The Big Bang Theory Undercut One Of Its Saddest Deaths With An Unnecessary Cameo

While The Big Bang Theory seldom featured moving deaths, the hit sitcom undid one of its most poignant moments with an unnecessary cameo. A lot of sitcoms, from The Conners to How I Met Your Mother to The Big Bang Theory creator Chuck Lorre’s later show Mom, centered their storylines around challenging issues. However, The Big Bang Theory didn’t typically focus on the darker side of life. The series was a hang-out show that rarely featured character deaths, major breakups, or tragic moments. When these sad scenes did occur, their rarity made them all the more impactful and unexpected.

One reason that The Big Bang Theory’s series finale was so effective was that Sheldon, Leonard, Raj, Howard, Penny, Amy, and Bernadette had not often shown a lot of softness to each other. Although the gang weathered a few bad breakups over the years, they faced few major tragedies other than the death of Howard’s mother, Ms. Wolowitz. This made it more affecting when Sheldon admitted that he owed his success to his friends since the character was only occasionally forced to face how much he relied on them for support. However, Professor Proton’s season 7 death was an exception.

The Big Bang Theory Undid One of Its Most Tragic Deaths

In season 7, episode 22, “The Proton Transmogrification,” Sheldon’s childhood icon, Professor Proton (real name Arthur Jeffries), died unexpectedly. Out of all of The Big Bang Theory’s cast of main characters, Sheldon was the least likely to feel moved by this incident thanks to his blunt, emotionless persona. However, he was surprisingly devastated by the event, eventually admitting that this death meant all of his male role models were now gone, thus making this one of Sheldon’s most vulnerable scenes. Unfortunately, The Big Bang Theory undercut the impact of this tragic admission by bringing Jeffries back a few seasons later.

After his death, Professor Proton appeared again in season 12, episode 5, “The Planetarium Collision.” Professor Proton’s ghost visited Sheldon in a dream, warning him that he needed to take Amy’s feelings into account as the couple struggled to work together on a professional project. This diminished the tragedy of his death as it meant Professor Proton’s touching goodbye to Sheldon wasn’t his final appearance in the series. The sitcom’s final season featured plentiful celebrity comebacks, The Big Bang Theory’s Young Sheldon tease, and many other moments of fan service, but this particular return cheapened Sheldon’s earlier grief.

The Big Bang Theory’s Final Professor Proton Appearance Was Unnecessary

Sheldon could have realized he was treating Amy unfairly without Proton’s help, and this would have been more moving given his usual self-centered attitude. While it’s true that comedy veteran Bob Newhart interacting with Jim Parsons’ fastidious Sheldon was as charming as any of their scenes, it’s worth noting that if Sheldon had come to the conclusion that he needed to prioritize Amy over his professional ambitions without outside intervention, The Big Bang Theory’s hero would have felt like a kinder, more rounded version of his thoughtless early-season self. What’s more, Professor Proton’s original exit would have been maintained.