The Hawking Excitation

"The Hawking Excitation" is the twenty-first episode of the fifth season of the  The Big Bang Theory. This episode first aired on April 5, 2012.

Summary
When Howard is working with Professor Stephen Hawking, he takes advantage of Sheldon, who is desperate to meet his.

Extended plot
Howard is assisting Professor Stephen Hawking by maintaining his while he is lecturing at Caltech. He has every plan to introduce Sheldon to his idol until Sheldon insults him again. Sheldon keeps pleading with Howard who does agree to give Stephen Hawking his latest paper on particles, but only if Sheldon does several tasks for him. The first task is to clean his large collection of s which Sheldon performs flawlessly. Secondly, Sheldon must walk through the Caltech cafeteria in a costume which Bernadette originally refused to wear. He also meets Penny in the laundry room while he's doing Howard's laundry. Then Bernadette tells Howard that he is taking advantage of Sheldon until Howard's mother reminds her that she is taking her dress shopping and Bernadette volunteers Sheldon for the job. He ends up having to help squeeze her into a dress in the ladies dressing room as she complains that she used to be thinner. Later, while playing a card game with Leonard and Raj, finally, after years of insults, Howard wants Sheldon to give him a compliment about his job. Sheldon replies that he has never said that he is not good at it and that it’s his job that is inconsequential. Leonard tells him to take it since it's more than he's ever gotten from Sheldon. He accepts the backhanded compliment and tells him that Stephen Hawking has had his paper for three days and that he wants to meet him. Professor Hawking tells Sheldon that the paper is very interesting, though that he made an mistake. Once Sheldon finds it and realized what he did in front of his idol, he faints. Professor Hawking observes, "Great, another fainter."

Critics
"The last seven episodes have been below par and I really hope this isn't the beginning of the decline and fall of The Big Bang Theory . Certainly in the short term the craft has gone from the stories and jokes in favor of the most basic stories and punch lines." The TV Critic's Review

Quotes
Sheldon: He's a famous physicist.

Penny: Hang on, I know. He's the wheelchair-dude who invented time.

Sheldon: Close enough.

Raj: (to Howard) You can make him do anything you want.

Raj: Oh boy, well, Sheldon's going to freak out!

Leonard: Yeah, he worships Hawking.

Howard: I was actually thinking of bringing him along when I go over there so he can meet the great man.

Raj: It's really nice of you, Howard.

Howard: It's no big deal.

Leonard: Boy, a from Stephen Hawking. It'll look so nice next to the ones he's already got from Leonard Nimoy,, and.

(Sheldon comes over to the table)

Sheldon: Leonard, do you recall when I said that I was going to revolutionize humanity's understanding of the Higgs boson particle and you said "Sheldon, it's 2 a.m., get out of my bedroom!"?

Leonard: Like it was 10 hours ago. What about it?

Sheldon: Well, I believe I've done it. And I'm only saying "believe" to sound modest, because Sweet-Sam-Houston, I did it.

Leonard: Really?

Raj: That's incredible! (Takes out a pen from his pocket) Oh, here! Breakout the math.

Sheldon: Oh, okay, let me see this. (Starts writing) Alright! So, this particle here, is the boson, moving forward in time. Now, I was thinking... (pauses) Howard, you go ahead and eat. This isn't going to make any sense to you.

Howard: Sheldon, I have a working understanding of physics.

Sheldon: Yeah, good for you! Don't stop working on it.

Raj: You still going to tell him about you-know-who?

Howard: Yep.

Leonard: Still going to introduce him?

Howard: Not on your life!

Sheldon: Alright! What would you like me to do first?

Howard: I thought I'd start you off by polishing my belt buckles.

Sheldon: Ooh, by all means. When I was a boy, I would polish my 's silver, then, she would entertain me with stories about growing up in. She's an interesting woman. You know, she once killed a with a.

Howard: That's nice. (Pours out all his belt buckles from inside a container)

Sheldon: That's a lot of belt buckles.

Howard: Funny thing is I only have one belt. Anyway, I'll let you get started. Oh, by the way, the little marks that look like s... I tend to stand too close to the so, what you're seeing there is splashback.

Sheldon: You make sissy on new belt buckles? Mee-maw's forks never have that.

Howard: Here is a, to check them. And for your own peace of mind, you might not wanna shine that around the rest of the room.

...

(Sheldon is finished polishing Howard's belt buckles)

Howard: Sheldon, these look great! They're like magnificent little crowns that hang over my magnificent little jewels. How did you get them so shiny?

Sheldon: Oh, I, uh, buffed them with. The man down at says that from now on, the urine should just bead up and roll right off.

Howard: Way to go the extra mile, your mee-maw would be proud.

Sheldon: My mee-maw must never know of this. Now, will you give Professor Hawking my paper?

Howard: Oh, my dear boy, no. OK. (Howard gives Sheldon a white box) Next, this is a sexy french maid costume I brought for Bernadette, I thought it might spice things up and get her to dust my room at the same time. I was wrong and really wrong.

Sheldon: And you want me to return it for you.

Howard: No, no, no, mon petit cherie.

(The next day Sheldon walks through the cafeteria in the french maid costume and everyone suddenly stares at him)

Sheldon: What are you all staring at? D'you never seen a man try to get a meeting with Steven Hawking before?

(Sheldon storms out and the three guys burst into fits of laughter)

Howard: Sheldon, you're a condescending jerk; why would I do anything nice for you?

Sheldon: Um, to go to Jewish heaven?

Howard: Jews don't have heaven.

Sheldon: Well, to avoid Jewish hell?

Howard: Have you met my mother? I live in Jewish hell!

Sheldon: Professor Hawking, it's an honor and a privilege to meet you, sir.

Stephen Hawking: I know.

Sheldon: I want to thank you for taking time to see me.

Stephen: My pleasure. I enjoyed reading your paper very much. You clearly have a brilliant mind.

Sheldon: I know.

Stephen: Your thesis that the is a  accelerating backwards through time is fascinating.

Sheldon: Thank you. It just... it came to me one morning in the shower.

Stephen: That's nice. Too bad it's wrong.

Sheldon: What do you mean wrong?

Stephen: You made an arithmetic mistake on page two. It was quite the boner.

Sheldon: No, no... that can't be right. I... I don't make arithmetic mistakes.

Stephen: Are you saying I do?

Sheldon: Oh, no, no, of course not. It just, I was thinking... (spots his mistake) Oh, gosh, golly. I made a boo-boo, and I gave it to Stephen Hawking.

(Sheldon s)

Stephen: Great, another fainter.

Trivia

 * This is the first episode to feature Stephen Hawking as a guest star, though he was mentioned in the episodes "Pilot", "The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis", and "The Agreement Dissection".
 * On December 22, 2011, a new job listing actually was posted to Hawking's website, seeking an assistant (like Howard) to help develop and maintain his as well as help him operate his . According to the website's description, the ideal candidate must work well under pressure, and must be knowledgeable about computers and electronics. (See "Stephen Hawking is Hiring: Seeks Assistant to Help Him Speak" and "Stephen Hawking Advertises For Wheelchair Assistant".)
 * and a reader of his blog the reference frame corrected an error in a Hartle-Hawking-Hertog paper with a "thesis that the accelerated Universe is an anti de Sitter space exposing its cosmological constant in the backwards way," providing a spoof of dialogue from this episode. (See "Sheldon Cooper's revenge to Stephen Hawking: Hawking made a boo boo".)
 * In "The Agreement Dissection", Howard recalls that he said to Sheldon (in Stephen Hawking's voice), "I wish to discuss your theories of black holes. Meet me at the by the airport at 2:00 a.m." In the episode of this article, Hawking tells Sheldon, "Your thesis that the Higgs boson is a black hole accelerating backwards through time is fascinating."
 * Stephen Hawking's original singularity theorems from the 1960's and 1970's were written up on the s on-set.
 * Sheldon believes that Stephen Hawking is "perhaps [his] only intellectual equal."
 * Leonard believes Sheldon will receive a from Stephen Hawking, like the ones from Leonard Nimoy,, and Stan Lee. In "The Excelsior Acquisition", Sheldon refers to the legal documents from Nimoy and Lee, while, in "The Vacation Solution", Sheldon reveals the one from Sagan.
 * Strangely, Leonard and Raj never ask to meet Hawking, but are excited to receive gears and springs from his wheelchair.
 * In "The Terminator Decoupling", Sheldon is similarly excited to present a paper of his to another famous cosmological physicist, George Smoot.
 * Sheldon tells Hawking, "it came to me one morning in the shower." There is a whiteboard in the apartment 4A bathroom for this reason, clearly seen in "The Staircase Implementation".
 * In the hallway outside the Cal Tech cafeteria, there is a poster for 's book Knocking on Heaven's Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World.
 * Raj is the "group ."
 * Sheldon states, "I have never said that you are not good at what you do." However, he referred to him as a "minor league engineer" to Agent Page, in "The Apology Insufficiency", and directly told Howard he couldn't press enter when he typed  World's Greatest Engineer into the, in "The Bus Pants Utilization".
 * The Princess Leia vs Jabba the Hutt Polystone Diorama in Howard's room (see this image) was previously at the comic book store in "The Russian Rocket Reaction" (see here). It is still in Howard's bedroom in "The Launch Acceleration" (see here).
 * Howard also has a "Carbonite Is Forever" limited edition Star Wars Boba Fett print by Cliff Chiang on his wall.
 * Amy did not appear in this episode, making it the first time in season 5 that Amy did not appear for two episodes back-to-back.
 * Mrs. Wolowitz speaks for the second time in a normal tone of voice, rather than her usual bellowing register.
 * Howard states in this episode that he owns only one belt. However, throughout the series he has been seen with a number of different belts, including piano keys, studs, and various other designs, as well as simple belts of various colors.
 * Jim Parsons revealed that initially, he was asked to wear a la  during the scene at the cafeteria. He refused, and would only agree if he were given six months and a . The writers agreed to replace the bikini for a  costume.
 * In one review, Stephen Hawking was complimented on his.
 * Raj says Sheldon has only begged three times, but he begs Leonard to go to Switzerland in  "The Large Hadron Collision", which is not mentioned.

Video
350px|The Hawking Excitation Promo