
Simon Helberg as Howard Wolowitz:[45] An aerospace engineer who got his Masters at MIT. Howard is Jewish and lived with his mother, Debbie (Carol Ann Susi). Unlike Sheldon, Leonard, Raj, Bernadette and Amy, Howard does not hold a doctorate. He goes into space, training as an astronaut and serving as a payload specialist. Howard initially fancies himself as a womanizer, but he later starts dating Bernadette, and they get engaged and married. Howard also has a tendency to waste money on toys and argues with Bernadette because of his oddly low income as an engineer and her high income as a pharmaceutical biochemist.


Turning to total viewers, “Manifest” was the biggest gainer overall, on average adding 6.1 million viewers per episode. ABC’s “The Good Doctor” was second with an average viewer lift of just under 6 million. “New Amsterdam” (5.2 million viewer lift) and “A Million Little Things” (3.5 million viewer lift) were also among the top gainers in this measure, as was ABC’s “Whiskey Cavalier” (3.2 million viewer lift).
Wil Wheaton brings William Shatner on his Professor Proton show to meet Sheldon, who gets so excited that he vomits on Shatner. Going to Wil to apologize, he finds Wil hosts a Dungeons & Dragons group with his celebrity friends including Shatner. Finding out Stuart is in the group and never told them, the guys make Stuart panic and quit. Wil secretly invites Leonard who discovers that the group also includes Shatner, Kevin Smith, Joe Manganiello and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Leonard tells Penny, who tells Amy and Bernadette, all three women having a crush on Manganiello. Because of that indiscretion, Wil kicks out Leonard and admonishes the guys for using him for his connections, and says that one of the worst things about being a celebrity is not knowing whether someone will like him for himself. To apologize, the guys invite Wil to play D&D with them at Leonard’s apartment, but Wil, secretly in the middle of a game with Penny, Amy and Bernadette and the group, politely turns them down, before allowing the girls to send them a photo of the events as payback.
Leonard gives an interview on public radio where he admits physics research might be at a dead end. The university is furious and, while trying to think of reasons to put in a retraction, he depresses Sheldon into thinking he might be right. Howard and Raj come over and end up just as depressed. Getting drunk with Penny, the men go to the grave of Richard Feynman and realize there is hope for physics as long as they believe in it. Leonard accidentally sends a drunken email to Human Resources. Meanwhile, Amy and Bernadette agree with each other to keep quiet about the success in their careers so as not to upset Sheldon and Howard. While bragging to each other, they end up arguing which of their fields is better.
As the theme of the show revolves around science, many distinguished and high-profile scientists have appeared as guest stars on the show. Famous astrophysicist and Nobel laureate George Smoot had a cameo appearance in the second season.[56] Theoretical physicist Brian Greene appeared in the fourth season, as well as astrophysicist, science populizer, and physics outreach specialist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who also appeared in the twelfth season.
Sheldon and Amy's wedding day arrives, with many friends and family attending, including Amy's domineering mother (Kathy Bates) and quiet father (Teller); Sheldon's mother Mary, brother George, and sister Missy, who is pregnant with her second child and separated from her husband; and Mark Hamill, who replaces Wil Wheaton as officiant as a favor to Howard who returned his lost dog. Sheldon cannot get his bow-tie to be symmetrical and conversations with Amy and his mother give him an epiphany about superasymmetry. Sheldon and Amy, along with Leonard, get caught up figuring out the math of the theory during the wedding ceremony, making Hamill take Star Wars questions to stall for time. Penny retrieves the couple, who then decide that they have the rest of their lives to make science together. Amy and Sheldon then express their vows. Amy recites a set of heartfelt vows, leaving Sheldon initially at a loss for words, before he reciprocates her loving words. They are pronounced as husband and wife.
After Sheldon has a food truck moved away from the building, Leonard and Penny are shocked to find he is the leader and sole member of the Tenants' Association for the building. Amy doesn't want to be caught in the middle but secretly suggests they rally support from the other tenants to vote Sheldon out. Nobody else supports Leonard so Amy tells them Sheldon was never added to the lease when he moved across the hall with her. Sheldon fires back with his own legal technicality so Amy is forced to support Leonard. She makes Sheldon happy by saying he can be Leonard's official opposition, making Leonard believe he made a mistake. Meanwhile, Howard and Raj find a drone. Raj returns it to the cute owner Cynthia and gets her number. Unfortunately, Cynthia watches footage of Raj on the drone and is immediately turned off.
