The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary

I'm at w00tstock right now, and I haven't even seen the show, but I thought it would be fun to write a post in advance so anyone who watched The Big Bang Theory tonight would have a place to talk about it. If everything goes according to plan, this should post right as the episode is finishing on in the Eastern time zone.

When I get home, and I have the time near the end of the week, I have a bunch of notes from the production to transcribe, to give a fuller behind-the-scenes picture for anyone who is interested. Until then, though, two things:

First of all, for anyone who is wondering, the show's art department made actual cards with actual graphics and rules on them, and we all spent a fair amount of time making up some logical rules to go with the Mystic Warlords of Ka'a. As far as I know, there aren't official rules or an official card set, but I'm sure someone will create one within a couple of weeks if the show doesn't. (Oh please, oh please.)

When he first talked to me about working on the show, Bill Prady told me that I'd be playing a "delightfully evil version" of myself. This sounded like a lot of fun to me, but it was more difficult to find that character than you'd think. When I'm playing Fawkes on The Guild it's easy to slip into his kilt and be a jerk, but wearing my own clothes and essentially playing a stylized version of myself made it a real challenge to hit "delightfully evil" without veering into "not committed to being delightfully evil" or "just plain evil." Keeping that twinkle in my eye, and knowing that Wil Wheaton (The Big Bang Version) is planning to scam Sheldon from the moment he sits down, was essential to this particular characterization working out, and I didn't completely find it until we'd run the episode a couple of times.

During one of the run throughs, when Jim did his Klingon bit, I turned to Kevin and asked him, "Did he just say 'revenge is a dish best served cold' in Klingon?" like I was trying to figure out if that's actually what happened, like maybe I misunderstood him. Chuck Lorre told me that it would be funnier if I was more exasperated. "You're just here to play this game, and now some guy is quoting Klingon at you. This happens everywhere you go," he said. 

I sighed dramatically, and said, "Oh, it does." Everyone laughed, hard, and Chuck pointed his finger at me. "Yes. That is exactly the way to play that beat."

When Chuck gave me that note, I grokked how to play Evil Wil Wheaton (The Big Bang Theory version), and I could see the comedy in every beat I played for the rest of the show. I totally grew a level in comedy acting, and learned something about letting go of who I really am, so I could embrace the Delightfully Evil version of myself (who I seriously hope will return in the future, because OMG was it fun to play him.)

251 thoughts on “The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary”

  2. My 11-year-old self is absolutely squeeing over this episode. Well done, Wil. I’d love to know what you thought of playing opposite Jim Parsons.

  4. Absolutely awesome!!! I hope there’s more to come.
    (Also – it’d be totally geeky to ‘fess up to my own MIB Wesley action figure, right?
    Yeah, I thought so.)

  6. Dude! You were such…such a dick!
    Awesome episode. I snorted lemonade all over our couch.
    Anyone else notice that while the show started off centered around Leonard, it has totally become The Sheldon Show? And, just let me say, no complaints here.
    Any chance for a reappearance, Wil?

  11. aaaaaaah! I missed the episode because I was at work (every monday night… I miss Heroes and Big Bang Theory >:-[ ) Big Bang Theory doesn’t seem to show up in full episodes on Hulu.com… lame!
    I’ve seen the clips, though, and it looks like it was awesome.

  15. WHEEEEEATONNNNNN! The perfect, appropriate Kahn-esque yell. Really funny, I hope you recur as the nemesis. its an awesome juxtaposition!

  18. Just got done watching it, and it was quite possibly the funniest episode of a sitcom ever. Literally and quite boisterously laughed out loud several times. I don’t know which was funnier, Sheldon’s grudge against you or the fact that you acted like a total dick towards him after playing your sympathy card. Well done, Wil. You and Jim Parsons played off very nicely together, and hey, for once you didn’t have to rape, torture or kill anyone!

  22. I thought I’d pop on to commend you for your performance on the show, and also to note that in-show you broke the cardinal rule of not being a dick, but I should have known that you’d be thoughtful enough to pre-empt us with a post about it.
    So, uh, good job! The reveal made me turn on my head a little bit.
    Also, props on the Fruit F*cker shirt. That made me smile in a very meta, “Wil Wheaton is appearing on a show that frequently makes pop culture references as a caricature of the actor that played the character on a show to which the characters on this show prescribe their own importance, making a visual reference to a popular comic that also has a lot to say about pop culture references,” way.
    I’m a writer, and had trouble trying to find the best way to articulate that, but I hope you understand the gesture did not go unnoticed or unappreciated.
    So, then. *slow clap*

  25. That was great, wasn’t it? Especially considering Wil’s motto for life in general is “Don’t be a dick!” and he was a TOTAL dick! Loved it!

  29. That was a great episode! Loved the Fruit Fucker shirt. Hopefully we’ll see a return or two to Big Bang Theory.

  34. WHEAATTTOONNNNN!
    Expect an animated gif of Sheldon to look much like the KHAAAN gif out there as soon as I get ahold of a digital version of the show, I probably won’t be the only one at it.
    I laughed for a solid 5 minutes at the end. Great show, and Sheldon definitely needs a rival.
    I thought you were wearing a Reddit shirt, which was strange to me given your Fark fanbase. Glad to read that I’m wrong on that matter.

  36. That was great.
    I think you know enough game designers to make Mystic Warlords of Ka’a a reality. I know I was thinking about it as the game was being played 🙂

  39. It was a pleasure to watch you tonight. My friend and I were sitting in my room, screaming with joy and geekiness. She was very happy with your Fruit Fucker shirt.
    Great job! 😀

  40. You’re having a banner year, Mr. Wheaton. Kudos! Loved the episode; I don’t usually watch The Big Bang Theory, but I made a point to watch tonight’s episode because you were in it.
    Even my 13-year-old daughter knows who you are! 😀

  41. Awesome episode! I was really hoping you’d be wearing your 3 Keyboard Cat Moon shirt because I wore mine in celebration of this epic episode. I’m going to be hearing “WHEEEEATONNNN!!!” in my head all week.

  42. I loved the fact that when you started apologizing for missing the con, I found myself thinking, “Aw, that totally sounds like the real Wil.” Then, to realize that “you” picked just the excuse that would resonate for Sheldon – who generally is so completely lacking in empathy that he has to be told if someone is upset – only so you could be a total dick(!) was hilarious. But then I found myself thinking, “But he’s an actor – he COULD totally be that evil!” which made it even funnier.
    Well played, sir. I look forward to the return of EWW (TBBTV).
    ( *snort* EWW *snort* )

  44. Bravo! Can’t wait to hear any background on your time working with the guys from my favorite show! Didn’t see the “evil Will Wheaton” coming and totally loved it!

  46. I give this episode the Official Bam Seal of Approval. Also, I’m keeping the line “Game over, Moon Pie!”

  49. At first I was sad because I totally knew the second you said that your grandma died that you were going to play him but it was super funny. And I never watched this show but it was totally worth it to see you play Evil you. Very fun!

  50. Oh. My. God. I LURVED this episode. I had no idea that you were playing “Evil Wil” – I expected another random Comic Book Store character a-la Captain Sweatpants. I hope the writers find a way to bring you back on for another episode later this season!

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