One The Big Bang Theory Celebrity Cameo That Didn't Age Well
Too far from reality, some would say.
Throughout The Big Bang Theory 's long 12-season run, there were plenty of celebrity cameos to freshen up the scenes and pay homage to some great pop culture moments. Seeing Carrie Fisher, Bill Nye, or Kathy Bates appear on the show was a real treat for most viewers.
However, not all of the celebrity cameos were as satisfying in the long run. Some of the scenes with invited guest stars are ones that fans would rather skip altogether, just to save themselves a few minutes of cringe.
Elon Musk's appearance in the episode "The Platonic Permutation" (S9E9) is certainly one of them.
In the episode, Musk appears to be playing himself, volunteering alongside Howard, Bernadette, Raj and Emily at the soup kitchen on Thanksgiving. The businessman appears to teach Howard a few lessons about generosity, even admitting that he was demoted from the turkey line for being too generous with the gravy.
Of course, such a portrayal of a multi-billionaire must be nice for his publicity, but it left a lot of viewers with a bad taste in their mouths. And since Musk has been involved in numerous controversies since the episode premiered in 2015, it's just hard to watch his scenes without rolling your eyes.
While some fans believe that Musk was genuinely invited by The Big Bang Theory's creators to drum up interest in the show, others go so far as to theorize that Elon Musk could have bought himself a nice spot on TV.
This is, of course, an allegation that isn't supported by any real evidence, but many people tend to believe that Musk's budget would easily allow for it.
What's even more interesting is that this isn't the only Elon Musk cameo in the TBBT universe, as he also had a cameo in Young Sheldon 's A Patch, a Modem, and a Zantac (S1E6), where the scientist uses Sheldon's notes to successfully land his SpaceX booster rocket three decades later.
If you need to refresh the episodes mentioned above in your memory, you can stream The Big Bang Theory, as well as its prequel Young Sheldon, on Netflix.