The Big Bang Theory's Indiana Jones Episode Has A Fun Whiteboard Easter Egg
In "The Big Bang Theory" Season 7, Episode 4 ("The Raiders Minimization"), Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) does something that's certainly not in her Relationship Agreement with Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons): she ruins one of his favorite movies, "Raiders of the Lost Ark." According to Amy, the film would have the same ending with or without Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), which is something Sheldon certainly doesn't want to hear about his hero.
The tiff between Sheldon and Amy over "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is a major focus of the episode, but it's not the only reference to the hit 1981 adventure flick. Eagle-eyed fans may have noticed that Sheldon's ever-present whiteboard is in the apartment, yet it doesn't feature his usual equations of string theory. Executive producer Steven Molaro told Scientific American, "If you look carefully at the whiteboard, you can see the equation that Indiana Jones had on his blackboard in the movie."
TBBT equations are scientifically accurate, unlike the Raiders of the Lost Ark one
According to "The Big Bang Theory" executive producer Steven Molaro, the equation pulled from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is one that's negatively discussed among fans of the "Indiana Jones" franchise. He told Scientific American, "There has been a bit of controversy over that equation since many people feel it doesn't make any sense."
One writer at "The Big Blog Theory" determined that the equation likely concerns projectile motion, but doesn't actually prove anything. The beginning of the equation is good, said the blogger, but the latter part attempts to add to something that's unitless: "And even if you could, it would change the answer from the nice meters for height [to] something with crazy units ..."
Unlike "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and its mathematical snafu, the creators behind "The Big Bang Theory" took great pains to ensure all scientific discussions and theories — including those written by Sheldon Cooper on his whiteboard — were accurate. Molaro said, "Thanks to [astrophysicist and UCLA professor] Dr. David Saltzberg, our science consultant, we have a solid track record so far."