The Big Bang Theory is no stranger to having guest stars from the world of geekdom stop by for a visit. From Battlestar Galactica’s Katee Sackhoff as Howard’s fantasy woman to Darth Vader himself James Earl Jones having a night on the town with Sheldon, the men on the show have had many opportunities to interact with their favorite actors and scientists in some way, even if these moments didn’t always go well. With The Big Bang Theory’s 200th episode approaching, the show has managed to grab one of the biggest names in comic book media to celebrate the occasion. The main characters will soon be visited by TV’s Batman from the 1960s, Adam West.
West will appear as himself in Episode 200, set to air on February 25. Specific details about the episode are being kept secret, but no doubt the guys will be excited to simply be in his presence.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, West will also be joined by many familiar Big Bang Theory faces, including John Ross Bowie as Barry Kripke, Christine Baranski as Leonard’s mom Dr. Beverly Hofstadter, Sara Gilbert as Leslie Winkle (who hasn’t been seen since the Season 3 finale) and Will Wheaton as himself, as per usual. Unfortunately, there’s no mention of West appearing alongside the other half of the ‘60s Dynamic Duo, Burt Ward, a.k.a. Robin.
Although West hasn’t appeared on the show before, he was mentioned in Season 3’s “The Precious Fragmentation,” when the boys explained how they thought they saw Adam West and followed the man (it wasn’t really West) to a garage sale, where they found that prop of the One Ring from The Lord of the Rings movies. It’s actually surprising that West hasn’t appeared on The Big Bang Theory sooner, given how much talk there’s is about Batman and other comic book material, and how West is not against making cameos in recent years. West is the first major live-action superhero actor to appear on the show, although Marvel superstar writer Stan Lee did appear in the episode “The Excelsior Acquisition.”
West starred as Batman’s eponymous protagonist from 1966 to 1969 on the small screen, as well as played the Caped Crusader on the big screen in the TV series’ movie. He recently reprised his campy version of Batman in Robot Chicken DC Comics Special III: Magical Friendship and the video game Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham. To younger TV watchers, he’s probably better known for voicing a version of himself on Family Guy as the insane mayor of Quahog.
New episodes of The Big Bang Theory air Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS, but fans will have to wait another three weeks for West’s big appearance. One can only hope there will also be some classic Batman sound effects to spice up the episode further. Pow!
