Big Bang Theory "Cheesecake Factory" Dressings Inaccurate

There are many fun television sitcoms which have come out in recent years. While it takes a special magic for a Cheers, Seinfeld, or Friends, the fact remains that there are several good, solid sitcoms divulged to us in half hour spurts throughout the week. One of my favorites in recent years has been The Big Bang Theory. I think it's funny that the renegade, dangerous kid (Johnny Galecki) who kissed Darlene (Sara Gilbert) on Rosanne is the same nerdy kid on Big Bang Theory who gets the hot girl in the show, Penny (Kaley Cuoco). Not that Sara Gilbert was particularly hot, but, you know, at the time I was young and she had a certain laissez-faire, tomboyish recklessness about her. And she was always butting heads with mom, which I could relate to.

Another thing we enjoy about The Big Bang Theory is it's "location." The three main characters live and Penny works in Pasadena. Penny is, of course, an aspiring actress (who isn't in television sitcoms?) but she also happens to keep her day job at The Cheesecake Factory. For those who have never been, The Cheesecake Factory has a very specific look. Very dark, lots of glass, and highly stylized. And Penny lives in Pasadena. One would have to assume that Penny works at the only Cheesecake Factory in Pasadena; on Colorado Boulevard. My wife works in Pasadena, a few short doors down from this very Cheesecake Factory. While we've never dined in this particular Cheesecake Factory, we have both driven by it, walked by it, looked inside of it, and we know the program; it is the same as the other Cheesecake Factory locations that we have been to; very dark, very stylized, and very distinct.

So it was with some chagrin the other day that Penny and a co-worker, who happened to be dating one of the other main characters in the show, were dishing the dirt on the clock. They were both walking around a "dining room" and were both dressed in their waitress uniforms. There were people sitting at tables eating food. That was about the only similarities between both of our experience with the Cheesecake Factory and what we saw on the screen before us.

We were both aghast at the horrible representation. There was ugly wallpaper, way too much light, cheap looking tables, a drum set and a large amp (which were not justified in the episode ever), and the waitresses were wearing these hideous yellow aprons. I understand that all television is shot in the same few rooms; my wife has been on set and has debunked many misconceptions I had; but really? Wouldn't the Cheesecake Factory want to lend out their space for a couple of hours to be shot in for an episode of this television show? Other shows (with bigger budgets?) do that. And I worked in restaurants; I know that there are lulls in the day when all the company could afford to close down a shop for a few hours so that they are represented well in this show.

While it is just a half hour comedy and it is probably something that most people simply take for granted, the Big Bang Theory and producer and creator Chuck Lorre really need to up their game so that they give good representation to The Cheesecake Factory and other real places!