The Hawking Excitation

"The Hawking Excitation" is the 108th episode of *The Big Bang Theory*, airing as the 21st installment of season five on April 5, 2012, on CBS. In the plot, Howard Wolowitz is hired to maintain Stephen Hawking’s wheelchair during a Caltech lecture. When Sheldon Cooper learns this, he desperately wants to meet Hawking. Howard agrees, but only if Sheldon completes a series of humiliating tasks: polishing Howard's belt buckles, wearing a French maid costume in the cafeteria, washing Howard’s underwear, and accompanying Howard’s mother on a dress-shopping trip. Sheldon also must compliment Howard’s work, though he dismisses it as not worth doing. In the final scene, Hawking appears in a cameo, pointing out an arithmetic error in Sheldon’s paper on the Higgs boson, causing Sheldon to faint.

The episode drew 13.29 million U.S. viewers and received mixed reviews. It was the third high-profile guest star of season five, following Mike Massimino and Leonard Nimoy. Hawking had been mentioned previously on the show, including in the pilot, and had appeared on *Futurama* and *The Simpsons*. CBS announced his guest role on March 12, 2012, after show co-creator Bill Prady teased a “super-secret, super-cool guest star” on March 9. Photos of Hawking’s appearance were published by *The Hollywood Reporter* on April 2. Hawking, a fan of the series, had been asked before but was too ill; he requested to watch a rehearsal after filming. Simon Helberg, who plays Howard, performed an impression of Hawking’s voice, which Hawking reportedly enjoyed. After this episode, a three-week break preceded the next, “The Stag Convergence.” Hawking later appeared via voice only in three subsequent episodes and in a pre-recorded Comic-Con 2013 segment where he sang the theme tune.