The late Bob Newhart agreed to appear on “The Big Bang Theory” under two specific conditions.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter timed to his Season 6 debut, the sitcom legend revealed he was already a fan of the series, but agreed to join only after co-creator Chuck Lorre confirmed that his scenes would be filmed in front of a live studio audience.
“There’s a tendency to pre-tape a lot of stuff and put a laugh track on it, and you lose something,” Newhart said. “With ‘Newhart,’ ‘Lucy,’ ‘Honeymooners,’ ‘Mary Tyler Moore,’ and ‘All in the Family,’ it was always done in front of a live studio audience. I always felt that the live audience gives it adrenaline. That’s the only way I function.”
Because “The Big Bang Theory” was already filmed before a live studio audience, the request was easily accommodated. But Newhart also insisted that the role extend beyond a single appearance.
“I wanted it to be a semi-recurring role,” he said, a request Lorre ultimately accommodated.
Newhart made his introduction as Arthur Jeffries — better known to fans as Professor Proton — in Season 6, Episode 22, “The Proton Resurgence.” The character served as a formative influence on Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter, inspiring their early interest in science.
He went on to reprise the role in five additional episodes: “The Proton Displacement” (Season 7, Episode 7), “The Proton Transmogrification” (Season 7, Episode 22), “The Opening Night Excitation” (Season 9, Episode 11), “The Proton Regeneration” (Season 11, Episode 6), and “The Planetarium Collision” (Season 12, Episode 5) — the last of which marked his final on-screen credit before his death in 2024.
Newhart also played Professor Proton on “Young Sheldon,” appearing in the prequel series’ 2017 pilot episode, before lending his voice twice more — in “Teenager Soup and a Little Ball of Fib” (Season 3, Episode 10) and “A Baby Tooth and the Egyptian God of Knowledge” (Season 3, Episode 20).
