'The Simpsons', 'Star Trek': When Stephen Hawking Charmed The Telly
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A Legendary Mind
Stephen Hawking, a prolific theoretical physicist, would have celebrated his 77th birthday today. The cosmologist and author of 'A Brief History Of Time', who was diagnosed with motor neuron disease at 21, spent his life trying to resolve the mysteries of the universe. However, while Professor Hawking, who passed away on March 14 last year, was busy deciphering the basics of black holes and tackled time travel, he enjoyed a brief, small-screen career as well. Here's a round-up of 5 times when Professor Hawking made an appearance on TV shows.
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'Star Trek: The Next Generation'
'Star Trek' fans fondly called Hawking 'Trekkie'. In 1993, he starred in the season six finale of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'. On the show, Hawking was shown playing a game of poker against scientists like Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton.
Hawking first made an appearance on 'The Simpsons' in 1999, with the signature yellow skin. Starring in the episode 'They Saved Lisa’s Brain' in Season 10, Hawking is even shown pondering over Homer's idea of a 'doughnut-shaped universe'.
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'Futurama'
Professor Hawking also appeared in multiple episodes of 'Futurama' in 2000. In one of the episodes, he loses his body and is left being a head stored in a not-so-ordinary jar. The rocket-powered jar allowed Hawking to shoot lasers from eyes to intimidate and stun people around him.
(Image: www.imdb.com)
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'The Big Bang Theory'
Hawking studied the big bang theory so the makers of the show thought it was appropriate to name a sitcom after it in 2012. The show's Sheldon Cooper, a theoretical physicist, is known to worship Hawking. From dressing as him on Halloween to celebrating his first birthday party, Cooper could just not stop thinking about Hawking.
To honour the character who was such a huge fan, Hawking made multiple appearances on this sitcom. In one episode, he even pointed out an 'arithmetic mistake' in Cooper's thesis, causing the know-it-all to faint.
(Image: The Big Bang Theory/Instagram)
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'Little Britain Comic Relief'
Besides his daunting wit, Professor Hawking was known for his sense of humour. Hawking did his bit for the Red Nose Day by starring in 'Little Britain Comic Relief' in 2015. For the show, he turned into a Transformer to attack co-stars David Walliams and Catherine Tate.
