Six degrees of Sheldon Cooper

 Six degrees of separation is the idea that everyone is on average approximately six steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world, so that a chain of "a friend of a friend" statements can be made, on average, to connect any two people in six steps or fewer. It was originally set out by Frigyes Karinthy and popularized by a play written by John Guare. (The movie starred Will Smith.)

My brother, Ted B, knows Howard Joel Wolowitz from the days when he worked for a computer firm. Howard Joel Wolowitz was once the partner of Bill Prady, one of the creators of my favorite television show, The Big Bang Theory. Prady thought that name -- Howard Joel Wolowitz -- was the perfect name for the Jewish nerd character they wrote into the show, and the real HJW gave permission for them to use his name.

The real HJW recently sent my brother (among others) an email about a visit he and his wife had made to the Bat Mitzvah of Prady's daughter. While in California, they also attended a taping of the show and met members of the cast.

So I figure the steps between me and Sheldon Cooper (actor Jim Parsons) are:
1.Me to Ted
2. Ted to the real HJW
3. The real HJW to Sheldon Cooper/Jim Parsons.

That's the short version. The full six steps could be
1. Me to Ted.
2. Ted to the real HJW
3. The real HJW to Bill Prady
4. Bill Prady to Chuck Lorre (the other creator of TBBT)
5. Chuck Lorre to the fake HJW (actor Simon  Helberg)
6. The fake HJW/Simon Helberg to Sheldon Cooper/Jim Parsons.

I only did it the long way because of the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. And if you don't know about that, you can look it up.

And a shout out to my brother for making it all possible!