# The Hofstadter Insufficiency **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2019, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hofstadter-insufficiency/838488 "2019-08-11T02:35:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hofstadter-insufficiency/838488/1 "2019-08-11T02:35:05Z")
aka, the one where Howard and Raj compares Janine’s failed marriage to infidelic penguins. Is thestanding guy in back, with the spectacles, in fact Andrew Wiles, solver of Fermat’s Last Theory? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hofstadter-insufficiency/838488/2 "2019-08-11T02:46:55Z")
> [@Enola\_Straight](#): > > aka, the one where Howard and Raj compares Janine’s failed marriage to infidelic penguins. > > Is thestanding guy in back, with the spectacles, in fact Andrew Wiles, solver of Fermat’s Last Theory? Andrew Wiles IMDB page only lists two roles - and both of them are “as himself” in things that are not the Big Bang Theory ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hofstadter-insufficiency/838488/3 "2019-08-11T03:07:04Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Andrew Wiles IMDB page only lists two roles - and both of them are “as himself” in things that are not the Big Bang Theory Which isn’t relevant when you’re talking about extras with non-speaking parts. I have no clue if that is Andrew Wiles or not but if he appeared as an extra, the fact that IMDB doesn’t list him proves nothing. ETA - also, forum change? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hofstadter-insufficiency/838488/4 "2019-08-11T03:12:28Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > Which isn’t relevant when you’re talking about extras with non-speaking parts. I have no clue if that is Andrew Wiles or not but if he appeared as an extra, the fact that IMDB doesn’t list him proves nothing. > > ETA - also, forum change? I’ve seen some people listed as “uncredited” in IMDB and thought they were non-speaking extras. Sorry about the misunderstanding. But I’m not sure why Andrew Wiles would be in a random episode of BBT as a non-speaking extra. He is a famous guy (for the kind of people the characters in the BBT are supposed to be) - if the show got him as an extra, why wouldn’t they make a moderately big deal about it? Can the OP link to an image showing the guy he thinks is Wiles? ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hofstadter-insufficiency/838488/5 "2019-08-11T03:23:51Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Can the OP link to an image showing the guy he thinks is Wiles? [I believe this is the scene in question.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bf5pxbzZuM) Advance to 0:24, I suspect the OP is asking about the tall man standing by the door and holding a beer bottle. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hofstadter-insufficiency/838488/6 "2019-08-11T03:36:35Z")
Sounds like it should be on a triple bill with _The Eiger Sanction_ and _The Osterman Weekend._ ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hofstadter-insufficiency/838488/7 "2019-08-11T04:50:10Z")
Moved from Elections to Cafe Society. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hofstadter-insufficiency/838488/8 "2019-08-11T13:14:12Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > I’ve seen some people listed as “uncredited” in IMDB and thought they were non-speaking extras. Sorry about the misunderstanding. But I’m not sure why Andrew Wiles would be in a random episode of BBT as a non-speaking extra. He is a famous guy (for the kind of people the characters in the BBT are supposed to be) - if the show got him as an extra, why wouldn’t they make a moderately big deal about it? On the other hand, that would be a neat Easter egg; to have someone in the background that only a true nerd would recognize. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hofstadter-insufficiency/838488/9 "2019-08-11T13:15:25Z")
Here’s the [real Andrew Wiles](https://youtu.be/rSowRw_BW50?t=15). Not even close. The effects of several decades difference in aging is obvious. There’s one actor I’ve seen in the background a couple times on TBBT that does respectable roles in movies and TV shows. But in these cases he has no lines, credits and not even an IMdB “uncredited” listing. They way shows credit people is odd. Take “The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification”. Woz is shown at a table with a woman. He speaks to her at one point (“Nerds.”). Yet she is uncredited. Even IMdB didn’t list her for a good while. She’s Janet Hill, married to Woz since 2008. Hardly a non-person. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hofstadter-insufficiency/838488/10 "2019-08-11T23:58:50Z")
The one and only time i remember seeing Andrew Wiles was 20 years ago on NOVA ep “The Proof” [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/proof/wiles.html](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/proof/wiles.html)