In The Big Bang Theory episode "The Celebration Experimentation" (February 25, 2016), Sheldon (Jim Parsons) is about to turn 36, but he doesn't want to celebrate his birthday. He explains that birthday parties for him as a child were always horrible because 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 fulfill Sheldon's broken promise to Batman by enlisting Adam West himself to come to the party and meet Sheldon face-to-face. West, of course, played Batman on the 1996 Batman TV series, one of the funniest shows of all time.

West plays a wild version of himself, becoming selfish and cruel to his colleagues. West, one of the funniest comedic actors ever, had a blast on The Big Bang Theory. He was honored to be asked to appear on the show when he was. "The Celebration Experimentation" is the 200th episode of the series.

The famous actor, however, admitted that he struggled a bit with the sensibility of the series. He is from a different generation of comedians and admitted - in a 2016 interview with Variety - that he wasn't used to the ultra-structured, overwritten world of modern 2010s sitcoms.

West has openly admitted that he wants to star alongside the Big Bang cast, as they were, to his eye, cooler than he was. As a result, he also feels cool. But, he added, he struggled with the type of language and timing of The Big Bang Theory. Newer pranks, it may be noted, have very special setups and payouts. The Big Bang is also based on a certain set of assumptions about popular culture—crazy culture—that the West didn't necessarily know about. The legendary actor said he had to adapt quickly, adapting his preferred comedic delivery to a new venue. And he had to do it while playing himself. The way he said it:

“The beats for this sitcom and others, I've noticed, are very formulaic. It works for them. who just got inside roles."

Of course, West really enjoyed a certain part of the Big Bang script. It seems that the writers wanted West to be a bit snarky towards the actors who played Batman after him, which he enjoyed. "It's part of the script," he said, "and it's fun that I get a chance to offend some very big stars." West, it should be noted, bears absolutely no animosity towards other Batman actors in real life (although in 1989 he petitioned heavily to play Batman for Tim Burton), but he did a great job of pretending he did.

West passed away in 2017and The Big Bang Theory was one of his last works. Always a class act and unfathomably funny, he will live on forever.