TV

Bob Newhart returns to ‘Big Bang Theory’ with Bill Nye

When Bob Newhart won an Emmy in September for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, for his turn as former kids’ show host Professor Proton on “The Big Bang Theory,” it was stunning to learn that Newhart — the rare performer to star in two long-running sitcoms, “The Bob Newhart Show” (1972-1978), and “Newhart” (1982-1990) — had never won an Emmy before. But the fact that it was this show, which he returns to Thursday night at 8 p.m. on CBS, that finally brought him the honor is less surprising after the comedy icon explains the similarity between “The Big Bang Theory” and the classic series for which he’s known.

“Someone stumbled upon my formula sometime back,” says Newhart, 84. “I surround myself with crazy people, and then react to them, like Larry, Darryl, and Darryl from ‘Newhart.’ To some extent, it was like that with [‘Big Bang Theory’ stars] Jim [Parsons], Johnny [Galecki] and Kaley [Cuoco].”

Newhart’s Professor Proton is the former host of a kids’ science show who has since been reduced to performing at children’s birthday parties. When Sheldon (Parsons) and Leonard (Galecki), who were both inspired to become scientists after watching Proton’s show as kids, hired him for a private show during Newhart’s first appearance, his dejection at having to perform for two nerdy adults drove him into retirement.

For this next appearance, Proton returns to ask Leonard’s assistance with an experiment. This causes the ever-petulant Sheldon, in a jealous fit of pique, to reach out to Proton’s biggest rival, Bill Nye the Science Guy.

According to Newhart, “Big Bang” creator Chuck Lorre had been after him for some time to appear on one of his shows. (Lorre also created and runs “Two and a Half Men.”) Newhart admired the show’s writing and agreed to appear as long as it was more than just a one-off — they settled on three appearances — and was taped in front of an audience.

The addition of Nye was then conceived as a way to spice up the conflict between Sheldon and his now-former hero.

“We knew that Sheldon was hurt [by Proton working with Leonard], and we started thinking, what could Sheldon do to pay back Professor Proton for snubbing him?” says producer Steve Molaro. “One of the writers pitched [the Bill Nye storyline], and we thought it was hilarious. There’s a great scene where, when Leonard and Proton are working on Proton’s experiment in Leonard’s lab, Sheldon shows up with Nye and explains to the professor, ‘I replaced you with a newer model.’”

This aggression, though, is soon superseded by a longstanding feud between Nye and Proton, who, it turns out, had previously sued Nye, believing that he stole the idea for his show from Proton.

“Bill says to Leonard, ‘What’s the project you’re working on?’ He says what it is, a nanotube something or other,” says Newhart. “Bill then says, ‘Very interesting,’ and I say to him as I move towards him, ‘Haven’t you stolen enough from me? Back off, bow tie.’ Then, Leonard restrains me from coming toward him.”

“The moment I hope I never forget is when Bob Newhart’s character is angry with me and says, ‘Back off, bow tie,’ ” says Nye, 57. “When Bob Newhart comes at you angry, whoa. That’s terrifying. After four or five takes, I got it figured out. But that first time, I about jumped out of my shoes.”

In discussing his Emmy win for the show, Newhart mentions that part of the reason he never won the award before is that as part of a Saturday night CBS line-up that included “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “All in the Family” and “The Carol Burnett Show,” his first sitcom felt overshadowed to the point that he unsuccessfully lobbied the network to move it to another night.

This feeling of impossibly heavy competition, though, was also with him at the recent Emmys. “I was in a very tough category,” says Newhart, who was nominated against Nathan Lane, Louis C.K., Will Forte, Bobby Cannavale, and Justin Timberlake.

“When they called my name and I walked up to receive it, I thought, ‘Oh my God. This is gonna be in my house. I finally have an Emmy.’ My wife [Ginny], who had undergone a liver transplant four years earlier, was there, and as the audience stood up, that just emotionally wiped me out.”

As if to reinforce his place in the “Big Bang” pantheon, Lorre had his birthday during the taping of this episode. The cast and crew videotaped a rendition of “Happy Birthday” for him, and Newhart played a special role.

As the end of the song approached, Newhart cut in, with his trademark stammer, and said, in reference to Lorre’s most infamous controversy, “Is this the guy who didn’t get along with Charlie Sheen?”

Newhart is not certain when his third appearance will come, although he guesses it will happen during a sweeps period. But it’s clear that after two episodes, Bob Newhart is as welcome on the “Big Bang” set as any regular member of the cast.

“It’s interesting to see these colors on Bob Newhart,” says Molaro. “If you grew up watching him on television, he’s always so pleasant and calm. In this episode, we see some different sides of what he can play. We love Bob, and we’re honored that he’s part of the ‘Big Bang Theory’ family.”