Spoilers ahead for the March 29 episode of The Big Bang Theory.
The Big Bang Theory has a history of bringing in big names as guest stars, ranging from Wil Wheaton as Sheldon's recurring nemesis to Carrie Fisher and James Earl Jones. The latest famous face to pop up on The Big Bang Theory wasn't a star of the stage, small screen, or silver screen, however; Bill Gates appeared on the latest episode as himself. Unsurprisingly, the brain trust of Leonard and Co. were dying to meet him, but the introduction wasn't going to be simple. Here's what happened.
Penny is the one who made the announcement that Bill Gates was coming to her job at the pharmaceutical company, as his foundation was working to expand its charitable reach. She was excited at the prospect of meeting Bill Gates, but her excitement was nothing compared to that of Leonard, Howard, Raj, and (to a lesser extent) Sheldon, who believed that Penny's announcement of Gates' arrival was merely an April Fools' joke. Penny decided to just go ahead and let him believe that after he accused her of pranking him in the past, so Sheldon was out of the running to meet Gates. The rest of the guys were decidedly not out of the running.
Although Penny could not/would not introduce her husband and his pals to Bill Gates--understandable, since Gates was there in a professional capacity and Penny might not have looked great if she unleashed the nerd horde on him--the introduction was still a priority for them. So, they found out where Gates was staying and camped out in the lobby behind Penny's back, believing that he'd be bound to come back eventually. After staking out for a while, Gates did finally make it to the lobby, and the guys laid eyes on their hero.
As you might expect, Leonard did not handle meeting Bill Gates with much in the way of poise. He gets points for approaching Gates when he was clearly super nervous; he loses points for starting to cry almost immediately. It was bad enough that Gates offered Leonard a tissue. When Leonard asked for a hug instead, Gates offered a tissue again. Take a look!
That wasn't Bill Gates' only scene. He also popped up by the end of the episode when Leonard was pretending to be sick at home. His loving wife got Gates to appear on a video chat with Leonard, which is when Gates spilled the beans that he'd already met Leonard. Penny wasn't happy, and we can bet that Leonard was in trouble when he got home. Poor Sheldon never did get to meet Bill Gates due to being sent on a couple of wild goose chases.
For more of the Big Bang crew's shenanigans, tune in to CBS on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET. Our midseason TV premiere guide and summer TV premiere schedule can help you plan your viewing for weeks to come, and our rundown of TV renewals and cancellation can fill you in on the network shows that have already gotten the axe this season.
