the name of Penny's father to be called "Bob".
*In the count of the number of proposals to each other, Penny has three, Leonard has three through the time they got engaged. 
*Penny makes what she thinks is a smart decision and tells Leonard that they could get married. Penny also proposes for them to elope to Vegas when they can't get around to setting a wedding date.
*Leonard had prepared vows for their wedding ceremony; however, Penny winged it with "You've Got a Friend in Me".
*Penny owned a pet pig called Moondance which lived happily on the farm in Nebraska until Wyatt drove a tractor and rotavator over it.
*Penny was one of the gangs that married Howard and Bernadette, while Bernadette married Leonard and Penny at their wedding redo ceremony.
*There has been no mention or showing of Penny's college education since "The Relationship Diremption". It's also unclear if she ever finished at all after re-enrolling in Season 6.
*In "The Platonic Permutation", Leonard read Penny's journal and revealed everything in it that he learned about her:
**Penny's birthday is December 2.
**When Penny was growing up she had a dog named Pepper.
**The street that Penny's family house and the farm was on was Perkins Street.
**The last four digits of Penny's Social Security Number are 7, 6, 2, 1.
**Penny's favourite Spice Girl was Baby Spice.
**Penny's favourite *NSYNC band member was Justin.
**Penny did not have a favourite member of the Backstreet Boys because she loved *NSYNC.
*Sheldon is afraid to wake her before 11 a.m. because Penny has an "I'll punch you in the throat" rule if he does this.
*Penny is right-handed.
*Penny is a vegetarian, except for fish and the occasional steak, and she loves steak.
*Penny loves the series "Sex and the City".
*Penny is so far the only main character yet to have her middle name, or her maiden name (her last name before she married Leonard) revealed.
*Penny is the only one of the original five main characters of the show to be absent in an episode; two in fact due to a real broken leg.
*She has a tattoo of Cookie Monster.
*In "The Procreation Calculation", Penny decided not to have kids and Leonard is upset at first, but respect her wishes. They both decide to be the cool uncle and aunt to Howard and Bernadette kids, Sheldon and Amy's kids, Penny's nephew and Leonard's nephews and nieces.
**By the series finale, Penny ends up pregnant with Leonard's child.
*While it has been sometimes said that Leonard and Penny have nothing in common, this is not totally true. There actually are several things they have in common which have rarely or never been mentioned.
**They each have one brother and one sister.
**They are the second-born child of their respective parents (possibly).
**They had issues with the opposite-gender parent while growing up.
**They are the love of each other's life
**Their careers are in some ways similar. While Leonard is a smart, brilliant and successful scientist and physicist and well-educated and accomplished academic, his work in experimental physics somehow appear to mirror Penny's average education status and her pharmaceutical sales career in which she has often had to flirt with doctors to make sales. This makes it similar due to Leonard's work being sometimes derivative and his friends having more accomplishments, as well as him being the least successful of his family.
*Leonard and Penny love each other and even though they say they have nothing in common, both do get into the interests of the other whether it is their careers or their hobbies.
== External Links ==
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==Quotes==
Leonard buys Penny a new car:
Leonard: Come on, don’t look so sad. You never know what’s gonna happen. Maybe tonight will be great.
Penny: Sweetie, I know you’re trying to make me feel better, and I love you for that, but it’s making me feel worse, and I kind of hate you.
(Leonard opens the door to a random car parked by the building)
Penny: This isn't your car.
Leonard: I know. (pulls out a key) I thought we’d take yours.
Penny: I don’t understand.
Leonard: It’s nothing fancy but it’ll get you to auditions and at least for now you don’t have to go back to waitressing.
Penny: (feels very touched) I don’t know what to say.
Leonard: Don’t say anything.
Penny: Oh my God. (hugs Leonard)
Leonard: I mean you could say thank you, I did just buy you a car.
(She kisses and then hugs Leonard tightly)
The Engagement:
Penny: Oh, my God. What a day.
Leonard: Can I get you anything?
Penny: No. I need to start making some smart decisions.
Leonard: With your career?
Penny: With my life.
Leonard: Like what?
Penny: I don’t know. We could get married.
Leonard: Come on, be serious.
Penny: I am.
Leonard: Why? Because I’m a, a smart decision?
Penny: Well, yeah.
Leonard: So I’m like a bran muffin.
Penny: What? No, that’s not what I’m saying.
Leonard: No, it’s exactly what you’re saying. I’m the boring thing you’re choosing because I’m good for you.
Penny: What does it matter? The point is, I’m choosing you.
Leonard: Well, it matters a lot. I don’t want to be a bran muffin. I, I want to be a Cinnabon, you know? A strawberry Pop-Tart. Something you’re excited about even though it could give you diabetes.
Penny: Sweetie, you can be any pastry you want.
Leonard: No, no. No, it’s too late. I’m your bran muffin. Probably fat-free and good for your colon.
Penny: You know what? Forget it. I never should’ve brought it up.
Leonard: You know I want to marry you, but you’re only doing this because you got fired and you’re feeling sorry for yourself.
Penny: Okay, it may look that way, but getting fired from that movie was the best thing that could have happened to me, okay? I finally realize I don’t need to be famous or have some big career to be happy.
Leonard: Then what do you need?
Penny: YOU, you stupid Pop-Tart!
Leonard: Oh. Then I guess I’m in.
Penny: Really? You guess you’re in?
Leonard: Not like, I guess I’m in. Like I guess, I’m in!
Penny: Okay.
Leonard: Cool.
Leonard: So is that it? Are, are we engaged?
Penny: Yeah, I think so.
Leonard: All right.
Penny: What’s wrong?
Leonard: I’m not sure. Just feels a little anticlimactic.
Penny: Yeah, it kind of does, huh?
Leonard: Oh, I know. This might help.
Penny: Where did you get a ring?
Leonard: I’ve had it for a couple years, not important. Penny, will you marry me?
Penny: Oh, my God, yes.Leonard: This would have been so much more romantic if you didn’t have monkey hair on your finger.
(They kiss and hug each other tightly)
Leonard reaffirming his commitment to Penny:
Leonard: I don’t care if we’re a ten or a two.
Sheldon: Or a one. A one is possible.
Leonard: Marriage is scary. You’re scared. I’m scared. But it doesn't make me not want to do it. It just makes me want to hold your hand and do it with you.
Penny:( Deeply moved) Leonard…
Amy: (Staring in awe) It would make me so happy if you would say things like that.
Sheldon: We just got an 8.2. Trust me, you're happy.
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