The Hawking Excitation
| "The Hawking Excitation" | |
|---|---|
| The Big Bang Theory episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 21 |
| Directed by | Mark Cendrowski |
| Teleplay by |
Chuck Lorre, Eric Kaplan & Maria Ferrari |
| Story by |
Bill Prady, Steven Molaro & Steve Holland |
| Production code | 3X6871 |
| Original air date | April 5, 2012 |
| Running time | 20 minutes |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
|
Stephen Hawking as himself |
|
| Episode chronology | |
Stephen Hawking as himself
Carol Ann Susi as Mrs. Wolowitz
"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. 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.
The final scene of the episode features a short cameo appearance by cosmologist Stephen Hawking. Hawking was revealed to appear on the show in March 2012; he was the third high-profile guest star in season 5. The episode had 13.29 million viewers in America and garnered mixed reviews.
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 equipment. Sheldon is a big fan of Hawking, so Howard considers bringing Sheldon along to meet Hawking. 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). Sheldon is seen in the cafeteria at Caltech with everyone staring at him.
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