Some of the best episodes of Big Bang have been those with big guest stars, especially the guest star scientists or engineers. There have been several geek-out cameos from Hawking to the Woz, but so many are out there that would spice up the tone of the show. Amy Mainzer, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Alexei Filippenko, Caroline Porco, Michio Kaku, these are just a few names of superstar scientists who could pop in or even become semi-regular characters. The recent episode with The Pitch was a classic example of how the show has lost its way and seems content on laughing at the geeks instead of with them. When Howard gave his speech about how he wasnt an athlete but a scientist and brought out a working version of the Mars rover it seemed that finally the writers got it. But alas no. Are you really to believe that a guy who was sent into space and entrusted with such an expensive piece of kit wouldnt have known what speed it went? Sure, it was laughed off with Im an idiot who didnt think this through but thats surely the point someone who is arguing in other episodes that hes just as smart as Sheldon wouldnt have made such a mistake. Having the whole crowd laugh at the geek rather than being impressed with the awesome pitching arm that he as an engineer retro-fitted to the Mars rover is pretty much a metaphor for what the show has become. The episode where they discussed the temporal mechanics of Back To The Future Part 2 and had Sheldon educating us on positive punishment was almost a classic return to form. But it was also an allegory for the current schizophrenic nature of the show. Every time Leonard tried to bring things back to quantum entanglement he was thwarted. It was a much funnier episode, but it could have been better.
I.T. Consultant, technophile and Doctor Who fan. I like to talk about tech, take films apart and make excuses for Doctor Who's continuity errors. No other show has the power to make me feel like a big kid.
