Wil Wheaton Has A Bowling Ball-Sized Regret About One Of His Favorite Appearances On The Big Bang Theory
In Season 3 of the long-running sitcom "The Big Bang Theory," audiences were introduced to one of Sheldon Cooper's (Jim Parsons) mortal enemies. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be actor Wil Wheaton (who plays an exaggerated version of himself), known for playing Wesley Crusher in "Star Trek: The Next Generation."
As a child growing up watching "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Sheldon's favorite character was Wesley Crusher because he was a young genius just like Sheldon. Upon hearing that the actor who portrayed his favorite character would be appearing at a convention, a teenage Sheldon took a 10-hour bus ride only to discover that Wheaton was a no-show. Since then, Wheaton landed on Sheldon's list of mortal enemies.
Sheldon first encounters Wheaton in a trading card game tournament at their local comic book store, where they face off in the finals. With victory within grasp, Sheldon confronts Wheaton about his absence at the convention, hoping to humiliate him with defeat. However, the villainous Wheaton concocts a lie about his grandmother's passing as the reason for his absence at the convention to garner sympathy from Sheldon, who throws the game.
In his subsequent appearance on the Season 3 episode called "The Wheaton Recurrence," the two encounter each other in a bowling tournament, in which Wheaton takes advantage of a particularly awkward moment in Leonard's (Johnny Galecki) and Penny's (Kaley Cuoco) relationship. Since the team was relying on Penny's bowling skills, Wheaton schemes to break up the couple, leading to another unearned victory.
Following his debut on the series in a trading card game tournament, it would stand to reason that a bowling ball tournament would be more challenging to shoot. As a matter of fact, it was even more difficult than anticipated for Wheaton because of an embarrassing error.
Wil Wheaton made a heavy mistake on his second Big Bang Theory appearance
In a recent interview with Express.co.uk, when asked about his favorite moments on "The Big Bang Theory," Wil Wheaton recalled a hilarious anecdote involving a very heavy bowling ball. Though the bowling scene lasted a few minutes in the episode, it took over 12 hours to shoot in reality. On the set that day, Wheaton selected a bowling ball purely on its looks and regretted it when he discovered its weight.
"... [W[hen we did the bowling scene, we shot that all day long. That took 13 hours to shoot that scene," he recalled. "And I just picked a bowling ball that looked cool. Not realizing that I picked a bowling ball that weighed 17 pounds. I had to carry it all day. That was not a good choice. I regretted that choice and I was glad when that was done."
Of course, that minor error didn't deter Wheaton from returning to the show. After that episode, Wheaton would return 15 more times before the series ended (via IMDb). In April 2019, TV Insider spoke with Wheaton before the series finale aired and asked what the show meant to him, to which he expressed appreciation for the people he worked with on the series.
"Gosh, it has meant so much. It's been such an incredible gift to work with these magnificent actors, this phenomenal writing staff, and just the most amazing and professional crew with which I've ever worked," Wheaton intimated. "We could spend our entire careers hoping to have one experience like I have working on 'TBBT '... I am really grateful that I've gotten to do good work that the audience loves with people that I love. I'm really proud to have that in my legacy."