Roush on Big Bang Theory
Question: I started watching
The Big Bang Theory since it followed one of my favorites,
How I Met Your Mother and because I was a physics/math major and very easily fell into the "nerd" category through college and graduate school. One thing has stood out to me from the very first episode, and I wonder if anyone else has noticed: Jim Parsons' Sheldon character reminds me of Niles Crane (David Hyde Pierce from
Frasier.) I don't know if there is some resemblance in physical appearance or if it's the way the lines of dialogue are delivered or the quirky mannerisms, but if they ever look to cast Sheldon's father, I would love to see that combination. Do you see any correlation there or is it just me?
— Jerry
Matt Roush: I've heard a number of Sheldon-Niles comparisons, which are pretty unavoidable, both because of the characters' fussy temperaments and their physical similarities: tall, thin, endearingly awkward. Big Bang would be a perfect show to spotlight the wonderful David Hyde Pierce, and given that we've already met Sheldon's mom (the glorious Laurie Metcalf), they would make a hilarious couple. But I also wonder if he's a little too on-the-nose to actually be Sheldon's dad. It might be more interesting, if the show decides to spend more time with the geniuses at work, to see the former Frasier funnyman as a mentor of sorts. We can dream. (We'll probably have to dream at least for a while, because Pierce is currently committed to his Tony-winning role in the Broadway musical Curtains — if, in fact, it survives the current stagehands' strike on Broadway).
