‘The Big Bang Theory’ season 7, episode 7 preview: The Mayim Bialik, Bob Newhart meeting

You’ve been waiting for it perhaps more so than any other “Big Bang Theory” episode, and on Thursday night it will finally be here: The return of Bob Newhart and his character of Professor Proton. Newhart is hilarious, he may actually be the only character to get a laugh out of almost every line that he says. There is a reason why this guy is the reigning Emmy winner for Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, and it’s not just a make-good for all of the times that he was snubbed in the past.

So in what context will we see Proton re-enter the picture in this episode? The easy answer comes courtesy of the sneak peek below, where Sheldon, Leonard, and Amy actually run into the man at none other than what appears to be a pharmacy. Sheldon decides to talk to him (which, as he does not fully understand, is actually “bothering” him), and Amy ends up introducing herself in the process. At first, Proton is surprised to hear that anyone would want to date Sheldon … but it does not take him too long at all to figure this one out.

This is the first time that Mayim Bialik and Newhart have filmed a scene together, as the only actors present for the scenes with him the first time were Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, and Kaley Cuoco. This time around, there is still no guarantee that he is going to be working with Kunal Nayyar, Melissa Rauch, or Simon Helberg, but hope springs eternal (and there is always a shot that he will appear again in a future episode of the show).

Later on in this episode, you actually will have the arrival of Bill Nye as a guest of Sheldon’s. This is an attempt to make Proton hate himself for choosing Leonard to help with a project over him, but we can hardly imagine that working out very well at all, at least for Sheldon. For us, we imagine that it is going to be pretty hilarious.

You can actually get a glimpse of the Science Guy in the promo here, and stay tuned: We’ll have more “Big Bang Theory” scoop soon.

Photo: CBS