Fox News recently came out with a list of 11 “smart people” who guest starred on The Big Bang Theory. The writer of this list ranked them from the most annoying to the least annoying. I find this to be a very negative way of ranking these people. So, I’m going to rank them from “I’ve never really heard of them” to “my favorite person out of the bunch.” To see the original list click here.
Disclaimer
Just because I’ve never heard of someone doesn’t mean I don’t think their accomplishment is great. It just means I need to learn more. Basically, I do not mean to insult anyone.
The List
11. Steve Wozniak – The co-founder of Apple appeared in the Season 4 episode “The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification,” in which he autographs Sheldon’s ancient Apple II computer. Not a big fan of Apple, myself.
10. Elon Musk – The visionary founder of SpaceX and Tesla appeared in Season 9’s Thanksgiving episode, “The Platonic Permutation.” He ended up volunteering with the gang at a soup kitchen. He’s also apparently trying to colonize Mars. Way cool. I should know this guy.
9. Ira Flatow – Ira Flatow is public radio’s most prominent science host. He’s been explaining science to us as we drive around on Friday afternoons since 1991 on Science Friday. He’s appeared on TBBT twice, via voice only in Season 3 and in person in Season 7’s “The Discovery Dissipation,” when he interviewed Sheldon on his radio show. Never heard of Science Friday, but it sounds like a fun time while you are driving.
8. Mike Massimino – Mike Massimino is an astronaut who made two trips into space to work on the Hubble Space Telescope. He appeared on TBBT several times as Howard’s outer space Sherpa. Working on the Hubble Space Telescope and just going into space in general is an amazing feat. I salute you, Mike Massimino.
7. Stephen Hawking – Stephen Hawking sold 10 million copies of his book A Brief History of Time by making cosmology, the most mind-bending subject imaginable, digestible by the masses. You have to be smart to make stuff that complicated comprehensible to the layperson, so props to Stephen Hawking. He first appeared in Season 5’s “The Hawking Excitation”, where he made Sheldon faint with embarrassment by pointing out a crucial arithmetic error in Sheldon’s paper. Hawking has since appeared a few more tines, most recently in the 200th episode singing happy birthday to Sheldon.
He ranks low because, while I acknowledge the man’s intelligence and his contribution to our society, I am from a different era. Subjective? Absolutely, so sue me!
6. Buzz Aldrin – Buzz Aldrin was the second person to walk on the moon. He once punched a conspiracy theorist who was harassing him with accusations he didn’t walk on the moon. It’s one of the best videos on the internet. He appeared in the Season 6 episode “The Holographic Excitation” handing out space-themed candies (Milky Ways, Mars Bars, etc.) to trick-or-treaters.
5. George Smoot – Astrophysicist George Smoot is notable as the only person in history to win both a Nobel Prize and Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? He appeared in Season 2’s “The Terminator Decoupling,” in which he turned down Sheldon’s offer to collaborate with him on a research project. I put him high up, because I’ve watched Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?, and sometimes it makes me feel stupid. Besides, the man also won a Nobel Prize.
Credit: http://www.youtube.com/
Closing
This is running past my word limit so, I’ll continue my version of this list in a part 2. Who is your favorite out of these? Tell us in the comments below.
