Throughout its long run, The Big Bang Theory featured a wide range of cameos, ranging from movie stars to some of the most brilliant minds in the world. And Season 9 of the sitcom featured one such unique appearance in the form of the billionaire, Elon Musk, who also appeared in its spin-off, Young Sheldon.
However, unlike many of the show’s other guest appearances, this one does not appear to have aged well, with fans noting the irony of his appearance in the sitcom and crediting it as one of the most cringeworthy cameos in the show’s history.
Revisiting Elon Musk’s cameo in The Big Bang Theory
Elon Musk has been among some of the high-profile cameos in The Big Bang Theory, appearing in a Thanksgiving special in a Season 9 episode titled The Platonic Permutation.
The episode follows the lead group celebrating Thanksgiving in their own unique ways, and Howard, Bernadette, Raj, and Emily choose to volunteer at a soup kitchen.
And while Howard is busy washing dishes, guess who joins him, Musk himself, holding a tray of dirty dishes. Naturally, Howard is stunned to see the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors.
Musk, in a humble manner, explains to Howard (Simon Helberg) that he was originally serving meals but got “too generous with the gravy” and was demoted to dish duty.
Howard, however, couldn’t help but fanboy over him, expressed admiration for Tesla and SpaceX. In his excitement, he even mentioned being an astronaut and joked about wanting to go to Mars and being adopted by Musk.
However, especially while the cameo at the time fared well, thanks to Musk’s reputation as a visionary tech entrepreneur, it has not aged well, with fans now looking back on the appearance as cringeworthy, given how the show portrays him in an overly flattering light.
Fans are not too fond of Elon Musk’s ‘cringy’ cameo in The Big Bang Theory
Among the many cameos in The Big Bang Theory, Elon Musk’s is not among the fan favorites, a sentiment that became especially evident in a Reddit post describing his appearance as, “This aged like milk on a hot day outside.”
While that doesn’t sound too appetizing, fans had a series of issues with the cameo, especially with how the sitcom presented him as an idolized figure, with Howard overly impressed by his presence.
“I hate the way they fawn over a celebrity like this and it’s completely unnecessary,” one Reddit user noted, describing it as “one of the cringest moments in the entire run of the show.”
Others echoed the sentiment, noting that the cameo hasn’t aged well, especially given how Musk’s reputation has declined since the episode aired nearly a decade ago. Once widely admired as an innovative tech visionary, he has become a more polarizing figure due to controversial statements, erratic behavior on social media, along his political affiliations.
While his appearance remains one of the more high-profile cameos in the sitcom’s history, many fans no longer look back on it fondly, often criticizing it as awkward and cringy.
