CBS’ mega-hit sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, has been a Comic-Con staple for years now, but every year the show manages to one up itself. This year was no different.
On Friday’s panel in San Diego, fans were invited into a “virtual writer’s room” with the show’s executive producers and writers. Included on the panel were Executive Producer and Showrunner Steve Molaro and Co-creator and Executive Producer Bill Prady; Co-Executive Producers Dave Goetsch, Steve Holland, Eric Kaplan and Jim Reynolds; Supervising Producer Maria Ferrari; and Science Consultant David Saltzberg.
The panel also was full of surprises. The first one came early, with Stephen Hawking introducing the show’s sixth season highlight reel in a pre-recorded video segment from his Cambridge, England, office, where he was surrounded by Big Bang paraphernalia and a movie poster promoting a new movie about his life titled, ”Hawking.”
The panel was moderated not by an entertainment journalist or blogger but the show’s own Melissa Rauch – a big fan of the sitcom even before she became one of its stars – who plays Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz, the new wife of astronaut/engineer Howard (Simon Helberg).
During the hour, the panel took a question from one persistent fan dressed up as Star Wars’ bounty hunter Boushh, whose outfit—hard-core Star Wars fans will remember – Princess Leia used as a way to infiltrate Jabba the Hutt’s lair to rescue the imprisoned Han Solo in “The Empire Strikes Back.” Anyway, when that “persistent fan” removed his helmet, it turned out to be … no, not Carrie Fisher, but “Big Bang” star Johnny Galecki.
“The Big Bang Theory” returns for its seventh season on CBS on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT, and the show’s sixth season DVD comes out Sept. 10 on DVD and Blu-Ray. Above is a highlight reel from season six.
Brief Take: Comic-Con attendees can really never get enough of “The Big Bang Theory,” but surprise appearances from fan favorites made the show’s panel all the sweeter.
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