The Big Bang Theory

Cookie Monster as Leonard and Elmo as Sheldon act out a scene about computer chip cookies.

The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom which airs on CBS. The series follows the friendship of four scientists who work at CalTech.

References

• In an Entertainment Weekly online exclusive video from September 23, 2011, Elmo and Cookie Monster "reenacted" a scene from the show.

• The schedule for CBS shown in the CDE offices in The Muppets spoofs the show with "Geeks and a Girl".

Muppet mentions

• In the season three episode, "The Gothowitz Deviation", Howard Wolowitz and his friend Raj attempt to attract women at a Goth nightclub and end up at a tattoo parlor. Wolowitz flips through a catalog of designs, and can't decide on either a screaming devil, a "mean little skull", or Kermit the Frog. He tries to convince his date with an impression: "Hi ho, I'm on Howard's butt!"

• In the season three episode, "The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary", Leonard asked Penny if she ever made a pact with someone. Penny replied in first grade she made a pact with her friend, Rosie, to marry Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street. They didn't speak till middle school when they found out they both wanted to marry Ernie.

• In the season four episode, "The Justice League Recombination", Penny refuses to go out with the guys to a costume party dressed as Wonder Woman to complete their group costume as the Justice League of America. After many failed attempts to get Penny to come out of her apartment, Sheldon decides they should switch to their Muppet Babies costumes.

Raj: I call Kermit.

Sheldon: I'm Kermit. You're Scooter.

Raj: Oh man! Scooter sucks! He is the Aquaman of the Muppet Babies.

• In the season four episode, "The Toast Derivation", Sheldon invites some friends (including LeVar Burton) to an evening at his apartment. As he lists a bunch of classic video games, he mentions Cookie Monster Munch.

• In the season five episode, "The Isolation Permutation", Amy is disappointed that Bernadette and Penny went shopping for bridesmaid dresses without her. When Bernadette and Penny come by her lab to apologize, Amy tells them "It's like Sesame Street says: one of these things is not like the others, one of these things should die alone."

• In the season five episode, "The Launch Acceleration", Penny tells Leonard that since he saw her naked last she has gotten a Cookie Monster tattoo, and that acceptable reactions when he sees it would be awesome or nothing. Where to Leonard responds "COOKIES" after inhaling gas that makes his voice deeper.

• In the season six episode "The Higgs Boson Observation", Lenord tells Penny that Raj had to use a Grover puppet to tell the female nurse where he hurt.

• In the season six episode "The Spoiler Alert Segmentation", Lenord tells Penny about how Sheldon are the most egotistical insufferable human being. Penny tells him that they make such a cute couple, like Bert and Ernie and that they have even taught her stuff like words and numbers.

• In the season seven episode "The Workplace Proximity", Amy has a consulting job at Caltech, to Sheldon's dislike. In the lunch break Amy introduce Sheldon to her new colleagues, one of them are Dr. Gunderson from Stockholm. Sheldon responds by saying "Sweden the home of my favorite Muppet and second favorite meatball".

• In the season ten episode "The Emotion Detection Automation", Raj wonders if he can use a machine, that Sheldon are gonna beta test, for figuring out why his girls friends keep dumping him. Howard suggest that he sends them a survey card. Raj likes the idea and wants to make his own focus group of ex-girlfriends. Howard says he was just joking, Sheldon then comments that "..Jokes are often better when you end them with Wocka Wocka or ha-cha-cha".

Connections

• Buzz Aldrin played himself in "The Holographic Excitation"
• LeVar Burton played himself in "The Toast Derivation"
• Tim Doyle is a writer for the series
• Nathan Fillion played himself in "The Comic Book Store Regeneration"
• Johnny Galecki plays Leonard Hofstadter
• Margo Harshman plays Alex
• Stephen Hawking played himself in a season 5 episode
• Stan Lee played himself in "The Excelsior Acquisition"
• Howie Mandel played himself in "The Re-Entry Minimization"
• Kunal Nayyar plays Rajesh Koothrappali
• Leonard Nimoy played the voice of Spock in "The Transporter Malfunction"
• Jim Parsons plays Dr. Sheldon Cooper
• Bill Prady is executive producer, co-creator, and writer for the series
• Melissa Rauch plays Dr. Bernadette Rostenkowski
• Yeardley Smith played an interviewer in "The Einstein Approximation"
• George Takei played himself in "The Hot Troll Deviation"
• Neil deGrasse Tyson played himself in "The Apology Insufficiency"
• Wil Wheaton has played himself on a semi-recurring basis beginning in season 3