TV NEWS
The Big Bang Theory's Deep Picard Reference Only Star Trek Fans Caught
By ETHAN ZACK
"Star Trek" is arguably the top franchise that "The Big Bang Theory" holds the most reverence for, and there’s an in-joke that non-Trekkies may have missed the significance of.
In Season 4’s episode "The 21-Second Excitation," Sheldon Cooper and his friends attend a theatrical showing of a special cut of "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
The line to get in is exceptionally long, and Sheldon subsequently runs into "Star Trek" actor Wil Wheaton, who taunts him by using his star status to cut the line and get in.
Incensed by Wheaton, Sheldon proceeds to shout: "As Captain Jean-Luc Picard once said, the line must be drawn here! This far! No farther!"
Trekkies know that Sheldon is directly quoting Captain Picard's iconic line from "Star Trek: First Contact," right down to replicating the impassioned emphasis on the word "here."
In doing so, "The Big Bang Theory" cleverly pays homage to Captain Picard's "Star Trek: First Contact" quote by recontextualizing its use to reference an actual line of people.
