‘The Big Bang Theory’ Shows Off Stephen Hawking and We Feel Smarter Already

One mere week after 'The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon Cooper got to interact (via dreamed voice-over) with one of his life-long idols Leonard Nimoy, the illustrious if socially-awkward scientist is about to get sucked into another black hole of geeking out.  Don't get up, though, we'll bring the sneak peek to you...

Just in time for 'The Big Bang Theory's April 5 episode "The Hawking Excitation," TV Guide has our first look at Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) finally meeting his idol Stephen Hawking, as Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) gets to work with the esteemed physicist, and Sheldon becomes determined to do whatever it takes to meet his idol.  ‘The Big Bang Theory’ had attempted to recruit Hawking for an appearance a number of times in the past, but the professor’s illnesses usually prevented it.

Hawking had previously been referenced on the show in the past, as Wolowitz once left a voice message on Sheldon’s answering machine pretending to be the noble professor asking to discuss Sheldon’s theories over donuts.  Following his appearance the professor joins the ranks of other esteemed scientific and technological figures to appear on the CBS sitcom, including astrophysicist Dr. George Smoot, theoretical physicist Dr. Brian Greene, and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

The latter two of the photos appears to be an out-of-context photo much as previous shots of Parsons and Leonard Nimoy, though Nimoy himself declined to physically appear on the show.  Based on the first pic, it looks like Sheldon gets to meet his idol after all.

So check out the photos of 'The Big Bang Theory's "The Hawking Excitation," airing Thursday night on CBS at8/7:00 p.m. central, and tell us if you'll be watching in the comments!