In the “The Big Bang Theory” episode “The Celebration Experimentation” (February 25, 2016), Sheldon (Jim Parsons) is about to turn 36 but is reluctant to celebrate his birthday. He explains that birthday parties were always terrible for him as a child as he would have to share them with a twin sister and that his sister’s friends were aggressively mean to him. One particularly painful memory involves Sheldon’s sister telling him that Batman would be coming to the party, even though no such appearance had been arranged. Sheldon was disappointed that Batman didn’t arrive and has hated birthdays ever since.

Sheldon’s girlfriend Amy (Mayim Bialik) convinces Sheldon to have a party anyway, hoping to erase the stigma. He reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile, Raj (Kunal Nayyar) and Howard (Simon Helberg) decide to finally make good on Sheldon’s unfulfilled Batman promise by hiring Adam West himself to come to the party and meet Sheldon face-to-face. West, of course, played Batman in the 1996 “Batman” TV series, one of the funniest shows of all time. 

West plays a diva version of himself, getting to be selfish and cruel to his co-stars. West, one of the funniest comedic actors ever, had a delightful time on “The Big Bang Theory.” He was also honored that he was asked to appear on the show when he was. “The Celebration Experimentation” is the show’s 200th episode. 

The famed actor did admit, however, to struggling a little bit with the sensibility of the series. He’s of a different generation of comedians and admitted — in a 2016 interview with Variety — that he was unused to the ultrastructured, over-written world of modern, 2010s sitcoms.

West admitted openly that he loved acting opposite the “Big Bang” cast, as they were, to his eye, cooler than he was. He, as a result, got to feel cool as well. But, he amended, struggled with the type of language and timing of “The Big Bang Theory.” Newer jokes, one might observe, have very particular setups and payoffs. “Big Bang” is also based on a certain set of assumptions about popular culture — nerd culture — that West wasn’t necessarily privy to. The legendary actor said that he needed to adapt quickly, adjusting his preferred comedic delivery in a new venue. And he had to do it while playing himself. The way he put it: 

“The rhythms for this sitcom and others, I’ve noticed, are very formulized. It works for them. And the people who have been doing it for a number of years on the show have a great advantage, of course, to some bloke who just walked in. But I’ve been able to pick up the rhythms and really adapt them to my kind of speech pattern with what they want me to play. Because I’m playing myself, which is the most difficult of all the roles.” 

Of course, West did revel in a particular part of the “Big Bang” script. It seems that the writers wanted West to be a little catty toward the actors who played the role of Batman after him, which he savored. “It’s part of the script,” he said, “and fun that I get the chance to insult some very big stars.” West, it should be noted, carries utterly no animosity toward any other Batman actors in real life (although he did heavily petition to play Batman for Tim Burton in 1989), but had a grand time pretending that he did. 

West passed away in 2017, and “The Big Bang Theory” was one of his final jobs. Always a class act and incomprehensibly funny, he will live on forever.