The introduction of Howard’s tall and innocent-seeming romantic interest quickly revealed her to be short-tempered and extremely passive-aggressive, much to the fans’ dismay.
Ironically, she was initially only meant to make a temporary guest appearance, but was eventually retained as a full-fledged character in the series.
Interestingly, fans’ hatred of Bernadette has nothing to do with the actress and much more to do with the character’s development throughout the show.
In fact, many support actress Melissa Rauch and her role on the show, but feel that the show’s writing fails both the character and itself.
Comparing the character from her introduction in the series to how she was presented at the end of the show, Bernadette went from being a lovable and caring person to someone who often seemed shrill, selfish, arrogant and rude.
What’s more, though, fans agree that their relationship helped mature Howard from a creepy womanizer to a dedicated friend and father. The worst aspects of Bernadette’s personality were reinforced after the couple married in the series.
Not long after, Howard’s mother’s character (as well as the talented Carol Ann Susi who played her) died on the show.
From that point on, Bernadette seemed to take on the role of the nagging, irritating presence in Howard’s life. Making the audience feel much less favorable to a character that was once so likable.
In an interview about The Jennifer Hudson ShowRauch revealed that when her character of Bernadette was introduced to the series, she was only meant to make a cameo appearance.
But after producers saw the potential in the character, Rauch was asked to return for a few more episodes and eventually signed on as a main cast member for good.
Rauch is clearly grateful for her time on Big Bang, as she recalls that just the week before she landed the role, she was at the unemployment office due to a lack of work.
Due to the great success of the series, it was reported that the main cast would continue to earn $1 million per episode each.
It’s unfortunate that Rauch was so hard done by the show’s writing, as fans were clearly very supportive of Bernadette when she was introduced.
If only the show had stuck to the character’s original temperament, she probably never would have topped the most hated character list of TBBT.