Bob Newheit had two conditions for playing Professor Proton.

“I had only two things that were very important: One, I had to record my scenes live,” the comedian recalled in a 2013 interview. “There’s a tendency to pre-record a lot of stuff and put a laugh track on it, and you lose something. With New Hart, Lucy, Honeymooners, Mary Tyler Moore, All in the Family, it was always done in front of a live audience.” It’s a point that’s hard to argue with, as New Hart has cited some of the best sitcoms of all time. He also admitted that his own performances are fueled by the experience of working in front of a crowd. “I’ve always felt like a live audience gives me adrenaline,” he told THR. “That’s the only way I work.”

Fortunately, The Big Bang Theory was one of the few shows still operating with a live studio audience in the 2000s, making Newhart’s request easy to fulfill. The actor’s second request was for Professor Proton to become a “partial recurring role.” While Newhart didn’t elaborate on whether or not he was concerned about appearing in too many episodes, he said Lorre agreed, and approached him with the idea for his character shortly after. The pair had already known each other for years before creating Professor Proton, with Newhart saying he was “familiar with… [Lorre’s] The pair have a long history dating back to Roseanne and Sybil. In fact, the duo apparently knew each other from their days in the studio filming The Bob Newwhite Show.