Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, co-creators of CBS's 'The Big Bang Theory,' have been bestowed honorary membership to the Royal Canadian Institute for the Advancement of Science.

See, it pays to be geeky. According to Variety, 'Big Bang Theory' stars Jim Parsons, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar will accept the honors on behalf of their producers.

"We are honoring Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady and the entire 'Big Bang Theory' team for creating a television program that seamlessly melds science and everyday life," Bruce Gitelman, president of RCI, said in a statement. "The program exposes the public in an entertaining way to the awe and wonder of science and life in general. As the number one series in Canada today, it not only makes science accessible to the public but also entertains many practicing scientists."

In other TV news ...

• 'The Walking Dead' is being adapted into a series of novels. The comic book series by Robert Kirkman, which has already been adapted into a new AMC series, will also be translated to three novels. Kirkman will outline the series to be written by Jay Bonansinga. The books will take place in the universe established in the comic series. [Deadline Hollywood]

• Max Weinberg had to quit 'Conan' because of heart problems. The drummer said reason helped him make his decision not to join Conan O'Brien on his new show. Well, that and his love for living in New Jersey. [Fancast]

• Dr. Oz's wife is getting her own talk show. Lisa Oz is filming a pilot with Sony Television about relationship issues. [Hollywood Reporter]

It's safe to say that the nerds of 'The Big Bang Theory' -- Leonard (Johnny Galecki), Sheldon (Emmy winner Jim Parsons), Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar) -- are quite familiar with 'Star Trek' lore.

But this season, only one of that quartet will share a scene with 'Star Trek's' Sulu, George Takei, who'll play himself on the CBS comedy in an episode tentatively scheduled for Thu., Oct. 14.

Take a moment to absorb this phaser blast: In that episode, Takei will appear alongside fellow geek icon Katee Sackhoff ('Battlestar Galactica'), who, as I reported last week, is returning to 'Big Bang Theory' to play Wolowitz's conscience.

More news bits from the Langham Huntington in Pasadena. Chuck Lorre and his two show runners, Lee Aronsohn of Two and a Half Men and Bill Prady of The Big Bang Theory were on stage discussing their shows. Inevitably -- though not right off the bat -- a question about Charlie Sheen came up.

Lorre starts by asking, "What happened with Charlie...?" before saying that Sheen reported for work as usual last week, after being arrested in Las Vegas Colorado on domestic violence charges over the holidays, and that they had one of their best tapings ever.

"Charlie's a consummate pro," said Lorre. "He shows up and delivers."

During the post-panel reporter scrum, Lorre seemed non-plussed by the events reporters' curiosity over Sheen's return to the set, often shrugging his shoulders as if to say, "why are you guys asking me about this?" Sheen showed up, they had a good week, and it's business as usual. That's it. I guess any chatter that was on the set that week will be kept private.

The votes were counted and 77.2% of TV Squad readers believed Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory has Asperger's Syndrome. Based on Slate writer Paul Collins' article on the subject and reported by Joel, you were asked your opinion and agreed with Collins.

Well, majority may rule, but the writer is king. Big Bang co-creator Bill Prady knows the character better than we do, and Prady said Sheldon does not have Asperger's.

On CBS's The Big Bang Theory, we've met Sheldon's mother. Emmy-winner Laurie Metcalf appeared in season one as a super-religious Texas mama who knows better than anyone how to get to Dr. Sheldon Cooper. Now, Leonard's mother is going to be introduced, and she's equally as accomplished as Ms. Metcalf.

Tony, Emmy and SAG award winning actress Christine Baranski will be Leonard's mom, Dr. Beverly Hofstadter. That's right, she's a brainiac.

Her specialty is research on the human brain, and according to Bill Prady, Big Bang's executive producer, "There's the possibility that Leonard is the least successful in his family, that his parents always pushed him toward academic success." Sounds like a funny set up to me.

Day two at Comic-Con began with a panel featuring the stars of the CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory. A logical choice for a comic book and science fiction convention since the show focuses on a group of, um, nerds. Not that there is anything wrong with that, of course!

Actually, according to creator Chuck Lorre, he never intended to make a show about nerds and geeks. His main intention was to air a show about remarkable people. So he said during the very entertaining panel featuring Lorre, co-creator Bill Prady, and the entire cast of the show. A summary of what went down can be seen after the jump.

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