‘The Big Bang Theory’ season 6 spoilers: Bob Newhart talks return to comedy

On Thursday night’s “Big Bang Theory” season 6 episode, Bob Newhart is going to be making an appearance on a sitcom for the first time in years, and is playing a part that almost mirrors what some of the executive producers probably think of him: An idol that they grew up watching. His character of “Professor Proton” was the host of a children’s science show that Sheldon Cooper obsessed over, and thus he decided to hire him out for a private gig at his apartment.

So how did Newhart come to be on “The Big Bang Theory”? Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Newhart reveals that he has of course received a number of offers over the years, but he accepted this one for a number of reasons. One, he was familiar with the work of Chuck Lorre, who has wanted him to be a part of one of his shows for years. In addition to that, he wanted to make sure he was filmed in front of a live audience (which “The Big Bang Theory” is), and he wanted the role to be semi-recurring.

With that in mind, Newhart says that he expects to do at least a couple more appearances on the show in the future, and he is very much looking forward to it:

“I don’t know how many legs this character has. That’s up to them. We’ll talk about it if they feel they want more. That’s strictly up to them. I didn’t just want to do a one-shot. I wanted to make it semi-recurring. At this point, that’s what it was. It was very enjoyable. I loved it.”

Considering how beloved Newhart is to the people on this show, we have a feeling that he will be getting a call from producers at some point in the coming year for season 7.

Is this the episode you are waiting to see? If you want to see the first real video of Newhart in action on “The Big Bang Theory” season 6, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: CBS