The Hawking Excitation

Last updated

"The Hawking Excitation"
The Big Bang Theory episode
Episode no.Season 5
Episode 21
Directed by Mark Cendrowski
Story by Bill Prady,
Steven Molaro &
Steve Holland
Teleplay by Chuck Lorre,
Eric Kaplan &
Maria Ferrari
Production code3X6871 [1]
Original air dateApril 5, 2012 (2012-04-05)
Running time20 minutes
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"The Transporter Malfunction"		Next →
"The Stag Convergence"
The Big Bang Theory season 5
List of episodes

"The Hawking Excitation" is the 21st episode of the fifth season of The Big Bang Theory that first aired on CBS on April 5, 2012. [1] It is the 108th episode overall. After learning that Stephen Hawking is coming to lecture at Caltech, Howard (Simon Helberg) is hired to maintain his wheelchair equipment. When Sheldon (Jim Parsons) discovers this, he is desperate to meet Hawking. Howard says he can, but only if he completes a humiliating series of tasks.

Contents

The final scene of the episode features a cameo appearance by cosmologist Stephen Hawking, the third high-profile guest star in season 5. The episode had 13.29 million viewers in America and garnered mixed reviews.

Plot

Raj (Kunal Nayyar) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki) are at lunch with Howard when he gets an e-mail from Stephen Hawking's office; Hawking is coming to lecture at Caltech and needs an engineer to help maintain his wheelchair. Sheldon is a big fan of Hawking, so Howard considers bringing Sheldon along to meet him. Sheldon then arrives and says that he has revolutionized understanding of the Higgs boson particle; he explains it to Raj and Leonard but ignores Howard, thinking he wouldn't understand.

Howard, feeling insulted, refuses to introduce Sheldon to Hawking, even after Sheldon pleads. The next day, Howard talks about his work with Hawking to frustrate Sheldon. After Sheldon begs, Howard agrees to give Sheldon's paper on the Higgs boson to Hawking on the condition that Sheldon performs several tasks for him.

The first task is to polish Howard's belt buckles. Howard tends to stand too close to the urinal and urine often splashes back onto the buckles. Sheldon is given a black light and several dozen belt buckles to clean. Sheldon performs the task flawlessly. For his second task, Sheldon is forced to wear a French maid costume, that Howard originally bought for his girlfriend Bernadette (Melissa Rauch), in the cafeteria at Caltech. Everyone laughs at him, enjoying his embarrassment.

When Penny (Kaley Cuoco) goes to do her laundry, she finds Sheldon washing Howard's panties. Sheldon explains that he is being punished for being, according to Howard, a "condescending jerk", and asks Penny if she thinks he is condescending. Penny agrees with Howard.

Howard shows Bernadette a picture of Sheldon wearing the French maid costume. She thinks Howard is being too cruel and says that Sheldon is unaware of how mean he is. Howard agrees to stop making Sheldon perform tasks. Howard's mother interrupts to remind Bernadette that they made plans to go dress shopping; Bernadette says that she cannot make it, but that Sheldon will accompany her instead. Sheldon is forced to go shopping with Mrs. Wolowitz.

Sheldon's final task is to give Howard a compliment about his work: he says that Howard is good at his job, although Sheldon does not consider his work to be "worth doing". Howard reveals that he gave Hawking the paper three days ago. Sheldon finally gets to meet Hawking in person. When they meet, Hawking points out an arithmetic error in Sheldon's paper that makes the whole paper incorrect, causing Sheldon to faint.

Production

Professor Stephen Hawking appears at the end of the episode. Stephen Hawking 050506.jpg
Professor Stephen Hawking appears at the end of the episode.
Bill Prady Twitter
@billprady

On my way to shoot a scene with a super-secret, super-cool guest star for episode 521.

9 Mar 2012 [2]

Stephen Hawking has been mentioned several times on the show, [3] [4] including in the Pilot. [5] Hawking has appeared on comedy television shows previously: he did the voice-over for cartoon versions of himself in Futurama , [6] [7] and in four episodes of The Simpsons . [8] [9] [10] [11]

On March 9, 2012, Bill Prady announced that a "super-secret, super-cool guest star" would appear on the show. [12] [13] On March 12, 2012, CBS announced that Hawking would be guest starring on the show on April 5. [14] [15] Photos of Hawking's appearance were published by The Hollywood Reporter on April 2. [16]

Hawking had been asked to appear on the show previously but was too ill to do so. [17] Bill Prady stated that Stephen Hawking was always their "dream guest star" for the show, [16] [18] but that Hawking appearing was "a long shot of astronomical proportions". [16] Hawking was a fan of The Big Bang Theory and requested to watch a rehearsal of the episode after filming his scene. Simon Helberg, who plays Howard, does an impression of Hawking's voice in the episode; he felt slightly uncomfortable mimicking Hawking, but Hawking seemed to enjoy the impression. [19]

Hawking is the third high-profile guest star to appear in season 5, [16] after Mike Massimino [20] and Leonard Nimoy. [21] Hawking later appeared in the season 6 episode "The Extract Obliteration", the season 7 episode "The Relationship Diremption" and the season 8 episode "The Troll Manifestation", but in these episodes only his voice is heard. Hawking was shown in a pre-recorded video segment at the Big Bang Theory panel at Comic-Con 2013. He apologized for not being there in person and sang the show's theme tune. [22]

Following "The Hawking Excitation", there was a three-week break before the next episode, "The Stag Convergence", aired. [23] [24]

Reception

Ratings

On the night of its first broadcast on CBS on April 5, 2012, the episode was watched by 13.29 million U.S. households [25] and received a Nielsen rating of 4.2/14 among viewers aged between 18 and 49 (meaning that 4.2% of 18–49 years olds watched the episode). [26] It aired at 8 p.m. alongside American Idol on Fox, Missing on ABC, NBC's Community and a repeat episode of The Vampire Diaries on The CW. The episode was the third most watched program that night, and second most watched on CBS. [25]

In Canada, the episode received 3.18 million viewers, making it the most watched episode that week. [27] In the UK, the episode aired on May 17, 2012 and 1.83 million households watched it on E4. It garnered 0.34 million viewers on E4 +1, so was watched by 2.17 million viewers overall. On E4, it was the most watched show that week while on E4 +1, it ranked third. [28] In Australia, the episode aired on April 24, 2013 and had 1.87 million viewers. It was the second most watched show on television that night. [29]

Reviews

Overall, the episode received mixed reviews. Carla Day from TV Fanatic gave the episode a very positive review, describing it as "Possibly, the best episode. Ever." and giving it the maximum possible editor rating (5.0). [30] Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B−. Sava complimented Hawking's line, "it was quite a boner", calling it "the big pay-off of the story" and enjoyed the scene with Bernadette. However, Sava also said the "personal slave" storyline was a "classic sitcom plot" and noted that it was "the second episode in a row with no Amy". [24]

R. L. Shaffer of IGN rated it 7.5 out of 10 and wrote that the episode "played like filler" but was "a very good filler episode". Shaffer described the final scene with Hawking as "fun" and "effective", although claimed some of the subplots "were only so-so". [31] Robin Pierson of The TV Critic rated the episode 36 out of 100, stating that "the craft has gone from the stories and jokes in favour of the most basic stories and punch lines." Pierson thought Helberg "did a nice job showing vulnerability" as Howard, but that the episode overall was "one utterly predictable, unimaginative joke after another." [32]

Simon Helberg complimented Stephen Hawking on his comedic timing via Twitter. [33] The Huffington Post said that "none of [Hawking's guest appearances] felt quite as right as when he appeared as himself on "The Big Bang Theory"." [33]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Helberg</span> American actor, comedian (b. 1980)

Simon Maxwell Helberg is an American actor and comedian. He is known for playing Howard Wolowitz in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019) and Young Sheldon (2021), for which he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, and as Cosmé McMoon in the film Florence Foster Jenkins (2016), for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture.

<i>The Big Bang Theory</i> American television sitcom (2007–2019)

The Big Bang Theory is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers and head writers on the series, along with Steven Molaro. It aired on CBS from September 24, 2007, to May 16, 2019, running for 12 seasons and 279 episodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheldon Cooper</span> Fictional character in The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon

Sheldon Lee Cooper, Ph.D., Sc.D., is a fictional character in the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory and its spinoff series Young Sheldon, portrayed by actors Jim Parsons and Iain Armitage respectively. For his portrayal, Parsons won four Primetime Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a TCA Award, and two Critics' Choice Television Awards. The character's childhood is the focus of Young Sheldon, in which he grows up in East Texas with his family Missy Cooper, George Cooper Sr., George Cooper Jr., Mary Cooper and his MeeMaw as a child prodigy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Wolowitz</span> Fictional character on the television series The Big Bang Theory

Howard Joel Wolowitz is a fictional character on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Simon Helberg. Among the four main male characters in the show, Howard is distinctive for being an engineer—rather than a physicist—and lacking a PhD. He is named after and based on a computer programmer known by the show's co-creator; Bill Prady. Howard is the only starring character who has been to the International Space Station. Along with Sheldon Cooper, Leonard Hofstadter, and Raj Koothrappali, Howard is part of the central cast of the show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raj Koothrappali</span> Fictional character on the television series The Big Bang Theory

Rajesh "Raj" Ramayan Koothrappali, Ph.D. is a fictional character on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by Indian actor Kunal Nayyar. He is one of four main male characters in the show, alongside Howard Wolowitz, Sheldon Cooper, and Leonard Hofstadter, to appear in every episode of The Big Bang Theory. Raj is based on a computer programmer that the show's co-creator, Bill Prady, knew when he was a programmer.

"The Terminator Decoupling" is an episode of the American comedy television series The Big Bang Theory. It first aired on CBS in the United States on March 9, 2009. It is the seventeenth episode of the second season of the series and the thirty-fourth episode overall. The episode features guest appearances by actress Summer Glau and cosmologist George Smoot.

<i>The Big Bang Theory</i> season 5 Season of television series

The fifth season of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory aired on CBS from September 22, 2011 to May 10, 2012. The season includes the 100th episode of the series.

"The Stag Convergence" is the 22nd episode of the fifth season of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory. The episode premiered on April 26, 2012, on CBS. In it, the main characters go to the bachelor party to celebrate Howard and Bernadette's upcoming marriage. At the party, a drunk Raj reveals some information about Howard's past sexual encounters. When Bernadette picks them up from the party, Howard and Rajesh find out that Bernadette learned about Howard's sexual history from a video posted on the internet.

"The Beta Test Initiation" is the fourteenth episode of the fifth season of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. The episode premiered on January 26, 2012 on CBS.

"The Countdown Reflection" is the 24th and final episode of the fifth season of The Big Bang Theory. It first aired on CBS on May 10, 2012. It is the 111th episode overall. In the episode, featuring astronaut Mike Massimino, Howard and Bernadette get married before Howard goes to space. "The Countdown Reflection" received 13.72 million views in the U.S. and garnered mostly positive reviews.

"The Fish Guts Displacement" is the tenth episode of the sixth season of the American comedy television series The Big Bang Theory. The episode was originally aired on the CBS television network on December 6, 2012. The story was created by Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady, and Tara Hernandez, and turned into a teleplay by Steven Molaro, Jim Reynolds, and Eric Kaplan. Mark Cendrowski directed the episode.

"The Hot Troll Deviation" is the fourth episode of the fourth season of the US sitcom The Big Bang Theory and the 67th episode of the show overall. It first aired on CBS on October 14, 2010. In the episode, Howard and Bernadette go on a date following their breakup a few months prior. Sheldon and Raj engage in a series of "tit for tat" exchanges when working together. The title refers to Howard's virtual affair with a troll on World of Warcraft.

"The Russian Rocket Reaction" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of The Big Bang Theory and the 92nd episode overall. It first aired on CBS on October 13, 2011.

"The Good Guy Fluctuation" is the seventh episode of the fifth season of the US sitcom The Big Bang Theory and the 94th episode of the show overall. It first aired on CBS on October 27, 2011.

"The Locomotion Interruption" is the first episode of the eighth season of The Big Bang Theory, which first aired on CBS on September 22, 2014. It is the 160th episode overall. In "The Locomotion Interruption", Sheldon returns to Pasadena, Penny has a job interview for a pharmaceutical sales position, and Stuart living with Howard's mother begins to make Howard uncomfortable.

"The Shiny Trinket Maneuver" is the 12th episode of the fifth season of the US sitcom The Big Bang Theory and the 99th episode of the show overall. It first aired on CBS on January 12, 2012.

"The Werewolf Transformation" is the 18th episode of the fifth season of the U.S. sitcom The Big Bang Theory and the 105th episode of the show overall. It first aired on CBS on February 23, 2012.

"The Proposal Proposal" is the first episode of the eleventh season, and 232nd episode overall of The Big Bang Theory. It first aired on CBS on September 25, 2017.

"The Stockholm Syndrome" is the series finale of the American television sitcom The Big Bang Theory. It is the twenty-fourth episode of the twelfth season and the 279th overall episode of the series. Written by series co-creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, Steve Holland, Steven Molaro, Dave Goetsch, Eric Kaplan, Maria Ferrari, Andy Gordon, Anthony Del Broccolo, Tara Hernandez, Jeremy Howe and Adam Faberman and directed by Mark Cendrowski, the episode originally aired on CBS on May 16, 2019. The episode was watched by 24.75 million total viewers and garnered positive reviews.

References

  1. 1 2 "Listings - Big Bang Theory, The on CBS". TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  2. ↑ Bill Prady [@billprady] (March 9, 2012). "On my way to shoot a scene with a super-secret, super-cool guest star for episode 521" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ↑ "The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis". The Big Bang Theory. Season 2. Episode 11. December 15, 2008. ...He does this hysterical impersonation of Stephen Hawking having phone sex.
  4. ↑ "The Agreement Dissection". The Big Bang Theory. Season 4. Episode 21. April 28, 2011. ...This is the most delightfully cruel thing we've done to Sheldon since we left that fake message from Stephen Hawking on his voice mail.
  5. ↑ "Pilot". The Big Bang Theory. Season 1. Episode 1. September 24, 2007. ...It's a Stephen Hawking lecture from MIT in 1974.
  6. ↑ "Anthology of Interest I". Futurama. Season 2. Episode 16. May 21, 2000.
  7. ↑ "The Beast with a Billion Backs". Futurama. June 24, 2008.
  8. ↑ "They Saved Lisa's Brain". The Simpsons. Season 10. Episode 22. May 9, 1999.
  9. ↑ "Don't Fear the Roofer". The Simpsons. Season 16. Episode 16. May 1, 2005.
  10. ↑ "Stop, or My Dog Will Shoot". The Simpsons. Season 18. Episode 20. May 13, 2007.
  11. ↑ "Elementary School Musical". The Simpsons. Season 22. Episode 1. September 26, 2010.
  12. ↑ Prady, Bill (March 9, 2012). "Bill Prady". Twitter. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  13. ↑ Oldenburg, Ann (March 12, 2012). "Stephen Hawking films 'Big Bang Theory' episode". KSDK . Retrieved July 6, 2014.[ permanent dead link ]
  14. ↑ Kenneally, Tim (March 12, 2012). "'Big Bang Theory' Brings Stephen Hawking on as Guest Host". The Wrap . Archived from the original on July 5, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  15. ↑ Hinckley, David (March 12, 2012). "Stephen Hawking to appear on 'Big Bang Theory'". Daily News . Archived from the original on April 17, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Goldberg, Lesley (April 2, 2012). "'The Big Bang Theory's' Sheldon Meets His Idol: Stephen Hawking (Photos)". The Hollywood Reporter . Lynne Segall. Archived from the original on October 24, 2014. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Professor Stephen Hawking films Big Bang Theory cameo". BBC News . March 12, 2012. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  18. ↑ Potter, Ned (April 6, 2012). "Stephen Hawking Makes a Big Bang". ABC News . Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  19. ↑ "When Simon Helberg Met Stephen Hawking - CONAN on TBS". Conan highlight uploaded to YouTube. April 24, 2012. Archived from the original on June 16, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  20. ↑ "The Friendship Contraction". The Big Bang Theory. Season 5. Episode 15. February 2, 2012.
  21. ↑ "The Transporter Malfunction". The Big Bang Theory. Season 5. Episode 20. March 29, 2012.
  22. ↑ Robinson, Melia (July 22, 2013). "Stephen Hawking Narrates 'The Big Bang Theory' Theme Song". Business Insider . Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Listings – BIG BANG THEORY, THE on CBS". The Futon Critic. April 26, 2012. Archived from the original on February 5, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  24. 1 2 Sava, Oliver (April 5, 2012). "The Big Bang Theory: "The Hawking Excitation"". The A.V. Club . Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  25. 1 2 Bibel, Sara (April 6, 2012). "Thursday Final Ratings: 'Big Bang Theory', 'American Idol', 'Person of Interest', 'Missing', 'Up All Night' Adjusted Up; 'Scandal' Adjusted Down". Archived from the original on April 8, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
  26. ↑ Seidman, Robert (April 6, 2012). "TV Ratings Thursday". TVbytheNumbers. Archived from the original on April 8, 2012. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  27. ↑ "Top Programs – Total Canada (English) April 2 – April 8, 2012" (PDF). bbm.ca. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 17, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  28. ↑ BARB Archived 2013-01-13 at archive.today
  29. ↑ Knox, David (April 25, 2012). "Tuesday 24 April 2012". TV Tonight . Archived from the original on April 27, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2012.
  30. ↑ "The Big Bang Theory Review: Oh, Gosh, Golly, I Made a Boo-Boo". TV Fanatic. April 6, 2012. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  31. ↑ Shaffer, R. L. (April 5, 2012). "The Big Bang Theory: "The Hawking Excitation" Review". IGN . Archived from the original on April 15, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  32. ↑ "Episode 21 - The Hawking Excitation". The TV Critic. Archived from the original on April 16, 2014. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  33. 1 2 "Stephen Hawking Corrects Sheldon's Math On 'The Big Bang Theory'". The Huffington Post . April 6, 2012. Archived from the original on March 25, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.