Billy Bob Thornton's Big Bang Theory Character Is Creepy - Why Do Fans Love Him?
"The Big Bang Theory" boasted as impressive a list of special guest stars as any series on the air during its 12-season run. But the series' crack casting team likely surprised even die-hard fans when they booked Billy Bob Thornton for a one-off appearance as Dr. Oliver Lorvis. The character turned up during a Season 8 episode, having finagled his way into the gang's apartment building with a bit of help from Dr. Sheldon Cooper. It turns out that Dr. Lorvis is a client of Penny's who's mistaken her flirty sales pitch for actual flirting. The doc then cops to internet stalking Penny before creepily showing up at her apartment.
His antics only get creepier from there, though they're obviously played for laughs throughout. And yes, series fandom is largely there for the Dr. Lorvis storyline. According to the comments section on a YouTube clip from the episode, that's largely due to his hilariously awkward interactions with Sheldon, and the fact that fans love Thornton's work in the role. Viewer @NICKARRIOLA16 is among them, commenting, "The weird chemistry between Sheldon and the doctor is sooo HILARIOUS!!!!!!! I SO WISH HE WAS JUST AROUND FOR MORE THAN ONE LOUSY EPISODE!!!!!"
They were not the only fan who wanted to see more of Dr. Lorvis, with @theseageek posting, "Billy Bob Thornton was funny asf in this, wish he has more appearances in the show." And YouTuber @danielmcherry1000 agreed, adding the role was also totally in Thornton's wheelhouse, saying, "He's good at playing a creep."
Some The Big Bang Theory fans have a couple of other issues with the infamous stalker episode
That YouTuber isn't wrong about Billy Bob Thornton, whose acting resume is indeed rife with characters who follow a dodgy moral compass. If you've seen "The Big Bang Theory" episode in question, you know Thornton is at his low-key skeezy best throughout. And as @michabranchard later noted in the comments, their expectations for Dr. Oliver Lorvis were impacted dramatically by one of Thornton's other roles, claiming, "I watched this episode literally one day after finishing first season of 'Fargo.' And I honestly believed that he is going to kill them."
Reading through those YouTube comments, it's clear "TBBT" fans had a few other issues with the episode, with @thepetaaaaaa pointing out the brief clip is glaring proof of the series' infamous overreliance on a laugh track. Meanwhile, over on Reddit, u/imtchogirl deemed this episode to be the cringiest of the series' run. This is partly because they were genuinely disturbed by the male characters' reactions to Penny dealing with a potentially dangerous stalker, posting, "Leonard immediately gets jealous and they all blame her for 'leading him on.'"
They further take the series to task for ignoring the obvious peril Penny might've been in, noting playing it for laughs completely undermines the possible danger. "The Big Bang Theory" is, of course, first and foremost a comedy series, so it would've been pretty off-brand to go full-on horror movie creepy with the storyline. But it's also hard not to see where u/imtchogirl and other concerned fans are coming from.