Keck's Exclusives: The Big Bang Theory Enlists Another Real Life Genius

CBS's The Big Bang Theory is getting another visit from a real life scientific genius. Following guest appearances by Nobel Laureate astrophysicist George Smoot and Hayden Planetarium astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, Columbia University physics professor Brian Greene will play himself in the sitcom's April 7episode, "The Herb Garden Germination."

"Talk about nerdy glee," says executive producer Bill Prady. "When Chuck Lorre and I first started working on The Big Bang Theory, we had to figure out how to quickly become physicists and one of the books we picked up was The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene." With Greene's new book, The Hidden Reality, now out in stores, Prady and Lorre thought it would be fun to bring him on to be mocked by Sheldon (Jim Parsons).

"Sheldon and Amy [Mayim Bialik] attend a reading at a bookstore where Brian is reading from his new book and Sheldon thinks the notion of trying to teach science to the general population is nonsense." Naturally, fireworks erupt. Says Prady, "This is what we do on our show to famous scientists." Maybe that's why Stephen Hawking has so far steered clear. He's no dummy!

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